The Lawrence University community is being asked to be alert and careful after brown recluse spiders (like the one shown above) were found on campus.
According to the University of Minnesota extension, a bite from a brown recluse isn't felt at first and might not be immediately painful. A contained burning sensation often develops within the first hour and during the next 6-12 hours, a small pimple or blister forms.
The spiders were found in the Facility Services building at 235 E. Water St.
Once the spiders were found, university spokesman Craig Gagnon says they immediately called a treatment facility and set traps for the spider. "We sent it out for confirmation and it was indeed a brown recluse spider," he explained. "The building was treated immediately. Traps were set in several buildings that are close and they haven't had any other evidence since."
Gagnon adds that they've taken another step and have set up traps in all residence halls and other buildings just as a precaution.
According to the University of Minnesota extension, the brown recluse spider is common outdoors and indoors in the southern central United States.
It’s uncommon to extremely rare in the Upper Midwest. Only two specimens have been recorded in Wisconsin in the last 25 years.
Learn more about the Brown Recluse Spider by clicking on this link from University of Minnesota Extension: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/potentially-dangerous-spiders/
