"I am nice to bugs," she said. "But not to spiders anymore."
Now, if Neugebauer finds a spider it will be sentenced to death by squishing.
However, a recent study said that brown recluse spiders might deserve a fair trial before getting the stomp.
Neugebauer kept the spider as proof that it had bitten her, but Rick Vetters, staff research associate at the University of California Riverside, said brown recluse spiders rarely bite humans and are often falsely accused.
Vetters’ research said various skin conditions are regularly misdiagnosed as recluse bites. He said that doctors blame recluses for skin conditions like fungal infections, chemical burns and even herpes.
"Recluse spiders are common in Kansas," Vetters said, "but that doesn’t mean that is what it was."
Vetters said it is impossible to tell the real number of legitimate recluse bites. He said the actual bites are under reported because few people have noticeable reactions and over reported because of false diagnoses.
Deborah Smith, professor of entomology at the University of Kansas, said that brown recluse spiders are in most Lawrence homes. These and black widows are the only spiders in the region that are potentially harmful to humans. Black widows are a rare find, she said, but many people have horror stories about brown recluse bites. Victims suffer from swelling and dead tissue by the poisonous venom.
But the good name of brown recluse spiders may be the real victim.
A Lenexa resident, Diane Barger, used to be skeptical of recluses because of their voracious reputation, but changed her mind after getting to know them up close.
Living in the “Spider House”
Barger said that she has captured over 7,000 recluse spiders in her home over the past six years. The family still lives alongside the accused biters, but not one recluse bite has yet to be confirmed in their home. Barger is a polymer chemist living with a whole family of scientists who worked together collecting the spiders and data on them. They even have a dissecting microscope to analyze the little critters.
Barger said that when she first realized she had brown recluse spiders, she was so terrified that she couldn’t even kill them. She was afraid to go near them, but after a while her children convinced her to relax.
“We had them all along,” she said. “Just because I know I’ve got them now doesn’t mean they’re going to start biting all of a sudden.”
Arachnophobia
When Barger started to find brown recluses in her home, she sought the advice of Bruce Cutler, a courtesy associate professor of ecology and environmental studies at the University of Kansas. Cutler has studied spiders for more than 50 years. He said Lawrence should not fear spiders because, in general, they are completely harmless.
"I don’t know why people are afraid of spiders." Cutler said. "The number of authenticated spider bites is very low."
He said he thought that people are generally uneasy about small things that move quickly. Culter said daddy-long-legs are harmless, but commonly feared because they have long legs and are fast.
Natalie Orrison, Overland Park senior, is deathly afraid of anything that crawls. Cutler’s advocating for recluses did not put her at ease. She said she condemns them to death by drowning.
Preparing to take a shower two weeks ago, Orrison pulled back the curtain, reached for the water knobs and screamed. Her worst fear sat on the waterspout: a giant brown spider.
"I know it’s not a rational fear," she said. "They just give me the heebie-jeebies." She quickly grabbed the showerhead and sprayed it to death.
Smith said that as the warmer months approach, Kansans can expect to find more and more of these creepy-crawlies in their own homes. Kansas is a high-traffic state for brown recluse spiders, and avoiding them is nearly impossible.
Once a brown recluse spider makes your home its own, Smith said, it is very hard to get rid of it.
Get Out!!!
Spray chemicals are useless to kill them, Smith said. Unless you spray the spider directly, it is very rare that the spider will be affected by or even exposed to the poison. What spraying really does is kill other bugs that the spiders feast on, she said.
Barger said over-using chemicals in your home is a health risk far worse than any risk a brown recluse could pose.
The only effective way to get rid of them is to physically remove them. Smith said to look for nests or egg sacs. If they hatch eggs, it may cause an infestation.
Anne Peterson, Lawrence senior, said that she dumped her boyfriend a few years ago because he failed to get rid of a spider. She told him to dispose of one in her bathroom. He claimed that he finished the job, making up an elaborate story, Peterson said. She found the spider three days later trapped under the plunger.
"If he can’t get rid of a spider," Peterson said, "what else can’t he do?"
Recluses: The helpful scavenger
Cutler said that Lawrence residents might have good reasons not to kill their spiders. Spiders are a primary predator of other unwanted bugs. Cutler said if you don’t like creepy-crawlies, you may consider keeping a spider friend or two around.
"They eat an awful lot of insects that may be potentially harmful," he said.
In Japan and China, they are looking to use spiders as a bio-control agent, he said. Spiders are neat creatures that never target humans and help keep a balanced ecosystem.
“Don’t kill it!” Cutler said.
If Lawrence residents find themselves on a spider sentencing committee, Lawrence spider experts plead for life without parole instead of death. Smith said to put unwanted spiders in a mason jar and bring it to an entomologist or the KU Ecology and Environmental Studies department.