NY TIMES - Late last month, Anne Danielson-Francois, an associate biology professor at the University of Michigan, received an unusual package. She had instructed the sender to make sure the contents — spiders — were cushioned because she did not want their legs to break off.
Recluse spiders can be found throughout the United States but are not widespread, said Richard S. Vetter, a retired research associate from the University of California, Riverside, who is one of the country’s foremost experts on recluse spiders.
“They may overpopulate that building, but go to the next building and there are no recluses,” he said. “A few buildings in every state does not mean they are widespread causing damage.”