TY - JOUR T1 - PIcture of the month AU - Demmler GJ, Levy ML, Cole CL, et al Y1 - 1989/07/01 N1 - 10.1001/archpedi.1989.02150190093029 JO - American Journal of Diseases of Children SP - 843 EP - 844 VL - 143 IS - 7 N2 - Denouement and Discussion  The brown recluse is a medium-sized spider with rather long legs that cover an area of about the size of a quarter to a half-dollar (Fig 1). The legs and body are covered with fine hairs, and it is light to tawny brown. Most spiders have eight eyes; however, the brown recluse has only six eyes. Another distinguishing characteristic is the dark violin or fiddle-shaped marking directly above the legs on the cephalothorax.In the United States, there are 13 species of spiders belonging to the genus Loxosceles. The bite of at least 4 species—Loxosceles reclusa, Loxosceles deserta, Loxosceles laeta, and Loxosceles rufescens—is associated with systemic reactions in humans. The species L reclusa, commonly called the brown recluse spider, violin spider, or fiddleback spider, is by far the species most commonly associated with human bites. It inhabits many southern and midwestern states, ineluding Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, SN - 0002-922X M3 - doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1989.02150190093029 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.1989.02150190093029 ER -