How to Identify a Brown Recluse Spider - Smarter Every Day 89

ADEs, me Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day! So, we were in my daughter's bathroom. I have been informed that there was a spider. That's, well, I'm the dad; that's what I do. I slay spiders.

Before I destroy him in a fantastic way—well, however I choose to do that—I'm going to use these macro tubes on this camera to see if we can get some close-up of a brown recluse. So anyway, this should be interesting.

Here is... let's put one more tube on here. Brown recluses have six eyes instead of eight, like spiders normally do. They're venomous; they inject venom into the body. Most people say poisonous, but it's actually venomous. When brown recluses come in contact with people, they only bite about 50% of the people. They're not very aggressive.

The reason I didn't kill them immediately is I wanted people who live in this area, which is where brown recluse spiders live, to know exactly what they look like. You're looking for that upside-down fiddle on their back. Those are the spiders that have hemotoxins in their venom and will hurt you really bad.

These things can live for months without eating or drinking. They hide in bedsheets, and you get them out of your closet without even thinking about it. Put it on your bed, and they bite you. Before you know it, you get pieces of your body rotting off.

I don't always kill spiders, but when I do, I try to do it with fire. Anyway, I'm Destin. You're getting smarter every day. Just kill the fire; just do that for me. Have a good one!

Go back to the Amazon next. Later! [Music] It's a scorpion without a tail in the end. That is the ugliest beast I've ever seen. [Music]