You may have heard that brown recluse spiders were discovered in the Facilities Services building in early August. These spiders are not native to Wisconsin, and they can deliver a nasty bite that should not be treated lightly. This was so unusual that local media (the Appleton Post Crescent and Green Bay TV stations) all reported the story.
To put everyone’s mind at ease, here’s the current situation:
- When the spiders were first seen, LU worked with a pest control company to trap and then confirm that these were, in fact, brown recluse spiders.
- The building was treated and additional traps were set.
- As a precaution, staff, faculty and summer residents were notified and traps were set in all campus buildings.
- The Facilities Services building was treated a second time to ensure that the problem was addressed.
- No other campus buildings were affected, and no other brown recluse spiders have been confirmed on campus.
Since most of us have never seen a brown recluse spider, descriptions can be found on bulletin boards around campus. If you think you’ve seen a brown recluse spider, leave it alone and contact Facility Services at x6602.