Not a recluse but a hobo.

You might remember my story about the three times I have been bitten by a brown recluse. I never actually saw the spider since i was sleeping all three times. I have seen quite a few spiders around the house it happened in and mistakenly assumed they were brown recluses. I never got close enough to thoroughly examine them cause I am not insane. Turns out my assailant was a hobo spider.

Apparently brown recluses are blamed for a high percentage of hobo spider bites. If it had been a real brown recluse I imagine I would have been a lot more worse off than I actually was. A brown recluse has more venom than a diamond back rattlesnake. Learned that on discovery channel this past weekend. My bite was pretty nasty to begin with so I am glad it was not a recluse after all. I am hoping to avoid any further encounters. So as long as I don't sleep in Texas I ought to be fine!

Hobo Spider ^

Brown Recluse ^

I don't think it is very hard to believe that I might get these two confused. They are sort of similar.