Brown Recluse spider in Las Vegas?

Question

I moved to Las Vegas years ago and have since heard quite a few people say they've seen or know someone who has been bitten by a Brown Recluse here. From my understanding, they don't exist in this part of the country unless they "hitch a ride" during shipments from the parts of the country where they habitate. Anyone have any experience with them out this way? For some reason I believe the people that have told me this are just overdramatizing or might have mistakenly labeled the one they actually saw. But they think I'm crazy when I say they're not native to this part of the country. So what is the deal with them here (or not here)?

Answer 1

Well, one never knows. I live in Ontario, Canada, and found a scorpion in my luggage after my sister used it to travel to Italy. By the way the darn thing was alive.

Answer 2

There are other species of Loxosceles native to the southwestern part of the United States, including California, that may resemble the brown recluse, but these species have never been documented as medically significant. Loxosceles is distributed nearly worldwide in warmer areas, and are often known as violin spiders or fiddlebacks. All have six eyes arranged in three groups of two (dyads) and are usually brownish with a darker brown characteristic violin marking on the cephalothorax. Most Loxosceles can live for one and a half to two years. Members of both genera can live for very long times without food or water.

Answer 3

They are there.  Check this link for more info

http://brownreclusespider.com/faq.htm The map in green is brown recluse geographical area.