Brown Recluse Spider

A live Brown Recluse Spider crawls in a dish at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, Wednesday, March 30, 2011. It's that time of year when the bugs emerge to bug us. Some can pose real threats _ Lyme disease from tiny ticks, West Nile virus from mosquitoes, or life-threatening allergic reactions to bee stings. But most bug bites in this country are an itchy nuisance. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(Carolyn Kaster)

Potentially dangerous brown recluse spiders - normally limited to the warmer southern U.S. states - were found living in an unheated garage in Davison in Genesee County, where they apparently survived the winter, MSU Extension staff revealed.

"The latest find in Davison is noteworthy because the spiders were found this past week in an unheated detached garage," Howard Russell, of Michigan State University's Diagnostic Services, posted online on Friday, April 21.

"There was no history of anything being stored in the garage that originated from areas located within the native range of the brown recluse. Cold winter temperatures are thought to be a limiting factor in brown recluse spider populations. In the case in Davison, it appears brown recluse spiders survived the winter of 2016-17 in an unheated garage."

Brown recluse spiders are said to be potentially dangerous because sometimes their bites can cause lesions on a person's skin.

In 2011, MSU Extension services said three isolated brown recluse populations had been found in Genesee, Hillsdale and Ingham counties.

Since then, Russell said three new recluse populations have been confirmed in the state, via samples sent to the MSU Diagnostic Services.

In addition to the Davison spiders this spring, these include a home in Tecumseh in Lenawee County in 2015, where spiders were found living with a family of five, including three young children and two dogs, Russell said. In that case, the adults belived the spiders hitched a ride on new kitchen cabinets.

In 2016, a brown recluse was found living in a campus building at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.