ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Staff at a University of Michigan library temporarily closed the building after three venomous spiders turned up in a basement storage area. The Mediterranean recluse spiders were found in late January in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library on the school’s Ann Arbor campus.
The library reopened Tuesday after being closed Sunday and treated Monday for spiders. University spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen says the spiders were not in any public spaces and that staff closed the building due to a misunderstanding and out of an abundance of caution.
University of Michigan-Dearborn professor Anne Danielson-Francois says recluse spider bites can cause problems ranging from minor skin irritation to tissue death.
