The vast majority of "spider bites" are caused by something else, research shows. "I've had 100 recluse spiders running up my arm, and I've never been bitten by one," Vetter told LiveScience. Recluses are mainly found in the central and southern United States, according to Vetter's study. For example, In South Carolina, 940 physicians responding to a survey reported a total of 478 brown recluse spider bites in the state - but only one brown recluse bite has ever been definitively confirmed in the state. Often, black widow and brown recluse spiders are misidentified, and reported in regions where they are extremely unlikely to actually live, Vetter said. Before this was developed, however, treatments for black widow bites included whiskey, cocaine and nitroglycerine, according to a review Vetter published this month in the journal Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America. Nowadays, deaths from the bite are rare thanks to widow spider antivenom. Signs can include intense pain and muscle contractions, which occur because the bite interferes with nerves in muscles. The bite of widow spiders like the black widow is one of the only well-recognized spider bites in North America, with obvious, unmistakable symptoms, said Rick Vetter, a retired arachnologist at the University of California at Riverside. But still, records show bites from these spiders are very infrequent. These spiders do bite people, and if they live in your area, you should know what they look like, Buddle said. In North America, there are only two groups of spiders that are medically important: the widow group (which includes black widows) and the recluse group ( brown recluses). Only about a dozen of the approximately 40,000 spider species worldwide can cause serious harm to the average healthy adult human. Buddle said he has observed spiders "moving their fangs back and forth against his skin," all to no avail. Many spiders aren't even capable of piercing human flesh. Spiders prey on small invertebrates such as insects, so their venom is not geared toward large animals such as humans. When spider bites do happen, they tend to occur because the eight-legged beasts are surprised - for example when a person reaches into a glove, shoe or nook that they are occupying at the moment, Buddle said.Įven then, however, the majority of spiders are not toxic to humans.
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