Spider bites

[Tanya Shivari]

Almost all spiders are poisonous. However, the fangs of most species are too short or too fragile to penetrate human skin. Although at least 60 species in the United States have been implicated in biting people, serious injury occurs mainly from only two types of spiders:

The widow (black widow) spider
The brown (brown recluse, fiddleback, or violin) spider

Brown spiders are present in the Midwest and South Central United States, not in the coastal and Canadian border states, except when imported on clothing or luggage. Widow spiders are present throughout the United States. Although some people consider tarantulas dangerous, their bites do not seriously harm people. Spider bites cause fewer than three deaths a year in the United States, usually in children.

Serious injuries from spider bites can include severe wounds caused by the tissue-destroying venom of brown spiders and bodywide poisoning caused by the nerve-toxic venom of widow spiders.
Wounds suspected of being caused by the brown spider are often caused by other problems, some potentially more serious.
Brown spider bites are treated by caring for the wound.
Widow spider bites are treated by relieving symptoms and sometimes giving antivenom.

(See also Introduction to Bites and Stings.)