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Notorious Spider's Bite Is Actually Rare

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Many people fear they've been bitten by a brown recluse spider when they actually have a bite from a flea or an ant, health professionals say.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2009

TAMPA - The brown recluse spider could use a good publicist, at least in Florida.

These shy creatures are known for a wallop of a bite that can turn necrotic if not treated quickly. But they don't bite people in Florida as often as we think, according to entomologists and other experts.

"You can count the documented cases on one hand," said Philip Koehler, professor of entomology at the University of Florida.

Often what people think is a spider bite is a bacterial infection or a bite from some other insect, such as an ant or a flea, said JoAnn Chambers-Emerson, a registered nurse affiliated with the Florida Poison Information Center's Tampa office.

From 2007 to 2008, the state's poison centers received 1,707 calls from people suspecting they were bitten by a spider. Of those, 103 thought they were bitten by a brown recluse spider, Chambers-Emerson said.

None of those calls resulted in a documented case, but that doesn't stop people from saying a brown recluse bit them, she said.

Florida has several varieties of spiders, but few are capable of penetrating the skin, Koehler said. One that can is the brown widow, which likes to nest around garage and porch lights. Keep these away by swiping an extendable brush under the eaves for cobwebs and using yellow-tinged outdoor lights, which won't attract them, he said.

The brown recluse likes dark spaces, especially in cool weather. It bites when it feels trapped against someone's skin, like when you put on a shoe where it's hiding, Koehler said.

It doesn't have an established population in Florida, however; any in the state likely hitchhiked from the Midwest, Koehler said. "Someone brought a U-Haul down with a whole bunch of stuff and brought some spiders along with them," he said.

G.B. Edwards, an entomologist with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, noted in a paper to which Koehler referred that a sailor bitten on the hand in a cargo ship in Jacksonville in 1986 has the only verified brown recluse bite in Florida.

Most spider bites cause puncture wounds with mild itching and do not require medical treatment, Chambers-Emerson said. Apply ice or a cold compress, and watch for an allergic reaction. If the wound becomes infected, becomes severely itchy or painful, see a doctor.

Poison centers discourage physicians from attributing a bite to a brown recluse unless the patient witnessed the bite, or can provide the spider for identification, she said. If you're concerned – and you can nab the offending insect without getting bitten again – put it in a jar with rubbing alcohol to be examined.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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