black widow vs brown recluse
- Thread starter ilovebugs
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2003
- Messages
- 373
I was talking with a notable venom expert the other day, and the subject of L.reclusa venom came up. I mentioned the studies done on the midwest homes in which thousands of L.reclusa were recovered yet never a report of a bite.
He said that there is no doubt in his mind that the human occupants had in fact been bitten at some point in time, and it was quite likely that they had been bitten many times over the years that they shared residence with our "reclusive" friends. They had likely developed a resistance/tolerance to the venom through each subsequent envenomation.
The vast majority of the bites, (according to him), all across the board do little more than cause a minor local reaction.
It is so easy to make the assumption that a bite from an L.reclusa or any variety of Latrodectus would result in a more serious outcome due mostly in part to the media.
Say for instance that there was a Spider News Network (SNN). To generate an audience, one would have to eventually strive towards sensationalism which in this case would be only reporting on very serious bites.
When you watch Venom ER, it would be quite boring to have an hour of the show devoted to "mild envenomations."
Along the same lines, (as my friend cited), you could never get an accurate assessment of traffic accidents across the country simply by watching the news since the news will generally report only on the most serious incidents.
Therefore, it is easier now to understand why it is that the vast majority of the "non arachnid loving" public has such an irrational fear of Widows, Recluses and spiders as a whole.
On a side note...my friend himself has been bitten many, many, times by Loxosceles and various species of Latrodectus as he has worked with them over the years. The worst of his Latrodectus envenomation was nothing more than some minor discomfort at the site and some rather interesting and uncontrolled, muscle spasms near the afflicted area.
He said that he finds it much more intriguing to follow his symptoms and note the eventual outcome of a bite and tends to worry very little about the bite itself.
There is another AB member, (Lizmotobike), who has stated in past threads, that her husband has been bitten quite a number of times by L.hesperus (I am basing the species on their locale -California), with only a minor reaction.
Anyway....that's it for me.
He said that there is no doubt in his mind that the human occupants had in fact been bitten at some point in time, and it was quite likely that they had been bitten many times over the years that they shared residence with our "reclusive" friends. They had likely developed a resistance/tolerance to the venom through each subsequent envenomation.
The vast majority of the bites, (according to him), all across the board do little more than cause a minor local reaction.
It is so easy to make the assumption that a bite from an L.reclusa or any variety of Latrodectus would result in a more serious outcome due mostly in part to the media.
Say for instance that there was a Spider News Network (SNN). To generate an audience, one would have to eventually strive towards sensationalism which in this case would be only reporting on very serious bites.
When you watch Venom ER, it would be quite boring to have an hour of the show devoted to "mild envenomations."
Along the same lines, (as my friend cited), you could never get an accurate assessment of traffic accidents across the country simply by watching the news since the news will generally report only on the most serious incidents.
Therefore, it is easier now to understand why it is that the vast majority of the "non arachnid loving" public has such an irrational fear of Widows, Recluses and spiders as a whole.
On a side note...my friend himself has been bitten many, many, times by Loxosceles and various species of Latrodectus as he has worked with them over the years. The worst of his Latrodectus envenomation was nothing more than some minor discomfort at the site and some rather interesting and uncontrolled, muscle spasms near the afflicted area.
He said that he finds it much more intriguing to follow his symptoms and note the eventual outcome of a bite and tends to worry very little about the bite itself.
There is another AB member, (Lizmotobike), who has stated in past threads, that her husband has been bitten quite a number of times by L.hesperus (I am basing the species on their locale -California), with only a minor reaction.
Anyway....that's it for me.
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2005
- Messages
- 8,982
antivenin
Dang, ..everybody's on this one. I have a question about antivenin for a Widow bite. I think I heard this on a show. It seems like I heard that some people choose not to take the antivenin when they get bit because your body doesn't respond to the antivenin very well after you have taken the antivenin once. So they try to tough it out in case they get bit again and is more severe the next time. Not trying to start a rumor, just trying to get the facts....or trying to get rid of rumors. Is this true? I know someone that got bit my a Widow. He said he just felt real sick. Know two people that have been bit by the Recluse. One looked pretty bad, the size of a quarter and deep. The other about the size of a BB and healed just fine. I've also heard that it has to do with a degree of allergic reaction. I have the Recluse in my house. I've kept them, fed them and watched them. Interesting to watch how they kill their prey. How they attack it. If I had to choose which I would have in my house, I would choose the Widow since they tend to stay in one spot and in their web. "I" like to stay out of webs so I would leave it alone. The Recluse tends to do a little more traveling and walking around. Hiding here and there. In your clothes hamper, sheets, shoes. They don't walk around as much as Jumping spiders do but I do see them taking little trips. I get rid of the ones I see but I never use pesticides in my house. I have allot of "house" spiders in here. They are out of my way and they take care of my insect problems. I just have to clean up the dead carcasses they leave behind every once in a while but that's it. No roach problem, though some of you would like a roach problem. Here's one I found in my house. And, look what I found in my front yard under a rock.
Dang, ..everybody's on this one. I have a question about antivenin for a Widow bite. I think I heard this on a show. It seems like I heard that some people choose not to take the antivenin when they get bit because your body doesn't respond to the antivenin very well after you have taken the antivenin once. So they try to tough it out in case they get bit again and is more severe the next time. Not trying to start a rumor, just trying to get the facts....or trying to get rid of rumors. Is this true? I know someone that got bit my a Widow. He said he just felt real sick. Know two people that have been bit by the Recluse. One looked pretty bad, the size of a quarter and deep. The other about the size of a BB and healed just fine. I've also heard that it has to do with a degree of allergic reaction. I have the Recluse in my house. I've kept them, fed them and watched them. Interesting to watch how they kill their prey. How they attack it. If I had to choose which I would have in my house, I would choose the Widow since they tend to stay in one spot and in their web. "I" like to stay out of webs so I would leave it alone. The Recluse tends to do a little more traveling and walking around. Hiding here and there. In your clothes hamper, sheets, shoes. They don't walk around as much as Jumping spiders do but I do see them taking little trips. I get rid of the ones I see but I never use pesticides in my house. I have allot of "house" spiders in here. They are out of my way and they take care of my insect problems. I just have to clean up the dead carcasses they leave behind every once in a while but that's it. No roach problem, though some of you would like a roach problem. Here's one I found in my house. And, look what I found in my front yard under a rock.