Mystery spider bite...

[Vfox]

No offense if I seem way off the mark, but seriously, a spider with FOUR fangs??

Duh, everyone knows spiders have 6 fangs, 14 1/3 eyes, and 10 legs....I mean seriously, who doesn't know that? :}


I think he meant its second fang broke before it could get the second bite in, which would result in three holes....right? Either way, it's not caused by a spider, I vote ants.

 

[myrmecophile]

I see three options here poison ivy, fire ants, chiggers. Absolutely not a spider bite. I go to Arkansas every year aout this time and get nailed by chiggers every time, lower legs and feet/ankles.

 

[bugmankeith]

Pitbulllady i'm not messin with anyone, a post confused me, by vfox. Why does everyone always think people are trolls on here I dont understand? Even after the opinions im still skeptical.

posted by vfox, I would assume she got hit by some ants, that would account for the missing 4th fang mark.


After reading that it seemed she was saying that if there is 3 holes where is the 4th hole? implying spiders have 4 fangs and without that last hole it must be ants. I always thought they had two, so after reading her post I was confused a little, I dont own any spiders so its not like I can get a close up of them to look. But ok my first thought was right, they have 2 fangs, not 4.

Forget about all the previous posts, here is a picture of the bite. It's blurry but mabye you can tell by looking what it was. It's not as bad looking as she made it out to be.... and looking I only count 2 holes from what I can make out.

 

[pitbulllady]

Looks just like fire ant stings/bites. You don't always feel it when they nail you, trust me-I've fallen victim to these things more times than a math geek with a TI calculator and a slide rule can count. They are very common throughout much of NC. Fire ants bite with their sharp mandibles(two punctures)and sting with the other end(the third puncture). It does not resemble any spider bite at all, and there's no reason to assume that a spider is responsible. "Spider bite" has become medical jargon for "I really don't know what caused this".

pitbulllady

 

[bugmankeith]

That makes sense, the 2 mandibles and then the stinger, but why only one ant, arent they very aggressive and swarm quickly, and wouldnt she have seen the colony? I'm just asking to learn more.

ok update.

Just talked to her again, the doctor changed the diagnosis from spider bite to insect bite, and she was given cream and pills to treat it. I told her about the fire ants, after learning from a doctor what they look like, she said there were fire ants all over the woods and by her college, so it seems it was the fire ant. Here in NY (by me) we only see carpenter ants and small brown ants, none cause any reaction so she was unaware there are ants that cause reactions.

Mystery solved! Thanks for the help.

 

[pitbulllady]

That makes sense, the 2 mandibles and then the stinger, but why only one ant, arent they very aggressive and swarm quickly, and wouldnt she have seen the colony? I'm just asking to learn more.

ok update.

Just talked to her again, the doctor changed the diagnosis from spider bite to insect bite, and she was given cream and pills to treat it. I told her about the fire ants, after learning from a doctor what they look like, she said there were fire ants all over the woods and by her college, so it seems it was the fire ant. Here in NY (by me) we only see carpenter ants and small brown ants, none cause any reaction so she was unaware there are ants that cause reactions.

Mystery solved! Thanks for the help.

Fire ants send out "scouts" all over the place to search for food, new potential homes, etc., and often whoever is unfortunate enough to wind up in the path of these ants will be attacked. You don't have to disturb a nest. I've gotten single fire ant stings just walking across the yard, nowhere near a mound. It's not uncommon to bring in a stray fire ant on your shoes, and have it sting you later while you're inside. They're just that aggressive; they will bite and sting with no apparent provocation. The wounds they make can be extremely persistent, and can take weeks or even months to heal, and it's not uncommon for them to leave permanent scars, like chicken pox scars. Fire ants are very attracted to electrical equipment, like computers and air conditioners, too, so it's not uncommon to encounter at least one or two while near such items. They create all sorts of problems down here, shorting out electrical stuff. They're a prime example of just how bad an invasive species can be.

pitbulllady

 

[bugmankeith]

That would be bad if a queen hitchhiked here to NY on her clothing or something, but she is in the 2nd floor of the dorm so there should be less ants there where first floor they would be outside the building.

 

[myrmecophile]

Multiple stings close together are not unusual with Solenopsis esp. S. invicta. From the nature of the inflamed areas I would say that is what happened here.

 

[kitty_b]

muahaha. evil ants.

 

[Vfox]

muahaha. evil ants.

It's funny how everyone on here loves basically all critters except mites, ticks, and especially ants! I like the little buggers, they are really interesting, and the stings never really hurt that bad, it's like a wimpy bee.

 

[ArachnoYak]

Quacks

I agree wholeheartedly with everyone here that dislikes doctors who misdiagnose spider bites. Let's remember that they are doctors who chose to specialize in Humans not arachnids. If I were to ask a doctor about the rate at which my renal glands convert blood waste to urine I would accept their answer as correct. On the other hand, if I were to ask a doctor the difference between myglamorphs and araneadae I would be just as well off listening to a bum on the street. Doctors know about as much about spiders and other arachnids(or any arthropod for that matter) as Bush knows about Grammar and phoenetics. Let's leave identification of spider bites to the arachnologists and let's leave human anatomy and physiology to medical doctors.

 

[cacoseraph]

I agree wholeheartedly with everyone here that dislikes doctors who misdiagnose spider bites. Let's remember that they are doctors who chose to specialize in Humans not arachnids. If I were to ask a doctor about the rate at which my renal glands convert blood waste to urine I would accept their answer as correct. On the other hand, if I were to ask a doctor the difference between myglamorphs and araneadae I would be just as well off listening to a bum on the street. Doctors know about as much about spiders and other arachnids(or any arthropod for that matter) as Bush knows about Grammar and phoenetics. Let's leave identification of spider bites to the arachnologists and let's leave human anatomy and physiology to medical doctors.

well... when a doctor goes making a diagnosis... it *probably* should know what the frost it is talking about, no? a huge part of being a knowledge authority figure is knowing when to admit you don't know!