Community Health Network

• Bite from a spider

Symptoms

• Bite symptoms include redness, pain, swelling
• Helpful if spider seen on the skin or in close proximity to the child

Types of Spider Bites

Black Widow Spider Bite

• A shiny, jet-black spider with long legs (total size 1 inch).
• A red (or orange) hourglass-shaped marking on its under-side.
• Causes immediate local mild pain, swelling and occasionally 2 fang marks.
• Severe muscle cramps (especially abdominal wall cramps) are present by 1 to 6 hours, and last 24 to 48 hours.
• Rarely causes death (EXCEPTION: bitten by several spiders or small child is bitten)
• Note: Many are dry bites because the fangs are small.

Brown Recluse Spider Bite

• A brown spider with long legs (total size 1/2 inch).
• A dark violin shaped marking on top of its head
• Causes local pain and delayed blister formation in 4 to 8 hours
• The center becomes bluish and depressed (crater-like) over 2 to 3 days
• Skin damage may require skin grafting in 10% of cases.
• Systemic symptoms such as fever, vomiting, muscle pain can occur (but no life-threatening symptoms).
• Since brown recluse spiders are hard to identify, bring the spider along in a jar.

Non-dangerous Spider Bites

• More than 50 spiders in the U.S. have venom and can cause local, nonserious reactions.
• The bites are painful and mildly swollen for 1 or 2 days (much like a bee sting).
• Many single, unexplained, tender bites that occur during the night are due to spiders.