![]() ![]() There were no cases of necrotic ulcers or confirmed infections. To test this, Geoffrey Isbister and Michael Gray studied 130 confirmed White-tailed spider bites (where the spider was seen biting and captured afterwards for identification) in Australia from February 1999 to April 2002. Sometimes a spider is seen around the time of the bite, while in other cases it has been assumed it was a White-tail bite, either by medical personnel or the patient. In the majority of cases, there is no clear evidence a spider was responsible. The main issue is whether a patient has actually been biten by a White-tail. ![]() Describing the spider as "poisonous" is not correct, while links to necrotising arachnidism (where the flesh starts to die as a result of an infection in the bite) are also tenuous (see NZ Medical Journal reference below). ![]() There has been some media coverage in Australia and New Zealand in recent years about alleged White-tailed spider bites, but much of the information has been highly inaccurate. In most cases the bite will cause little harm, as there is nothing in the venom that will affect us. White-tailed spiders do bite but will only bite if handled or provoked. These nocturnal hunting spiders are unusual because they feed only on other spiders, preferring the grey house spiders, which build their zigzag webs on the outside of houses, on fences and car mirrors. The spider often hides in clothing, especially if it is left lying around on the floor. Their preferred habitat is under dry bark and plants but will often be seen inside houses, where they look for shelter from the light, after hunting at night. Pale patches are present on the sides of the abdomen in juveniles but these fade in adults. These dark grey spiders are 12-17mm long and readily recognised by their elongate body form and a distinctive white patch on the end of the abdomen. For many years the White-tailed spider was thought to be just the one species Lampona cylindrata but a recent revision of Australasian Lamponidae found that there were 61 species in Australia and just the two mentioned here occur in New Zealand. Another species Lampona cylindrata (Koch.L) is also known from Nelson and has recently been found in Christchurch. It is believed that it came into the country with early colonists and is now well established throughout the North Island. This Australian spider was first recorded in NZ in 1886, at Waiwera, Auckland. ![]()
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