Spiders do not gain any benefit from biting people. Biting a person does not benefit a spider, it only wastes precious venom. Other biters like mosquitoes, ticks and bed bugs bite us because our blood or other fluids supply them with food. Spiders have no interest in our fluids; they feed on insects or other arthropods. Spiders bite people only in defense and even that rarely happens. When spider bites occur, it usually because some reaches into an old boot or other item not frequently used where a spider has been hiding. The spider bites only as it is about to be crushed.
Most spiders could not bite people even if they wanted to. Of approximately 3,000 different spiders in the U.S., only a small numbers have fangs that area long enough and strong enough to break skin. Of those biters, only four spiders are thought to be of any danger to people: recluse spiders, widow spiders, hobo spider, and yellow sac spider. Experts don’t even agree on whether all of these spiders have dangerous bites.
Not every part of the U.S. even has dangerous spiders. It has been estimated that 60% of alleged brown recluse spider bites occur in areas where no brown recluse spiders are known to exist. Spider experts say that even if a brown recluse does find itself imported into a region, give the infrequency of brown recluse bites, the probability that this imported spider would actually bite someone is zero. Do you know what types of spiders are in the Albany NY area?
About 80% of spider bite diagnose are wrong. There are many medical conditions that are easily misdiagnosed as spider’s bites, and there are a number of other arthropods whose bites are blamed on spiders. In one study of 600 suspected spider bites in southern California, 80% were caused by other arthropods, mostly ticks and conenose bugs.
Spider experts feel that the diagnosis of “spider bite” should only be made when a spider is caught in the act of biting, or is otherwise reliably associated with the wound. There is one clue as whether the bite is from a spider. A spider bite is distinguished by two small punctures, set close together, from the spider’s two fangs. Most insects leave a single puncture mark when they bite. Once the bite becomes swollen, it’s no longer possibly to see the puncture marks. Because spiders only bite once, a person with multiply bites was not bitten by a spider. When there are multiple bites in the same house or location, spiders are not the culprits.
The unfortunate outcome of misdiagnosed spider bites is that people with serious medical problems may go undiagnosed and untreated when the easier diagnosis of spider bite is made. There are at least 30 different medical conditions that can cause skin lesion that have been misdiagnosed as spider bites, including herpes, bed sores, basal cell carcinoma, Lyme disease to name a few.
This does not mean that people can not be bitten by a spider. However, they should understand that a spider bite is extremely unlikely and should ask themselves, “What else could it be?” instead of assuming it is a spider bite. Spiders are among the most prevalent household pests, crawling their way into two out of three American homes. If you have a spider in your home contact your local spider removal expert, Thomas Pest Services. Protect your home, family and heath by contacting us for a no charge consultation today!
Source: Pinto & Associates Techletter October 28, 2012