A Man Was No Longer Able To Use His Hands After A False Widow Spider Inflicted A Bite To His Index Finger
False widow spiders are often confused with black or brown widow species. However, despite this spider’s common name, the false widow is not a widow spider, as false widows belong to the Steatoda genus as opposed to the Latrodectus genus that includes black and brown widows. False widows originated from the Canary Islands, but they have established non-native populations all over the world by hitching rides in maritime trading vessels. False widow habitats are particularly numerous within the United Kingdom and California, and not long ago, researchers discovered that this species had reached Ireland where it is now considered to be an established species.
The media has long embellished reports about false widow spider bites in an effort to make the species seem as dangerous to humans as black widows. However, most scientists agree that false widow bites are not medically significant. Despite expert claims to the contrary, several case reports detailing false widow spider bites describe medical consequences that are relatively serious. These consequences include necrotizing tissue at the source of bite wounds, infection at the site of bite wounds, cardiac complications and even limb amputations. In fact, a recent news story describes how a British man sustained a false widow spider bite that later became infected. In addition to a detailed description of the bite, numerous pictures exist online showing this man’s nasty-looking bite wound.
While watching TV in the middle of the night, a 37 year old man, Gary Armstrong, found a false widow spider crawling on his hand. Unfortunately, Gary was not able to remove the spider before it managed to bite his index finger. Despite the pain that the bite caused, Gary ignored the bite until the next day when his hands became numb and unusable while he was at work. In response to this frightening symptom, Gary visited doctors who promptly told him that his infected bite wound would need to be operated on. While false widow bites are not typically dangerous, the spiders are notorious for infesting homes in California due to their need to locate warm and dry areas in order to find shelter that is located far away from other more humid areas where other threatening arthropods are abundant.
Have you ever spotted a false widow spider indoors before?