title: Review of southern African spiders of medical importance, with notes on the signs and symptoms of envenomation.
abstract: Medically important spiders in southern Africa are discussed in terms of their morphological features and distribution, the signs and symptoms of envenomation and the possible treatment thereof. A simple pictorial key is provided to enable the non-specialist to identify the neurotoxic and cytotoxic species. The following spiders are now known to be medically important in southern Africa: Latrodectus indistinctus (neurotoxic), Chiracanthium lawrencei (cytotoxic), Loxosceles sp. (cytotoxic) and Sicarius sp. (cytotoxic - haemotoxic).
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Pretoria.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Newlands
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Atkinson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D013019:South Africa; D001098:Spider Bites; D013112:Spiders / Q000033:anatomy & histology*