Verified bites by the woodlouse spider, Dysdera crocata.
Bites by the woodlouse spider, Dysdera crocata, are virtually innocuous. The main symptom is minor pain, typically lasting less than 1h, probably due mostly to mechanical puncture of the skin. However, because the spider has a strong proclivity to bite, has large fangs which it bares when threatened and is commonly mistaken for the medically important brown recluse spider in the United States, documentation of the mild effects of its bites may prevent excessive, unwarranted and possibly harmful treatment. We present information on eight verified bites reported to us as well as eight additional bites recorded in the literature.
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. rick.vetter@ucr.edu
Richard S
RS
Vetter
Geoffrey K
GK
Isbister
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D001098:Spider Bites / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013112:Spiders / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*