title: Arachnids misidentified as brown recluse spiders by medical personnel and other authorities in North America.
abstract: Misidentification of harmless or nearly benign arachnids as Loxosceles spiders by medical personnel and other authorities proliferates misinformation in regard to alleged loxoscelism and leads to decreased health care. This is especially true in areas of North America where Loxosceles spiders are rare or non-existent. A diverse assemblage of such misidentified arachnids is presented here. It is hoped that authorities will honestly assess their arachnological limitations and, instead, seek qualified arachnologists for spider identifications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. rick.vetter@ucr.edu
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Vetter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003142:Communication; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D009656:North America; D010820:Physicians; D001098:Spider Bites / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013112:Spiders / Q000145:classification*