Comments on: Spiders do not bite.

By: mscerise007

mscerise007 — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 06:50:59 +0000

It is me again & I have NO bugs in my apt except for wolf spiders. I finally got bit a few days ago & it was a rather large hard good sized bump & it stayed red & was bigger than a golf ball & it really itched every day for a week then it went away & is a tiny scab now. It is on my forearm & I have thin skin. I swear it was a wolf spider.

By: Sally

Sally — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 22:10:00 +0000

I’m not exactly a spider fan, but I don’t freak out when I find them. Like anything else in nature, I like to identify them, learn a little from their behavior, observe them for a while. I like to watch webs going up in the corners of my porch. I feel the same way about birds, bees, and squirrels. I’m constantly telling people who question why I trap them and release them out my front door that I would prefer to have them eating the bugs I don’t want than to call an exterminator. That said, I DID call and exterminator when I discovered a huge brown recluse hanging out in my son’s toilet one weekend when he was at his Dad’s. I knew what I was looking at and I scooped it into a jar to show the guy when he showed up.

So, here’s how I found myself here. AND, I’m only posting something because this seems like a likely place to get an answer.

That spider was easily twice the size of any brown recluse I have seen before. It was definitely larger than the descriptions say that the species grows to. I have seen this in other species of spiders. Most noteably wolf spiders and fishing spiders. I am not kidding when I say that I have seen several wolf spiders nearing the size of my hand.

How does this happen? Why is it so difficult to find information on these aberrations? I keep thinking that this must have something to do with food sources and habitats – as all of these sightings were near dense woods or overgrown areas. I still wonder if it’s a form of giganticism?

Any thoughts?

By: Friday links: dance your statistics, ecological theory then and now, and more | Dynamic Ecology

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 12:01:41 +0000

[…] on why, really, you weren’t bitten by a brown recluse spider is entertaining. This reminded me of this old post from Chris Buddle on this topic. (ht: ESA and Terry […]

By: Chris Buddle

Chris Buddle — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 11:44:18 +0000

Hal – thanks for the comment! I’ve never seen a camel spider, but have heard the stories! Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for stopping by.

By: Chris Buddle

Chris Buddle — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 11:42:57 +0000

Thanks for the comment. You are right, I think – the ‘unexpected’ movement of some spiders certainly is one of the causes of Arachnophia,

By: Hal Newman

Hal Newman — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 18:34:51 +0000

Great post, Chris. I’m a spider lover who lives out in the country (Quebec). They are omnipresent and I admire their ability to quickly set up shop and feast on other creep crawlies. One of our daughters is the designated protector of all things buggy and she will quite readily scoop one of up in her hand to rescue it from becoming a cat snack or a foot crunch. When I was a teen and lived in the Middle East, I had the privilege of sharing my flat with a camel spider who would somehow gain access to the bathroom during the night. It would stalk its prey – usually mice – in the bathroom. Once – and it was enough – I walked in on the aftermath a kill…not pretty given the particular methods employed by a camel spider (think ‘Saw’). After that overnight visits to the toilet were out of the question.

By: Marie David

Marie David — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 17:48:32 +0000

very interesting! I live in the country, and have lots of spiders, not as pets though. I much prefer spiders to bugs, so I don’t kill any that I see. I don’t understand arachnophobia, though I do understand being startled by unexpected things. I’ve lived with them for over a decade, and I’ll take spiders any day over venomous insects, bugs. I’m thankful for spiders!

By: The Boreal Beetle › Beetle byte (11 October 2013 edition)

The Boreal Beetle › Beetle byte (11 October 2013 edition) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 15:48:02 +0000

[…] the topic of spider bites, please also read this and […]

By: Chris Buddle

Chris Buddle — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 17:35:15 +0000

Hello – I’m sorry you think this is stupid. Spiders are quite common in cities – many species are well adapted to life in urban areas – living on porches, buildings, living inside many/most buildings.

By: Wolf MalevoLance Beermush

Wolf MalevoLance Beermush — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 12:50:45 +0000

This is stupid. Spider bites are rare because spiders are not common in the city and high population areas due to spraying poisons. Where spiders are more common, where there are less people, spiders bite more often. I personally, get bit almost every day at least once by various types of spiders. Hell, I just woke up this morning to being bit in my arm pit by a brown recluse.