- Tarantulas are hairy spiders of the desert southwest that live in burrows in rocks and beneath the ground. They are large spiders, with some species possessing a body that is 3 inches long and legs that make them 2 or 3 inches tall. Tarantulas are poisonous, but their bite, despite what people have heard and believe, has never resulted in a confirmed human death. They are similar to wasp stings and have been known to become infected.
- The female black widow is poisonous, while the males and the young spiders are not. The venom of a black widow spider is as much as 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake; however, the spider is only able to inject a very small amount into a person when they do bite. The female is black like the male, sometimes brownish, but they possess a red hourglass-shaped patch on the bottom of their abdomen. A black widow bite is fatal less than 5 percent of the time, but because the black widow is found throughout the US and many parts of the world, no poisonous spider kills more people.
- The brown recluse spider is shy, giving it its name, but will bite people if they come into direct contact with it, often when it gets in their clothes. Found in the southern states from Virginia to California, they have expanded their original territory from the Deep South east and westwards. The brown recluse is brown or yellowish with a violin-shaped marking near its head. The bite of the brown recluse is rarely fatal, with small children among the most frequent victims if it is. However, the bite can be very painful and has been known to cause necrosis of surrounding tissue in the area of the bite, meaning that cells die from the poison the spider introduces to the area.
- The hobo spider, or funnel spider, is another American spider that is poisonous. It is found in the northwestern states and it will build a web with a funnel shape and wait for prey to stumble into it. They will defend their eggs from humans but normally only bite if they somehow are handled by people. The hobo spider's bite can't kill a healthy individual but it can result in headaches, vision problems, and fatigue. The bite is painful and there are reports of it causing necrosis in the bite area as well.
- If you are bitten by any spider, it is best to capture the spider so that it can be properly identified. If the spider is poisonous, the bite will most likely be painful and there can be some nausea and vomiting as a result of the bite. You should go to an emergency room promptly, especially if you think the spider is actually a poisonous species. Wash the wound quite thoroughly with soap and water to prevent infection and be on the lookout for symptoms such as cramping muscles, redness, abdominal pain and fever.
