Thread: White tip spiders

They have been in every house I have had - they do not eat much - but I do squash them at every opportunity.

I think a good pest treatment with the good old stuff will sort them out.

Garry

Originally Posted by black betty

The wife found another White Tip in the house today. She was not happy.

Any suggestions on how to keep them out?

It has not been warm enough for us to have the doors or windows open, so where they are coming in is a bit of a mystery.

ps any one how I change my location details?

click on "quick links" above and go to edit details

First spray but then try to find and maintain a few of the "daddy long legs" spiders ,in corners and behind cupboards, as they eat other spiders babies when smaller and are no threat to your health, they also help reduce mozzie's and flys from hanging around the house to long.

Firts question is why?
There are many many myths about white tip or white tail spiders and they are exactly that myths,
Yes a necrotic infection is a remote possibility but that is more down to the persons blood makeup and is generally a result from a bacteria coss contamination and reaction with the persons blood.
I will repeat they are not a dangerous spider.

Originally Posted by CraigE

I will repeat they are not a dangerous spider.

They still hurt when they climb into your clothes and bite you on the bum.

Originally Posted by CraigE

Firts question is why?
There are many many myths about white tip or white tail spiders and they are exactly that myths,
Yes a necrotic infection is a remote possibility but that is more down to the persons blood makeup and is generally a result from a bacteria coss contamination and reaction with the persons blood.
I will repeat they are not a dangerous spider.

Correct! The only 2 spiders that get medically treated in Australia routinely are the Redback and the Sydney Funnelweb. All other bites are only treated if the person has an allergic reaction to them. White tips get a bad rap as far as I am concerned - I don't kill them, but I will relocate them outside the house, like I do with Huntsman. I leave the Daddy Longlegs around to keep the others under control.

Originally Posted by garrycol

They still hurt when they climb into your clothes and bite you on the bum.

They do hurt a bit, but only about as much as a large garden spider type bite - never had one bite me on the bum though. I have been bitten on the hand by one while relocating it outside - they seem to have a bad temper.... Huntsman don't generally bite unless you really **** them off, but if they do get you, you know all about it...

Originally Posted by CraigE

Firts question is why?
There are many many myths about white tip or white tail spiders and they are exactly that myths,
Yes a necrotic infection is a remote possibility but that is more down to the persons blood makeup and is generally a result from a bacteria coss contamination and reaction with the persons blood.
I will repeat they are not a dangerous spider.

Hmm that's NOT what the St Johns Ambulance people haveto say about them in their first aid courses.

I think the weight of evidence from more authoritative sources indicates that they don't deserve the reputation they have.

From the Medical Journal of Australia here
eMJA: White-tail spider bite: a prospective study of 130 definite bites by Lampona species

Conclusions: Bites by Lampona spp. cause minor effects in most cases, or a persistent painful red lesion in almost half the cases. White-tail spider bites are very unlikely to cause necrotic ulcers, and other diagnoses must be sought.


and from this source
AAS - Urban Myths - The bite of the White-tailed Spider (Lampona spp.)

Debunking an urban myth: The bite of the White-tailed Spider (Lampona spp.) does not seem to cause skin ulcerations!
The first case of necrotising arachnidism in Australia was believed to have occurred in 1982 (Sutherland 1982). Following this report, the White-tailed Spider as the culprit of severe skin ulcers and necrotic lesions has been perpetuated by a number of articles in medical journals (e.g. Spring 1987, Sutherland 1987, Pincus et al. 1999), general press (e.g. Young 1992) and in TV shows. In almost all cases, there was no direct evidence that a White-tailed Spider had actually bitten the patient since the spider had not been caught immediately following the bite.
Recent research by Geoff Isbister and Mike Gray (Isbister and Gray 2003) suggests that the White-tailed Spider is not to blame for severe skin ulcerations. Of 130 definite spider bites by Lampona cylindrata (79 bites) and L. murina (51 bites), collected immediately after the bite and identified by a professional arachnologist, none caused necrotic ulcers or other confirmed infections. All patients complained about pain (in some cases severe) and other effects included puncture marks (17%), redness or red marks (83%) and itchiness (44%). The study concludes: “Our study shows that white-tail spider bites are very unlikely to cause necrotic ulcers and other diagnoses must be sought. We hope this will begin to dispel some of the myths surrounding white-tail spiders and their bite.” (Isbister and Gray 2003).