Spiders
Some information from a useful page at the Australian Museum Online, about Spiders.
Q: How many dangerous spider bites occur in Australia each year?
A:
A spider bite is not a notifiable medical emergency, so there are no Australia-wide statistics, but the following figures give an idea of the incidence of reported bites in recent years.
Approximately 2000 people are bitten each year by Redback Spiders.
Funnel-web spider antivenom has been given to at least 100 patients since 1980.
Antivenom is given only when signs of serious envenomation are observed. Many spider bites are ‘blank’, which means that no venom has been injected.
Q: Has anyone died from a snake bite recently?
A:
There have been no deaths in Australia from a confirmed spider bite since 1979
An effective antivenom for Redback Spiders was introduced in 1956, and one for funnel-web spiders in 1980.
These are the only two spiders that have caused deaths in Australia in the past.
During 2000 the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre received 4,200 calls about spiders. However not all of these would have involved actual bites. Many reported bites are not able to be identified as definitely being from a spider, and it is nearly impossible to work out what species has caused a bite without seeing a specimen of the spider responsible.
Spider Bites
- Funnel web spiders (Eastern Australia), are the most dangerous of all the world’s spiders.
- Red back spider bites are common, but rarely cause death.
- Huntsman spiders come into houses especially in summer. They are usually timid, but bites cause pain around the bite and occasionally headache and vomiting.
- Australian tarantulas
- Bird-dropping Spiders
- Black House Spiders
- Black Rugose Trapdoor Spider
- Bolas Spiders - Magnificent Spider
- Carrai Cave Spider
- Comb-footed Platform Spider
- Cupboard or Brown House Spider
- Flower or Crab Spiders
- Foliage Webbing Spider
- Fringed Jumping Spider or Portia
- Funnel-web Spiders
- Ground spiders
- Huntsman Spiders
- Jumping spiders
- Leaf-curling spiders
- Mangrove Golden Orb-weaving Spider
- Mouse Spiders
- Net-casting Spiders (Deinopis subrufa and Avella sp)
- Orb-weaving Spiders
- Redback Spiders
- Red-spotted Argyrodes
- Rufous Net-casting Spider
- Sac Spiders
- Saint Andrew’s Cross Spider
- Scorpions
- Slater-eating Spiders
- Spiders in the House and Garden
- Spiders that mimic ants
- Spotted Ground Spider
- Tasmanian Cave Spider
- Trapdoor Spiders
- Tube Spiders
- Wolf Spiders
- Whip Spider
- White-tailed Spider
- What’s in your backyard?
First aid treatment for spider bites is different for different spiders.
A useful source of info at: Spider Bites
Spiders and their relatives
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