Buster
05-21-2008, 09:56 PM
...can be a bitch...
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/Atwater/spider-1.jpg
The brown recluse spider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider), Loxosceles reclusa, is a well-known member of the family Sicariidae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicariidae) (formerly placed in a family "Loxoscelidae"). It is usually between 6–20 mm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimetre) (¼ in (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch) and ¾ in) but may grow larger. It is brown and sometimes an almost deep yellow color and usually has markings on the dorsal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsum_%28biology%29) side of its cephalothorax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalothorax), with a black line coming from it that looks like a violin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin) with the neck of the violin pointing to the rear of the spider, resulting in the nicknames fiddleback spider, brown fiddler or violin spider. Coloring varies from light tan to brown and the violin marking may not be visible.
A minority of brown recluse spider bites form a necrotizing ulcer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulcer) that destroys soft tissue and may take months to heal, leaving deep scars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scar). The damaged tissue will become gangrenous (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangrene) and eventually slough away. The initial bite frequently cannot be felt and there may be no pain, but over time the wound may grow to as large as 10 inches (25 cm) in extreme cases. Bites usually become painful and itchy within 2 to 8 hours, pain and other local effects worsen 12 to 36 hours after the bite with the necrosis developing over the next few days.[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse#cite_note-ClinTox-Wasserman-7)
Serious systemic effects may occur before this time, as the venom spreads throughout the body in minutes. Mild symptoms include nausea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausea), vomiting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomiting), fever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever), rashes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rash), and muscle and joint pain. Rarely more severe symptoms occur including hemolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemolysis), thrombocytopenia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrombocytopenia), and disseminated intravascular coagulation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disseminated_intravascular_coagulation).[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse#cite_note-NEJM2005-Wasserman-8) Debilitated patients, the elderly, and children may be more susceptible to systemic loxoscelism. Deaths have been reported for both the brown recluse and the related South American species L. laeta[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse#cite_note-9) and L. intermedia.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] Other recluse species such as the desert recluse (found in the desert southwestern United States) are reported to have caused necrotic bite wounds
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/Atwater/spider-1.jpg
The brown recluse spider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider), Loxosceles reclusa, is a well-known member of the family Sicariidae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicariidae) (formerly placed in a family "Loxoscelidae"). It is usually between 6–20 mm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimetre) (¼ in (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch) and ¾ in) but may grow larger. It is brown and sometimes an almost deep yellow color and usually has markings on the dorsal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsum_%28biology%29) side of its cephalothorax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalothorax), with a black line coming from it that looks like a violin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin) with the neck of the violin pointing to the rear of the spider, resulting in the nicknames fiddleback spider, brown fiddler or violin spider. Coloring varies from light tan to brown and the violin marking may not be visible.
A minority of brown recluse spider bites form a necrotizing ulcer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulcer) that destroys soft tissue and may take months to heal, leaving deep scars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scar). The damaged tissue will become gangrenous (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangrene) and eventually slough away. The initial bite frequently cannot be felt and there may be no pain, but over time the wound may grow to as large as 10 inches (25 cm) in extreme cases. Bites usually become painful and itchy within 2 to 8 hours, pain and other local effects worsen 12 to 36 hours after the bite with the necrosis developing over the next few days.[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse#cite_note-ClinTox-Wasserman-7)
Serious systemic effects may occur before this time, as the venom spreads throughout the body in minutes. Mild symptoms include nausea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausea), vomiting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomiting), fever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever), rashes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rash), and muscle and joint pain. Rarely more severe symptoms occur including hemolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemolysis), thrombocytopenia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrombocytopenia), and disseminated intravascular coagulation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disseminated_intravascular_coagulation).[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse#cite_note-NEJM2005-Wasserman-8) Debilitated patients, the elderly, and children may be more susceptible to systemic loxoscelism. Deaths have been reported for both the brown recluse and the related South American species L. laeta[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse#cite_note-9) and L. intermedia.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] Other recluse species such as the desert recluse (found in the desert southwestern United States) are reported to have caused necrotic bite wounds