Spiders of the genus Loxosceles (Araneae, Sicariidae): A review of biological, medical and psychological aspects regarding envenomations

Journal of Arachnology

Volumn 36, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 150-163

  Vetter, Richard S ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b San Bernardino County Museum   (United States)

Author keywords

Arachnida; Brown recluse spider; Dermonecrosis; Distribution

Indexed keywords

ARACHNIDA; ARANEAE; LOXOSCELES; LOXOSCELES RECLUSA; SICARIIDAE;

EID: 45449087373     PISSN: 01618202     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1636/RSt08-06.1     Document Type: Article

References (120)

1. Anderson, J.F. 1990. The size of spider eggs and estimates of their energy content. Journal of Arachnology 18:73-78.
2. Anderson, P.C. 1982. Letter to the editor. Toxicon 20:533.
3. Anderson, P.C. 1990. Loxoscelism and the history of the Missouri brown spider: a recollection of Dr. Joseph Flynn. Missouri Medicine 87:747-752.
4. Anderson, P.C. 1998. Missouri brown recluse spider: a review and update. Missouri Medicine 95:318-322.
5. Andrade, R.M.G., K.C. Oliveira, A.L. Giusti, W.D. Silva & D. Tambourgi. 1999. Ontogenetic development of Loxosceles intermedia spider venom. Toxicon 37:627-632.
6. Atkins, J.A., C.W. Wingo & W.A. Sodeman. 1957. Probable cause of necrotic spider bite in the Midwest. Science 126:73.
7. Bancroft, E.A. 2007. Antimicrobial resistance: it's not just for hospitals. Journal of the American Medical Association 298: 1803-1804.
8. Barbara, K.C., I. Knysak, R. Martins, C. Hogan & K. Winkel. 2005. Enzymatic characterization, antigenic cross-reactivity and neutralization of dermonecrotic activity of five Loxosceles spider venoms of medical importance in the Americas. Toxicon 45:489-499.
9. Baxtrom, C., T. Mongkolpradit, J.N. Kasimos, L.M. Braune, R.D. Wise, P. Sierwald & K.R. Ramsey. 2006. Common house spiders are not likely vectors of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. Journal of Medical Entomology 43:962-965.
10. Beatty, J. 1970. The spider genus Ariadna in the Americas (Araneae: Dysderidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 139:433-517.
11. Bennett, R.G. & R.S. Vetter. 2004. An approach to spider bites: erroneous attribution of dermonecrotic lesions to brown recluse or hobo spider bites in Canada. Canadian Family Physician 50: 1098-1101.
12. Benoit, R. & J.R. Suchard. 2006. Necrotic skin lesions: spider bite - or something else? Consultant 46:1386-1394.
13. Binford, G.J. & M.A. Wells. 2003. The phylogenetic distribution of sphingomyelinase D activity in venoms of haplogyne spiders. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B 135:25-33.
14. Binford, G.J., M.H.J. Cordes & M.A. Wells. 2005. Sphingomyelinase D from venoms of Loxosceles spiders: evolutionary insights from cDNA sequences and gene structure. Toxicon 45:547-560.
15. Borkan, J., E. Gross, Y. Lubin & I. Oryan. 1995. An outbreak of venomous spider bites in a citrus grove. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 52:228-230.
16. Bradley, R.A. 2004. In Ohio's Backyard: Spiders. Ohio Biological Survey Backyard Series #4. 183 pp.
17. Cacy, J. & J.W. Mold. 1999. The clinical characteristics of brown recluse spider bites treated by family physicians: an OKPRN study. Journal of Family Practice 48:536-542.
18. Cameron, H.D. 2005. An etymological dictionary of North American spider genus names. Pp. 274-330. In Spiders of North America: an Identification Manual. (D. Ubick, P. Paquin, P.E. Gushing & V. Roth, eds.). American Arachnological Society.
19. Carrel, J.E. & R.D. Heathcote. 1976. Heart rate in spiders: influence of body size and foraging energetics. Science 193:148-150.
20. Caveness, W.A. 1872. Insect bite, complicated with fever. Nashville Journal of Medicine and Surgery 10:333-337.
21. Chaim, O.M., Y.B. Sade, R.B. da Silveira, L. Toma, E. Kalapothakis, C. Chávez-Olórtegui, O.C. Mangili, W. Gremski, C.P. von Dietrich, H.B. Nader & S.S. Veiga. 2006. Brown spider dermonecrotic toxin directly induces nephrotoxicity. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 211:64-77.
22. Chow, R.K.P. & V.C. Ho. 1996. Treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 34:1047-1060.
23. Cohen, P.R. 2007. Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infections: a review of epidemiology, clinical features, management and prevention. International Journal of Dermatology 46:1-11.
24. Cramer, K.L. & A.V. Mayright. 2008. Cold temperature tolerance and distribution of the brown recluse spider Loxosceles reclusa (Araneae, Sicariidae) in Illinois. Journal of Arachnology 36: 136-139.
25. da Silva, P.H., R.B. da Silveira, M.H. Appel, O.C. Mangili, W. Gremski & S.S. Veiga. 2004. Brown spiders and loxoscelism. Toxicon 44:693-709.
26. de Souza, A.L., C.M. Malaque, J. Sztanjbok, C.C. Romano, A.J. Duarte & A.C. Seguro. 2008. Loxosceles venom-induced cytokine activation, hemolysis, and acute kidney injury. Toxicon 51:151-156.
27. Difonzo, N. & P. Bordia. 2006. Rumor Psychology: Social and Organizational Approaches. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. 292 pp.
28. Dominguez, T.J. 2004. It's not a spider bite, it's community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of the American Board of Family Practice 17:220-26.
29. Dorris, P.R. 1967. The spiders of Mississippi. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Mississippi, Oxford. 283 pp.
30. Elgar, M.A. 1998. Sperm competition and sexual selection in spiders and other arachnids. Pp. 307-339. In Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection. (T.R. Birkhead & A.P. Møller, eds.). Academic Press, San Diego, California.
31. Elstein, A.S. 1995. Clinical reasoning in medicine. Pp. 49-59. In Clinical Reasoning in the Health Professions. (J. Higgs & M. Jones, eds.). Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd., Oxford, UK.
32. Elston, D.M., S.D. Miller, R.J. Young III, J. Eggers, D. McGlasson, W.H. Schmidt & A. Bush. 2005. Comparison of colchicine, dapsone, triamcinolone, and diphenhydramine therapy for the treatment of brown recluse spider envenomation: a double-blind, controlled study in a rabbit model. Archives of Dermatology 141:595-597.
33. Elzinga, R.J. 1977. Observations on the longevity of the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch & Mulaik. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 50:187-188.
34. Eskafi, F.M., J.L. Frazier, R.R. Hocking & B.R. Norment. 1977. Influence of environmental factors on longevity of the brown recluse spider. Journal of Medical Entomology 14:221-228.
35. Fagan, S.P., D.H. Berger, K. Rahwan & S.S. Awad. 2003. Spider bites presenting with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection require early aggressive treatment. Surgical Infections 4:311-315.
36. Fischer, M.L. & E.M. da Silva. 2001. Oviposição e desenvolimento de Loxosceles hirsuta Mello-Leitao, 1931 (Araneae; Sicariidae). Estudos de Biologia Curitiba 47:15-20.
37. 50) for Loxosceles intermedia Mello-Leitao, 1934 and L. laeta (Nicolet, 1849) (Araneae, Sicariidae). Journal of Thermal Biology 28:563-570.
38. Fischer, M.L. & J. Vasconcellos-Neto. 2005a. Development and life tables of Loxosceles intermedia Mello-Leitão 1934 (Araneae, Sicariidae). Journal of Arachnology 33:758-766.
39. Fischer, M.L. & J. Vasconcellos-Neto. 2005b. Parameters affecting fecundity of Loxosceles intermedia Mello-Leitão 1934 (Araneae, Sicariidae). Journal of Arachnology 33:670-680.
40. Fischer, M.L. & J. Vasconcellos-Neto. 2005c. Microhabitats occupied by Loxosceles intermedia and Loxosceles laeta (Araneae: Sicariidae) in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Journal of Medical Entomology 42:756-765.
41. Frithsen, I.L., R.S. Vetter & I.C. Stocks. 2007. Reports of envenomation by brown recluse spiders exceed verified specimens of Loxosceles spiders in South Carolina. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 20:483-488.
42. Galiano, M.E. 1967. Ciclo biologico y desarrollo de Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet, 1849) (Araneae, Scytodidae). Acta Zoologica Lilloana 23:431-464.
43. Gertsch, W.J. 1958. The spider genus Loxosceles in North America, Central America, and the West Indies. American Museum Novitates 1907:1-46.
44. Gertsch, W.J. 1967. The spider genus Loxosceles in South America (Araneae, Scytodidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 136:117-174.
45. Gertsch, W.J. & F. Ennik. 1983. The spider genus Loxosceles in North America, Central America, and the West Indies (Araneae, Loxoscelidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 175:264-360.
46. Gomez, H.F., D.M. Krywko & W.V. Stoecker. 2002. A new assay for the detection of Loxosceles species (brown recluse) spider venom. Annals of Emergency Medicine 39:469-474.
47. Gorham, J.R. 1968. The geographic distribution of the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa (Araneae, Scytodidae) and related species in the United States. United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative Economic Insect Report 18:171-175.
48. Graber, M.L., N. Franklin & R. Gordon. 2005. Diagnostic error in internal medicine. Archives of Internal Medicine 165:1493-1499.
49. Groopman, J. 2007. How Doctors Think. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 307 pp.
50. Hite, J.M., W.J. Gladney, J.L. Lancaster & W.H. Whitcomb. 1966. The biology of the brown recluse spider. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 711.26 pp.
51. Hogan, C.J., K.C. Barbaro & K. Winkel. 2004. Loxoscelism: old obstacles, new directions. Annals of Emergency Medicine 44: 608-624.
52. Horner, N.V. & K.W. Stewart. 1967. Life history of the brown spider, Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch and Mulaik. Texas Journal of Science 19:334-347.
53. Isbister, G.K. 2004. Necrotic arachnidism: the myth of a modern plague. Lancet 364:549-553.
54. Isbister, G.K. & M.R. Gray. 2003. White-tail spider bite: a prospective study of 130 definite bites by Lampona species. Medical Journal of Australia 179:199-202.
55. Kaston, B.J. 1970. Comparative biology of American black widow spiders. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 16:33-82.
56. Klevens, R.M., M.A. Morrison, J. Nadle, S. Petit, K. Gershman, S. Ray, L.H. Harrison, R. Lynfield, G. Dumyati, J.M. Townes, A.S. Craig, E.R. Zell, G.E. Fosheim, L.K. McDougal, R.B. Carey & S.K. Fridkin. 2007. Invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association 298:1763-1771.
57. Knight, D.P. & F. Vollrath. 2002. Spinning an elastic ribbon of spider silk. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 357:219-227.
58. Kuhn, G.J. 2002. Diagnostic errors. Academic Emergency Medicine 9:740-750.
59. Kunkel, D.B. 1985. The myth of the brown recluse spider. Emergency Medicine 17(5):124-128.
60. Laack, T.A., L.G. Stead & M.E. Wolfe. 2007. Images in emergency medicine. Annals of Emergency Medicine 50:368.
61. Lee, R.V., R.S. Buker Jr. & K.M. Petersen. 1969. North American loxoscelism: two presumptive cases from northern Montana. Rocky Mountain Medical Journal 66:57-59.
62. Lowe, R.T. 1835. Descriptions of two species of Araneidae, natives of Madeira. Zoological Journal 5:320-323.
63. Lowrie, D.C. 1980. Starvation longevity of Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet) (Araneae). Entomological News 91:130-132.
64. Macchiavello, A. 1947. Cutaneous arachnoidism or cutaneous spot of Chile. Puerto Rico Public Health and Tropical Medicine 22: 425-466.
65. Málaque, C.M.S., J.E. Castro-Valencia, J.L.C. Cardoso, F.O.S. França, K.C. Barbaro & H.W. Fan. 2002. Clinical and epidemiological features of definitive and presumed loxoscelism in São Paulo, Brazil. Revista Institute de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 44:139-143.
66. Mara, J.E. & B.S. Myers. 1977. Brown spider bite. Rocky Mountain Medical Journal 74:257-258.
67. Masters, E.J. 1998. Loxoscelism. New England Journal of Medicine 339:379.
68. Miller, L.G. & B. Spellberg. 2004. Spider bites and infections caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Surgical Infections 5:321-322.
69. Montgomery, K. 2006. How Doctors Think: Clinical Judgment and the Practice of Medicine. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 246 pp.
70. Moran, G.J., A. Krishnadasan, R.J. Gorwitz, G.E. Fosheim, L.K. McDougal, R.B. Carey & D.A. Talan. 2006. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus infections among patients in emergency rooms. New England Journal of Medicine 355:666-674.
71. Newlands, G., C. Isaacson & C. Martindale. 1982. Loxoscelism in the Transvaal, South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 76:610-615.
72. Oehler, C. 1974. The medical significance of spiders at Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati Museum of Natural History 23(3):1-11.
73. Osterhoudt, K.C., T. Zaoutis & J.J. Zorc. 2002. Lyme disease masquerading as brown recluse spider bite. Annals of Emergency Medicine 39:558-561.
74. Paixão-Cavalante, D., C.W. van den Berg, R.M. Goncalves-de-Andrade, M.F. Fernandes-Pedrosa, C.K. Okamoto & D.V. Tambourgi. 2007. Tetracycline protects against dermonecrosis induced by Loxosceles spider venom. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 127:1410-1418.
75. Patel, K.D., V. Modur, G.A. Zimmerman, S.M. Prescott & T.M. McIntyre. 1994. The necrotic venom of the brown recluse spider induces dysregulated endothelial cell-dependent neutrophil activation. Journal of Clinical Investigation 94:631-642.
76. Pauli, I., J. Puka, I.C. Gubert & J.C. Minozzo. 2006. The efficacy of antivenom in loxoscelism treatment. Toxicon 48:123-137.
77. Platnick, N.I. 2007. The World Spider Catalog, Version 8.0. American Museum of Natural History. Online at http://research. amnh.org/entomology/ spiders/catalog/SICARIIDAE.html
78. Platnick, N.I., J.A. Coddington, R.R. Forster & C.E. Griswold. 1991. Spinneret morphology and the phylogeny of haplogyne spiders (Araneae, Araneomorphae). American Museum Novitates 3016:1-73.
79. Rapp, W.F. 1980. A catalog of spiders of Nebraska. Novitates Arthropodae 1(2):1-39.
80. Redelmeier, D.A. 2005. The cognitive psychology of missed diagnoses. Annals of Internal Medicine 142:115-120.
81. Reed, H.B. Jr.. 1968. The brown recluse spider and loxoscelism in Tennessee. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 43: 110-114.
82. Ribeiro, R.O.S., O.M. Chaim, R.B. da Silveira, L.H. Gremski, Y.B. Sade, K.S. Paludo, A. Senff-Ribeiro, J. de Moura, C. Chávez-Olortegui, W. Gremski, H.B. Nader & S.S. Veiga. 2007. Biological and structural comparison of recombinant phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles intermedia (brown spider venom). Toxicon 50:1162-1174.
83. Rinaldi, I.M.P., L.C. Forti & A.A. Stropa. 1997. On the development of the brown spider Loxosceles gaucho Gertsch (Araneae, Sicariidae): the nympho-imaginal period. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 14:697-706.
84. Roche, K.J., M.W. Chang & H. Lazarus. 2001. Cutaneous anthrax infection. New England Journal of Medicine 345:1611.
85. Russell, F.E. 1986. A confusion of spiders. Emergency Medicine 18(11):8-13.
86. Russell, F.E. & W.J. Gertsch. 1983. Letter to the editor. Toxicon 21:337-339.
87. Russell, F.E., W.G. Waldron & M.B. Madon. 1969. Bites by the brown spiders Loxosceles unicolor and Loxosceles arizonica in California and Arizona. Toxicon 7:109-112.
88. Sams, H.H., S.B. Hearth, L.L. Long, D.C. Wilson, D.H. Sanders & L.E. King Jr. 2001. Nineteen documented cases of Loxosceles reclusa envenomation. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 44:603-608.
89. Sandidge, J. 2004. Predation by cosmopolitan spiders on the medically significant pest species Loxosceles reclusa (Araneae: Sicariidae): limited possibilities for biological control. Journal of Economic Entomology 97:230-234.
90. Schenone, H., A. Rojas, H. Reyes, F. Villarroel & G. Suarez. 1970. Prevalence of Loxosceles laeta in houses in central Chile. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 19:564-567.
91. Schenone, H., T. Saavedra, A. Rojas & F. Villarroel. 1989. Loxoscelismo en Chile. Estudios epidemológicos, clínicos y experimentales. Revista Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 31:403-415.
92. Schmaus, L.F. 1929. Case of arachnoidism (spider bite). Journal of the American Medical Association 92:1265-1266.
93. Southcott, R.V. 1976. Spiders of the genus Loxosceles in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia 1:406-408.
94. Stoaks, R.D. 1980. Occurrence of the brown recluse spider (Araneae: Loxoscelidae) in Iowa. Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science 87:159.
95. Stropa, A.A. 2007. Social encounters between male brown spiders, Loxosceles gaucho (Araneae, Sicariidae). Journal of Arachnology 35:493-498.
96. Stropa, A.A. & I.M.P. Rinaldi. 2001. Relative tolerance and communication in agonistic behaviour between females of Loxosceles gaucho (Araneae, Sicariidae). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 12:41-45.
97. Sutherland, S. 1983. Necrotic arachnidism: a possible new Australian syndrome. Toxicon 21(Supplement 3):435.
98. Swanson, D.L. & R.S. Vetter. 2005. Bites of brown recluse spiders and suspected necrotic arachnidism. New England Journal of Medicine 352:700-707.
99. Swanson, D.L. & R.S. Vetter. 2006. Loxoscelism. Clinics in Dermatology 24:213-221.
100. Uetz, G.W. & C.S. Hieber. 1997. Colonial web-building spiders: balancing the costs and benefits of group-living. Pp. 458-475. In Social Behavior in Insects and Arachnids. (J.C. Choe & B.J. Crespi, eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
101. Vail, K.M. & J.A. Watson. 2002. The brown recluse spider. University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service Bulletin PB1191. 16 pp.
102. Vetter, R.S. 2000. Myth: idiopathic wounds are often due to brown recluse or other spider bites throughout the United States. Western Journal of Medicine 173:357-358.
103. Vetter, R.S. 2005. Arachnids submitted as suspected brown recluse spiders (Araneae: Sicariidae): Loxosceles species are virtually restricted to their known distributions but are perceived to exist throughout the United States. Journal of Medical Entomology 42:512-521.
104. Vetter, R.S. & D.K. Barger. 2002. An infestation of 2,055 brown recluse spiders (Araneae: Sicariidae) and no envenomations in a Kansas home: implications for bite diagnoses in nonendemic areas. Journal of Medical Entomology 39:948-951.
105. Vetter, R.S. & S.P. Bush. 2002a. Reports of presumptive brown recluse spider bites reinforce improbable diagnosis in regions of North America where the spider is not endemic. Clinical Infectious Diseases 35:442-445.
106. Vetter, R.S. & S.P. Bush. 2002b. The diagnosis of brown recluse spider bite is overused for dermonecrotic wounds of uncertain etiology. Annals of Emergency Medicine 39:544-546.
107. Vetter, R.S. & S.P. Bush. 2002c. Chemical burn misdiagnosed as brown recluse spider bite. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 20:68-69.
108. Vetter, R.S. & S.P. Bush. 2004. Additional considerations in presumptive brown recluse spider bites and dapsone therapy. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 22:494-495.
109. Vetter, R.S., P.E. Gushing, R.L. Crawford & L.A. Royce. 2003. Diagnoses of brown recluse spider bites (loxoscelism) greatly outnumber actual verifications of the spider in four western American states. Toxicon 42:413-418.
110. Vetter, R.S., G.B. Edwards & L.F. James. 2004. Reports of envenomation by brown recluse spiders (Araneae: Sicariidae) outnumber verifications of Loxosceles spiders in Florida. Journal of Medical Entomology 41:593-597.
111. Vetter, R.S. & G.K. Isbister. 2008. Medical aspects of spider bites. Annual Review of Entomology 53:409-429.
112. Vetter, R.S., B.B. Pagac, R.W. Reiland, D.T. Bolesh & D.L. Swanson. 2006. Skin lesions in barracks: consider community-acquired methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection instead of spider bites. Military Medicine 171:830-832.
113. Vetter, R.S. & M.K. Rust. 2008. Refugia preferences by the spiders Loxosceles reclusa and Loxosceles laeta (Araneae: Sicariidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 45:36-41.
114. Vetter, R.S. & D.L. Swanson. 2007. Of spiders and zebras: publication of inadequately documented loxoscelism case reports. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 56:1063-1064.
115. Waldron, W.G. 1969. Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet), an introduced species in Los Angeles County. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 15:377-379.
116. Wasserman, G.S., R. Garola, J. Marshall & S. Gustafson. 1999. Death of a 7 year old by presumptive brown recluse spider bite. Journal of Toxicology - Clinical Toxicology 37:614-615.
117. Wasserman, G.S. & J.A. Lowry. 2005. Loxosceles spiders. Pp. 1195-1203. In Critical Care Toxicology: Diagnosis and Management of the Critically Poisoned Patient. (J. Brent, K. L. Wallace, K.K. Burkhart, S.D. Phillips & J.W. Donovan, eds.). Elsevier Mosby, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
118. White, J. 2003. Debunking spider bite myths. Medical Journal of Australia 179:180-181.
119. Wilson, J.T. 1893. Poisoning by the bite of the southern spider. Transactions of the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association 5:406-411.
120. Wright, S.W., K.D. Wrenn, L. Murray & D. Seger. 1997. Clinical presentation and outcome of brown recluse spider bite. Annals of Emergency Medicine 30:28-32.