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VERIFIED BITES BY YELLOW SAC SPIDERS (GENUS CHEIRACANTHIUM) IN THE UNITED STATES AND AUSTRALIA: WHERE IS THE NECROSIS?

Spiders of the genus Cheiracanthium are frequently reported in review articles and medical references to be a definitive cause of dermonecrosis or necrotic arachnidism in humans. We provide 20 cases of verified bites by Cheiracanthium spiders from the United States and Australia, none with necrosis. A review of the international literature on 39 verified Cheiracanthium bites found only one case of mild necrosis in the European species C. punctorium. The basis for the suggestion that this spider genus causes dermonecrosis seems to be mostly inference from venom experiments in rabbits and guinea pigs, circumstantial spider involvement in human skin lesions, and repetitive citation of non-definitive reports in the medical literature. We discuss factors that lead to the erroneous elevation of virtually innocuous spiders to that of significant medical concern, which is a recurring problem in the medical community.

Received January 5, 2006. Accepted for publication January 23, 2006.

Acknowledgments: We thank Serguei Triapitsyn (University of California, Riverside, CA), Marco Fleagod Metzger (California Department of Health, Ontario, CA), and Laura Merrill (United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Riverside, CA) for Russian, Italian, and French translations, respectively; and Jutta Burger (University of California, Riverside, CA) for verifying the German translation by Richard S. Vetter. We also thank Leon Lotz (National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa) for providing images of C. lawrencei chelicerae from which we made measurements. The American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travelers’ Health (ACCTMTH) assisted with publication expenses.

Disclosure: Some of the authors have provided expert witness testimony and sometimes receive honoraria for talks on this subject.

^* Address correspondence to Richard S. Vetter, Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521. E-mail: rick.vetter{at}ucr.edu

Authors’ addresses: Richard S. Vetter, Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 and Biology Division, San Bernardino County Museum, 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands, CA 92374, E-mail: rick.vetter{at}ucr.edu. Geoffrey K. Isbister, Tropical Toxinology Unit, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia and Department of Clinical Toxicology and Pharmacology, Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Waratah, New South Wales, Australia. Sean P. Bush, Department of Emergency Medicine, Room A108, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, 11234 Anderson Street, Loma Linda, CA 92354. Lisa J. Boutin, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, 2 Wellington Street, Royal Park, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250, Australia.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Fasan, A. Rennhofer, B. Moser, and G. Roggla Spider Myths and a Case of a Bite by a Yellow Sac Spider J Am Board Fam Med, January 1, 2008; 21(1): 78 - 78. [Full Text] [PDF]