Tegenaria agrestis Funnel-web Spider

[Red_desert]

Last spring my Mom got a spider bite and in a few weeks a hole developed the size of a quarter. I had to do a lot of research to identify the bugs. I sent some photos to Channel 22 TV news a couple months after that...by the end of October, Channel 22 ran a special evening news one night on the brown spider and what to do about them.

These are all photos I got of them Some were used by Channel 22 TV news. It is a close cousin of the Sydney Funnel-web and they are equally dangerous as a Brown Recluse. The web is just like a funnel you pour liquid into, from your kitchen. In some photos there almost seems to be a violin shape, but it is really the end section of the Katydid like markings on the top you see. Note, these markings seem to be almost a yellow/chartreuse color, so don't show up much under some light conditions.

It took my Mom a good 6-7 months to get on her feet again, after battling severe infections. At times we didn't know if she was going to make it.

 

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[Monty]

Dang! I find those kind of webs all over the place around here but thought they were harmless. I guess I've stepped on and squished a thousand of them? Never knew they were dangerous. Thanks for the tip. Monty

 

[Red_desert]

Dang! I find those kind of webs all over the place around here but thought they were harmless. I guess I've stepped on and squished a thousand of them? Never knew they were dangerous. Thanks for the tip. Monty

Dang is what I say too! From my research it seems they were imported here through shipped products around 1920-30. Look how the critters have taken over. Apparently these spiders prefer the same climate and temperature as a Brown Recluse. But their range goes beyond that of a Brown Recluse, into the Pacific NW, parts of California, even across the border in Canada.

Brown Recluse bites are commonly reported in places where there are no Brown Recluses. In the Pacific NW there are bites reported as Brown Recluse, even where aren't supposed to exist. Skeptics like to laugh at reports of Tegenaria agrestis bites, but the evidence contradicts their skepticism. My Mom once got bit by a Black Widow when a girl living in the South. You'll never convince her that Tegenaria agrestis are any less dangerous.

 

[leslie(nova scotia)]

yo Red Desert

From the land of the Bluenose.....man that is an ugly cusp for shore!

 

[Monty]

I find them around the edge of my foundation and in the corners and window of my storage shed. They get pretty big and my daughter ate one when she was a toddler. She came walking in with just a few spider legs hanging out of her mouth! Took her to the Doc and he said nothing to worry about. Are you sure your Mom didn't have an allergic reaction to the bite? One bit me on the top of my foot and just made a small itchy blister that went away in a week or two. Hmmmm,...I'd like to check into this further. Monty

 

[Hank]

Dang! I find those kind of webs all over the place around here but thought they were harmless. I guess I've stepped on and squished a thousand of them? Never knew they were dangerous. Thanks for the tip. Monty

All true spiders are venomous...some more than others. They are classed as Arachnida [Gk:spider], although all arachnids are not spiders. The translation is generally associated with venomous. There is also a false brown recluse lookalike, commonly found in the Southwest. I'd be wary of any spider larger than a dime...especially the 'hunting' spiders. They move about, don't spin webs, and can be found almost anywhere.

 

[Red_desert]

She got a Black Widow bite as a girl and never reacted like this. I suppose some of it could...I know of a diabetic in my area, got a bite from one of these. The doctor gave him 3 days to improve or have his foot amputated. His bite got worse than my Moms.

Some people might be more affected by spider bites, than others. You take the Sydney Funnel-web, about only a dozen people have died from the bite. They were all children age 7 and under. Adults just aren't as vulnerable as children.

 

[Red_desert]

I find them around the edge of my foundation and in the corners and window of my storage shed. They get pretty big and my daughter ate one when she was a toddler. She came walking in with just a few spider legs hanging out of her mouth! Took her to the Doc and he said nothing to worry about. Are you sure your Mom didn't have an allergic reaction to the bite? One bit me on the top of my foot and just made a small itchy blister that went away in a week or two. Hmmmm,...I'd like to check into this further. Monty

Monty, I can save you some time, check into it for you. This is from a reliable Brown Recluse info article. The spider we are discussing is A.K.A. the Hobo spider. Sometimes called AHS (aggressive house spider).

http://dermatology.cdlib.org/DOJvol5num2/special/recluse.html

"Two other spiders that have the potential to produce necrotizing wounds, though much less well-documented than the brown recluse, are the hobo spider and the yellow sac spider. The hobo spider (Tegenaria agrestis) may be found in the Pacific Northwest as far east as Montana and south into Oregon and Utah. The two yellow sac species (Cheiracanthium spp.) are found all over the United States, but probably only produce minor necrotic wounds."

"The common name "brown recluse" refers specifically to one species of spider that lives in the south central Midwest U.S. (Map). It may be found in less dense populations around the margins of the shaded area on the map. Many reports, both media and medical, forebodingly state that the brown recluse can be transported outside its range. Although this is true, it is then erroneously projected that one spider is the "tip of the iceberg" for rampant populations. In fact, verified finds of brown recluses outside of its range are rare and almost every collection is that of a single itinerant spider. Subsequent searching of the vicinity typically results in no additional recluses. The undeserved infamy that this spider has achieved outside of its range is nothing short of mind boggling. The few known instances of any recluse spider population establishing in non-native habitats typically are limited to circumscribed areas, with only rare reports of expansion from its locale."

 

[TN-Joe]

I hate all spiders!
Joe

 

[MiniMe]

I agree....can't stand the site of any spider, they freak me out.