Social (flat) Huntsman Spider, Delena cancerides
Image: Alan Henderson
Source: Museum Victoria
Question: Are Huntsman Spiders dangerous?
Answer: There is a disturbing e-mail currently circulating about a new spider that has made its way to Australia and can cause a necrotic skin reaction. The email displays a sequence of photos of a man’s thumb becoming progressively more infected and claims that this is the result of a Brown Recluse Spider bite.
This spider is a species found in North America and the spider gets its name from the fact that it usually lives in dark secluded places, such as garden sheds and woodpiles. It is sometimes called a Violin Spider or Fiddleback Spider because of a violin-shaped marking found on its body. The Brown Recluse Spider is not found in Australia, although a species from the same genus has been accidentally introduced and has been found in Adelaide. There are records of a bite from a Brown Recluse Spider causing tissue necrosis, (tissue death) in North America; however not all bites from this spider necessarily lead to a necrotic reaction.
The Brown Recluse Spider does have a superficially similar appearance to the spiders that we commonly call Huntsman Spiders in Australia. The Huntsman Spider, despite its name, does not hunt man! These spiders can be common in urban areas, and can be found in our gardens, homes and sometimes cars looking for food. While they do possess venom that they use to kill their prey they are not considered highly dangerous and their first response is usually to run if they feel threatened.
Despite what some of us fear, spiders do not seek out people, and have no interest in us, although they may make use of our homes to build their webs in or on and to take advantage of any insects we attract such as flies and cockroaches.