Posted on 07/31/2009 10:33:40 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Arachnophobia has gripped southeastern France after a pensioner suffered a near-lethal bite from a rare spider whose venom is said to be "as dangerous as a cobra's".
François Inderchit, 59, was settling down for his afternoon siesta earlier this month in Orange, in Vaucluse, and was bitten by something "a bit more violent than a mosquito" when he turned over in bed.
He saw that it was a spider and that he had killed it.
Within 24 hours, a gaping, gangrenous wound six inches long, three inches wide and half an inch deep developed around the bite area on Mr Inderchit's right bicep.
If he had been left untreated for another two hours he would have died, doctors said.
Marseille's anti-poison unit told intensive care doctors that he had been bitten by the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles Reclusa – also known as the violin spider due to its shape and markings.
Rare in France, the species is native to the United States from the southern Midwest south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Reactions to bites can vary but the victims often develop a gangrenous ulcer that destroys soft tissue and may take months to heal.
"This is the only case of its kind I've seen in my career," said Doctor Jean-Michel Bruere from the Louis Giorgi hospital in Orange. He said his patient was "lucky" as if he had been bitten elsewhere he could have lost a limb, required plastic surgery or the venom could have reached a vital organ.
Police and veterinary authorities in the Vaucluse region sought to play down the incident, saying there was no conclusive proof that the wound had been caused by a spider, and that it was releasing no health warnings.
But Jacques Bellier, head of intensive care at Louis
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
That’s definitely a recluse. I had thousands of them under my old house in New Orleans. The thing about them is that if you see one of them, there are easy another thousand or more that you don’t see very close by.
I was bitten by on my right arm, however my reaction to the venom, which is actually a digestive enzyme, was much less severe. Only a small wound opened as a result, but it was still quite alarming.
From what I have understood from my own readings is that the venom never actually leaves the body, and it does substantial damage to the liver as a result.
Is that the same as the brown recluse spider?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo_spider
“Distribution in North America in green
(native European distribution not shown)”
Hmmmm....
Well, duh. Time for me to go to bed. LOL I read the violin spider and missed the brown recluse.
Yup...aka Fiddleback. Of course, I’ve seen some that I prefer to call a Celloback they were so big! In my line of work...I have to really watch out for those critters. ugh!
Peter Mayle-author of “A Year in Provence”
Mayle acknowledged these legged creepy-crawlies in this book and the sequel making sure he took good care to avoid the critters.
Police and veterinary authorities in the Vaucluse region sought to play down the incident, saying there was no conclusive proof that the wound had been caused by a spider, and that it was releasing no health warnings.
Yes it is the same.
There are a number of slight variations to this family of spiders though.
I have seen a couple of them here in Florida now, and they have slightly different coloration than the ones I saw in New Orleans. The thorax of the NO spider seemed to be redder. Here in FL, they are darker brown.
The ways that I have learned to identify this critter are as follows. In both locations, the abdomen (the rear) was a sickly, dull gray. It’s hard to see the fiddle marking on the thorax, because sometimes they are small, and the coloring disguises the marking. It’s abnormally large front legs are a dead give away. This spider is a nocturnal hunter, but that does not mean you won’t see them on the move during the day.
Being that it is a hunter, it uses the large front legs to attack its prey. It does not spin an intricate web to snare its prey like other spiders. The web of a recluse is usually a single strand that splits into two strands for mooring.
>-—
Like that. My advice is if you see anything that resembles that above spider pic, kill it ASAP. The recluse also has other cousins that look simliar, but their venom isn’t quite as destructive to tissue.
bookmark
Brown Recluse likes to hide. Don’t stick your arm under the sink, don’t stick your arm under the dresser...
they are actually very small and hard to see sometimes
yitbos
Mine were under the rear side of the toilet. One of the bolts was at the underside by the tank was COVERED in BR egg sacks. I almost passed out when I saw this. Others were in the chimney. Even more were under the hood of the stove. I’m so glad I don’t live there anymore.
Now here in Florida I have a new friend, the Southern Black Widow, which sometimes appear white, because they don’t turn fully black until about 4 years of age. Oh yeah, and the brown recluses too...God, I hate spiders.
Me too... there is also a Brown Widow apparently
Those are some wicked spiders. I know a guy who nearly lost his hand from a bite when he was working in his basement and reached under some insulation. One crawled into his glove and bit him on the back of the hand. At first he wasn’t worried about it because he didn’t see the spider, he just knew he got bit by something. By the end of the day the back of his hand was deep blue and he had red streaks running up his arm. He went to the hospital and they knew what it was right away. He lost most of the skin and muscle from the back of his hand and had to stay in the hospital for two weeks. They said he probably would have lost his hand if he hadn’t went to the hospital when he did.
I got bit by one in Tennessee at a CW reenactment. We were breaking camp and headed for home. I was in a lot of pain by the time I called the doctor. He gave me a shot, cream, and several pills. It cleared up after about 6 months. Wouldn’t want to tangle with one again.
Um, sorry friend but the doctor said you’re going to die.
Cynthia McKinney or Barbara Lee are in France?
Pour some Adolfs meat tenderizer on a piece of wet gause and wrap it around the wound for 12 hours. The meat tenderizer neutralizes the enzyme in the venom.
There is. I have them here too. I live right next to woods. It’s like a free zoo.
Here’s some pics of the Widows.
http://www.247wildlife.com/brown-widow-spider.htm
I think I’m going to go throw up now.
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