Help Identify Spiders and More
Arrakis dune spider.
If you are reading the comments and know what type of spider bite, a visitor has, please feel free to help.
Warning: Some of these pictures may show a scary spider or a bite that has become infected and could be considered disturbing to some, so if you don’t like the sight of rotted skin or exposed bone, this may not be for you. However, it does drive home the importance of seeking medical attention before it’s too late!
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Got this bite about a week ago, it looked like a mosquito bite, and itched like crazy. Didn’t think anything of it until a couple days went by and I noticed i’d scratched the *blister* off and it left a red ring very similar to a tick bite, but definitly a spider bite as there were two definite *fang* marks in the center.
I kept a close eye on it, the center is white and has a small blister around one of the hair folicles, which now that i’ve read more on this site, I will not pop. The skin in the center seems to have peeled off (several layers) but there is no sore, scab or pain, just mild swelling and still a crazy itch. I also noticed several bruised patches surrounding the bite, up to 6 inches away from it.
The picture below is what it looks like today:
There is no tell tale *blue or black * in the center, but Im 99 percent POSITIVE its a spider bite and not a tick bite (there is also very little redness around the prominent red ring, leading me to believe its not the typical lyme disease bullseye, yet its totally round, uncharacteristic of a reclue bite. I have a history of mind reactions to common allergins such as poison ivy (no reaction at all as well as oak or sumac) and mosquito bites rarely bother me.
Even when I had chicken pox I had a total of 98 that lasted 3 days. Id really like to know what it was that bit me, as I have a 3 year old, and I can only assume the reaction she would have would not be as mild.
Any info would be helpful!
The symptoms I have are:
Painful bite, about like a prolonged ant bite (the small black Los Angeles variety) that hurt for about two hours. After about four hours of swimming in a chlorine treated pool, It had a white head on it, but I was unable to squeeze anything out of it, the flesh around it was soft and concave.
On the second day the area is red for about a two inch diameter oval , there is a lump under the skin that is about 3/4 inch across and is tender, in a bruise like way. the lump feels like it is attached inside to muscle, not just under the skin, much like a deep oversized pimple. The very center of the bite, about a 3/16th diameter area, is very soft.
This is the second day, so who knows !! maybe Ill post again for ya.
but this is an example of listing symptoms : )
Reply: to Laura, #10, I suspect that the bite you may have is a flea bite, not a spider.
I live near Bishop, California. I was bitten a few years ago. It was late at night when I was in bed. I was on my stomach and felt something crawling on the back of my knees. I was so tired I didn’t do anything, just went to sleep. A day or so later I was at the gym, and in the mirror saw red swollen bites on the back of my knees.
The red was 3″ in diameter, with a raised red bump in the center. A few days later I looked and the red was a bruised black color. It didn’t hurt, but did itch some. Sometime later I had a scheduled doctor appoinment and mentioned it to her, and she told me I had been bitten by a venomous spider. There was still some evidence left at that time. I normally take antihistimines, so I wonder if that decresed the pain and itching.
So if you have a bite that goes away in a few days, I doubt it was a venomous spider.
Bite marks approximately quarter inch apart and was bitten 2 nights ago. The bite area is itching, but I appear to have what looks like a chemical burn around both of my eyes, and all of the moisture is drying up making my eyes look like I’m about 90yrs old instead of (smile…).
I was bitten by “something” on 8/17/2007 and what I thought was a mosquito has turned into a nitemare! Started out as a red bump, progressed to a blister and now, it just looks like my leg is rotting away. Not real sure doctors in my area know what to do, as this doesn’t happen often around here.
Above is a picture of the bite on my leg.
Im not exactly sure if what I have is a spider bite. a couple days ago I woke up with a small red bite that looked like a mosquito bite and itched like one as well. after about less than a day the bite seemed to form a red patch of about half in inch around where the bite was. Im still unsure of what sort of bite it is but after looking at pictures on google and reading symptoms from websites it seems similar to a spider bite. if you may have any information of what it could be, I would greatly appreciate it. thanks.
I live in Florida and was have a spider bite right below my knee. There’s a white dot in the middle and then red just all around and I put my whole hand over it and it’s only hot in the area that was bitten. I am wondering if anybody knows anything or can tell me what kind of spider it was. I would like to treat it and find out where the spider was from.
I was bitten while wearing shoes and I am not sure if the spider was in shoe, but I noticed my foot burning about 12:30pm and within an hour my foot was in great pain and swelling.
My foot is still extremely swollen and I have a small white circle around the bite that is much more noticeable. My foot swells more severely when not elevated and even now, three days later, I am still in a lot of pain.
Please let me know if anyone has an idea of what type of spider bit me and any other possible treatments.
Thanks.
I live in Montana so it’s like living in the middle of the woods and recently I woke up itching my leg to death and as I looked down at were I was itching, I found a spider bite! Do you know what spider bit me? My bite is dark red and medium size and has a small white bump in the middle of it.
We were recently on vacation in upper Michigan and my husband got peppered with bites at night, so did my daughter. My son-in-law and myself never got one bite. What could it be? My daughter didn’t get as many when she wore long pajamas to bed. They itch terribly and the itch seems to intensify at times. Is this spider bites?
I got my spiderbite either the night before last or early yesterday morning. It started out looking like a mosquito bite, but has gradually gotten a bad fever in the area and it has increased in size from less than the size of a dime to now about 4 x 2 inches.
The spider bite is on the inside of my right knee and continues to swell. Unlike some of the pictures I’ve seen here, I can’t see any puncture marks. I can feel the spot where I could’ve been bitten, but it’s all so hot and swolen that I’m not really sure. I’ve tried everything from benadryl to old home remedies and nothing has worked.
The pain is now starting to travel up and down my leg, and is still swelling. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can even just relieve the pain? Thanks for your help!
I have been bitten by a spider and am not sure what kind. It happened when I was sleeping. Woke up and half my hand was totally swollen and brused. Today a lump is forming around the bite area. the doctor has me on predisone for allergic reaction. Any idea of what I should do next?
I got two spider bites from baby spiders. I know they were babies because I somehow got a spider egg sack attached to my jeans after I went on a walk outside (and then I had baby spiders all over me). Anyway, I got bit by two of them. Are baby spiders more of a concern than adults? I don’t know what kind they were – they were white to grey and very small (bodies only a few mm long). I know baby snakes have trouble controlling there venom and generally inject all of it into a bite, while adults can control their venom and only inject what they think they need (and sometimes none at all). Is it the same with spiders? Anyone know?
I was bit by a spider dont know what type it was but I waited a week before seeing a doctor and it was so bad that I ended up with a staph infection. I advise anyone with a spider bite treat it right away.
I was in pain couldnt sleep had trouble sitting it was inside my thigh.
I also had a lot of blood and pus..
Please dont leave spider bites untreated!
Hey, today my brother’s wife got bit by a spider while she was walking around to the back of the house and said that she felt something sting for a second and when she looked down there was a small spider on her foot, she grabbed it and squeezed it then left. It isn’t swollen or anything but it’s red all around and the center is white… it kind of looks like a ant bite but she said she did look at it and she saw it was a spider….My brothers wife is pregnant.. so you know.. i need a little bit of help…please!! thank you!!
My 5 year old daughter has woken up 3 times this summer with what I thought may be mosquito bites because they are just a red bump, but realized they are much bigger and probably spider bites. The first one was on her leg and the second one just below her shoulder blade.
This one she has now (which I noticed today) is almost directly on her elbow and is swelling up like the other ones did in the past. I believe them to be spider bites, but the ones in the past have gone away after about a week and never showed anything else again until this new one.
I wanted to know if she is just having a mild reaction to a spider bite or if there are any serious species in my area that I should be aware of. I live in Canada, right on the Michigan border, near Detroit. I didn’t think we had any poisoinous spiders in this area, but the spider I caught looks very similiar to the brown recluse spider I just saw on this website. It may not be the same spider at all, but I wanted to send a picture just incase.
I have it in a container still and do not have access to a camera until next week, but any information that you have so far would be appreciated. My daughter is complaining that it hurts to touch and benedryl does absolutely nothing…….we just waited it out until it eventually went away.
Hi. I live in Clinton, MS and I believe that I was bitten by a spider a couple of days ago. I remember just lying in bed, and all of a sudden there was a really bad stinging sensation that radiated from just below my elbow and ever since the pain has progressively gotten worse. Although there is no visible bite mark on my arm as of yet, my arm is severely sore and swollen from my bicep down into my forearm.
i got a spider bite with 2 small fang marks and a bruised ring around it, not going away – it’s been 5 days. does anyone know what it is?
I would not wait on this and instead, go to another doctor and seek advice without telling that doctor you have already seen someone else. If you tell them, they will excuse themselves, check the computer and compare notes.
Once she or he tells you what they think it might be and what they would do, then let them know about the other doctor.
This sounds like it is getting worse, not better and if you wait too long, it may do more damage! I am not trying to scare you, but me, I’d be getting a second opinion.
Ask the doctor the difference between a brown spider and a brown recluse spider or sac spider. If the doc has to do research, then they probably have not had too many bites come their way.
What started out as a white dot turned into something much more painful! I put Neosporin + Pain Relief ointment on it with a circular bandaid. Unfortunately my skin reacted to the bandaid and the mark got worse. On Monday I was in a lot of pain by Tuesday the white dot turned black in the very center and a blister and formed and popped while I was working.
The doctor said the mark looked like a brown spider bite. He also said it was infected. He prescribed Augmentin and a warm compress 20 minutes on 20 minutes off. I just put the compress on a little while ago. I took it off and it has stayed for for at least 30 minutes and the bite started oozing pus and blood! I freaked out and wiped it off with a sterile pad (you can get them at any pharmacy).
The pus is coming back and it’s starting to ooze again. I don’t know if the bite is healing or not. Tuesday I have another appointment with my doctor. He said the bite will take some weeks to heal. The scab is turning black, the pus surrounds one side of it and the skin is dark red around the outside. Further out there is a big pink ring of skin that is getting more swollen as the days go on.
I’m starting to get nervous and will go to the hospital if necessary.
I have a question…not a comment. MY friend has a spider bite and a fever along witih tiredness followed. The next day he felt better. What else can be done for this bite as a follow up for healing.
I woke up last Tues. morning with a funny feeling on the top of my foot right under the base of my toes. Felt like swelling inside. As the days went on (it is not 1 week later + a day) and my foot is still swollen. I see two tiny red marks under toe 3 and 4 , but no purple or discolor, no itching just pain when I put pressure on it. One moring I woke up with no swelling, but as the day went on and i walked around, the swelling came right back. What is this? and how long will the swelling keep up? Help
michelle
I got bit yesterday night by, i believe a spider, but it wasnt that big of a bite..but now a whole day later its really swollen n its a hard bump it hurts wen i press down on it..im not sure wat kind of spider bit me but if any one has had a similar bite b4 please let me know. im just feeling a little worried. hopefully its not that serious..thanx
I woke up this morning and saw a bubble on my leg not sure of what it is but I think it could be a spider bite. It looks like bubble wrap, feels squisy inside like there might be liquid in there, no pain but in the morning it buned around the area. I’ll try to send some pictures and if u know anything, let me know please…. thanks
I was bitten yesterday afternoon by a black spider that was probably the size of your index finger nail. All evening yesterday it was itching and very red. Tonight I noticed that two small pimple-like bubbles appeared next to the bite marks. Its still very red and itching Does anyone know what type of spider that might be? If so, please let me know.
I have a bite on my foot. It is a small bite hole with a white circle around it and redness on top and sides. My foot hurts and is sensitive to touching the skin and would appreciate any ideas.
Have a recurring rash about the size of a quater with a central hole and several red dots all the way around. Was in Peru one year ago where I found a spider in my boot(same foot) I was nota ware of being bitten at the time. This rash sloughs off and goes away, and is painles. It has now returned 2 times over the year. Again just last week?? Any suggestions
We live in Las Vegas. I noticed a bite on my son’s calf this morning. It has a puncture in the middle of a raised red lump. There’s a white area around that with a raised red semi-circle around the bottom of the bite mark. And the area around the bite is swollen. He says it doesn’t hurt but is itchy. Any ideas?
He already has his “well-check” doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning. Can we wait to go see a doctor until then?
I have included this photo of the spider bite below.
For the past few weeks, my mother has been having what looks to be like spider bites. She has them on the back of her neck and the top of her back. They are small, but all of them are very itchy. The bites are small raised layers of skin but are not misquito bites. I have seen small, whitish yellow spiders in our backyard and wonder if these are what has been causing her discomfort. Please if you have any idea what this is tell!
My girlfriend got bit by a spider on her shoulder a few days ago, we live in Chicago. It’s red with a small puncture in the center and its beginning to get hard like an infection. It’s also been growing in size to about 2 inches. She is complaining that all the muscles around it and the back of her shoulder are very sore. Any ideas on what type of spider or how severe this might be?
Jeff and any other people in Chicagoland area,
I live in a western Suburb of Chicago and have also had a few bites. I actually noticed my first bite about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I woke up in the morning and noticed a red raised spot on my thigh, I didn’t think anything of it until I noticed other people in my family had similar ones.
At first I thought mosquitos or bed bugs, but then after talking to other people in this area have the same thing. Now, the first one has pretty much cleared up but I have 5 more! They range in size but are red and have one single bite mark in the center and usually have pus the first day then scabs over…
If anybody knows what these bites are, please respond… I’m getting anxious because they only seem to be getting worse… thank you!
-Christine
I’m not very sure it’s a spider bite but I want to know if it is. Anyway, It’s a small and just a little swollen. It has a yellow dot in the middle, and swollen pink around it.
Hi,
I found this spider bite on my shoulder last night when I was getting ready for bed.
We were outside in a woodsy area in Michigan and went to the beach later on in the evening. I’m not sure where I got it. The bite doesn’t hurt but, it is around an inch in diameter. It is swollen but does not itch and I haven’t noticed any other symptoms for me to be concerned about. Do I need to see a doctor for this?
Thanks for your help,
Deana
Update on 8/21/07 – After a week, it finally disappeared. We are seeing bites from the oak leaf itch mite in these areas, so maybe I had a bite from one of those bugs. Thanks for your prompt response though!
Deana
I have a spider bite on my nose and am not sure when i got it, it was just there when I woke up with it a couple mornings ago. It is red, swollen and painfull. The entire surrunding area is swollen.
A few weeks ago my son discovered what seemed to be a blister on his elbow, so he popped it the area is about the size of a nickel, it keeps draining brownish fluid..the mark looks like a carpet burn, but its round with a brown crust around the center and a big bright ring around it. If anyone has any ideas or advice plz let me know thanks
My wife has a bite mark that looks exactly like the pic posted by “Jill, #7 on July 24, 2007 @ 6:16PM” and am hoping that it has been identified.
My wife received the bite on a Thursday. It started out as a small pimple which broke the next day & hasn’t healed yet & continues to grow in size. The Sunday/Monday following the bite she was nauseous & had Diarreah. We didn’t put the two together until a few days later & now believe the “food poisoning” like symptoms are related to an allergic reaction she had to the bite.
It’s now over a week later, the bit site continues to grow, medical people are prescribing vreams & anti-biotics, anti nausea meds etc, but the bite mark is not healing. I’m hoping someone can help us. Please post any info you may have.
Thank You!
Hi, I live in orange county california and like i got a bug bite last night and i woke up and when i touch it it hurts its red around it and it has like a big white thing and looks pretty infected. I am really scared and thinking about going to a dermatologist to check it out but not sure if I should. I think i’m too scared. I have included a picture below in hopes that someone can tell me what type of bite it is or what bit me. Please, get back to me as soon as possible because im freaking out!
DIAGNOSIS: 8/16/07 – I went to a dermatologist and they told me that it was a normal spider bite but it just got me in an area with no muscle (right ear) and it had pus in it so thanks=]:
I was bit a couple of days ago and not sure it it was a spider or something else. The bite area is kind of purple and is really sore. Can you tell me what kind of spider did this?
I live in west Texas, and my 2 year old daughter has what i think is a spider bite on her thigh, it’s swelling is about the size of a golf-ball and there is heat radiating from it. i normally wouldn’t worry, but it’s been getting worse. Can anyone help me?
I live in Lake Charles, Louisiana and I was bitten on my leg about three to four days ago. My leg started to swell really bad two mornings ago. I am starting to feel it in my knee now. The red around the bite is about the size of a baseball and right around the bite it is starting to get dark. When I squeeze on it it puses up, I don`t know what I should do or what kind of spider it was. If anyone knows what it is. Please help me.
Hi, I live in eastern Pennsylvania. I have arachnaphobia, so I try to stay away from spiders as much as I can. I’m not sure if it is a spider bite or not. There are 2 very small pimple like bumps above my wrist. They are about 1 millimeter apart. The whole thing is about 1/16 of an inch wide.
The bite itches a little bit and I’ve had it for a little over a day. I was cleaning my basement and there are a lot of spiders, but none that are lethal I’m pretty sure. I would really like to know if it is just a common bite, or if I should seek help.
I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Matt
i have a spider bite (i think) but not sure what kind, it is small, round, red and inflamed, with small blisters forming around the circle. Can you help
5 days ago i was in western springs (suburb of chicago) and was sleeping in a finished basement….the next day i felt a slight irritation on my inner bicep and didn’t think too much about it. Later I noticed ~1cm red area slight raised with white head and another ~2-3mm red spot about 3 inches away and 2 other red raised areas on my chest! The main large red area on my bicep began too develop an area of redness around it which eventually has grown to about 2.5 inches and is warm to touch.
Now, 5 days later the central area is less red and redness around it is somewhat “clearing” or less red …. it looks similiar to Bulleye rash pictures i have seen on the web and this scares me because there was a dog in the house and although they live in a very manicured suburb it’s several miles from a wooded area….. and in that county (Cook) there have been 3 cases of Lyme disease.
It seems most likely that i was biten multiple times by a spider but I’m freakin out a bit that it might have been a tick. Has anyone else experience a spider bite healing and looking similiar to a bullseye rash ?
Any comments would be appreciated and I don’t want to have unnecessary antibiotic treatments.
Thanks
I live in Albuquerque, NM and was dragging wood pallets out of a warehouse when I felt a “sting.” At that moment I thought it was a splinter, but when I looked a minute later, it was obviously a bite of some kind and it itched like crazy – way more than a mosquito.
A fairly large lump on my hand formed immediately – about the size of a pencil eraser. I squeezed it hard between my fingernails and quite a bit of clear fluid came out and the lump was gone. It has been about a month now and I still have this small red, itchy lump (it came back) on my hand, and there is a small ulicerated area in the center – probably from scratching too – it still really itches!
Anyone have any idea what bit me? (I’ve been stung by bees – no biggie, and I am not alergic to anything that I know of – so I don’t think I react strongly to much.)
I’m just curious what this was and wished I had gone back to look!
I had a bite for 1 week. It is going away now. Didnt feel the bite, it just was oval shaped it got red and when I started itching it that just made it itch worse. It was maybe an inch wide. Hadnt had a bite like that. Any ideas what kind of bite I think it is some kind of spider. I have been finding male black widow spiders on the outside of the house but I dont think its that. By the way I live by Savannah Ga.
I have always been scared of spiders [aracniphobia] and when i went on holiday to south africa in johannahs burg in a safari park I saw a huge brown hairy spider climbing over the door where my mum was and i just sat in my bed went as pale as snow and fainted (mum said she thort i had seen a ghost but when she realised what it was slamed the door shut)
I begged her to call room service to get rid of it but she refused seeing as she had a short night dress on and it was early hours of the morning so we had a safari at 5:00am and my brother and mother managed to get past the spider on the stair case and it took them both 45 minutes of convicing to make me even stand on the 1st step and belive i have never been as close to a wall as then!
Anyway my grandparents were next door (in the room next door) once the cleaner had done our room she told my grandparents about the spider she saw ont he stairs and told them that we should of called room services amidietly because it was a highly poisnus spider![also in Africa i heard there are theses spiders that make golden web?]
I live in CT and I’m not sure if my son got bit by a spider. He has a diamond shaped bruise on his arm about 2 by 3 centimeters and right in the middle there is a small cirle that is raised and not bruised. The doctor said to watch it.
A little bit of added information for my previous post.
I first went to the doctor about 4 days, which was when it started getting the red line that is now the open wound. I first went to my OB doctor because I am 18 weeks pregnant and my first concern was the baby. He prescribed me antibiotics, it was 5 days worth and I believe it was called cephlexin. He also wanted me to follow up with a general practitioner or go to the ER if I couldn’t get into another doctor, because he said this was way out of his realm. But he did check the babies heartbeat and everything sound great.
So that evening I went to the ER. The doctor there pushed around on it a bit and said he didn’t feel like there was any fluid that need to be drained. He also said he didn’t feel it was a brown recluse, or it would have been worse already, so that was a relief. There they gave me a shot in the hip of antibiotics, not sure what kind. They told me to follow up with a general practitioner.
Yesterday was when I was finally able to get to one, which is now about 11 days since I noticed the bite. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the surgeon he referred me to. I think it is a plastic surgeon. I really had no idea what type of doctor I should be going to so I am just going with the flow of what the docs tell me.
The area doesn’t seem to be spreading anymore, so I think their concern now is to get this area healed as best possible with the least amount of scarring.
I live in South Orange, New Jersey and yesterday as I was waiting for the train I picked up my bag which had been sitting on the floor and when I put it on my shoulder and the lower part of the bag came in contact with my hip, I felt a stabbing pain, like something bit me. It felt like someone had stuck a needle repeatedly there. I looked down and there was something squished there, but I couldn’t tell if it was a bug or not.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take a closer look until later in the evening, so I just ignored it as best I could. Eventually the pain went away but there is a red patch of skin there, that has turned to becoming very itchy. I can’t see any obvious bite mark or blister or anything… but I’m pretty sure it was a bite, and from what I’ve looked around at I believe it was a spider bite.
It doesn’t seem very serious now, but I was wondering if anyone knew what had caused this, or what you think I should do? Should I cover it, put cream on it? I haven’t consulted a doctor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!