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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Would you like to see our collection of spider bite photos?
Hi, I’m Haleigh and I think I was bitten by a spider, because there are two tiny holes inside of a dime size red puffy area below my right breast. At first I thought it was just an insect bite ’cause it was small at first and it itched a little bit. Then today (I got the bite sometime the night before last), it was bigger and it was hurting quite a bit, and I noticed it had gotten bigger and then I saw the two tiny holes. I showed my mum, and she doesn’t know exactly what it is either. We think it’s a spider bite because of the two holes and we just fount a spider that had laid eggs.
We got a chance to kill one spider and the eggs, but we fount two more spiders that were a little bit bigger than a quarter, and we tried to kill them but they jumped onto my laundry basket and haven’t been seen since. I’m quite scared cause I looked it up as what the spider looks like, which is brownish-blackish, with tan stripe-like shapes on the back and striped legs (I got a close look when I first killed the one). It said it could be a Male Black Widow. It said that the male black widow isn’t that venomous, but it could be harmful. I don’t know exactly what kind of spider it is, but I just need help as in what to do and how to find out if it’s an actual spider bite. I don’t know what to do, because I’ve never been bitten by a spider before. Please help.
Over a week ago I was on my patio when I felt something bite me it was dark so couldn’t tell. In Texas we have huge misquotes so I didn’t think much. I had a bump even looked like a misquote bite. A day latter there was a big hard mass around it the nurse at my work tried to pop it but no luck. This bite is in the middle of my right forearm the infection had spread above my elbow down into my fingers. My arm was so swollen my arm bulged out and the hard mass had spread into a larger size. I went to the hospital doc gave me antibiotics. Next day I go to a walk in clinic because it was getting worse and it was making me sick with high fever and throwing up. They ended up having to lance it nasty thick brown fluids came out. A week latter I see my personal doctor she says it’s still badly infected around the wound. I have a hard mass on both sides of my wound it feels like rocks. It feels like bugs crawling in my arm which freaks me out. Please if you suspect a spider bite get help at once it can also turn into staff or MRSA which is an aggressive staff infection that is hard to treat.
Wanted to suggest first, to Jill, about the many bites that lasted a long time… could they be flea bites? We have had fleas often because where we live there is a lot of sand, and our house is old, so they get in easily… we don’t even have any pets. They especially like to bite light skinned people (easier to see blood source), and around the feet.
Also, I grew up in MI and often got bitten while I was sleeping at my grandmother’s house in an old room upstairs. They were much like mosquito bites, but swelled larger – quarter to half-dollar size. Now, I’m living in Texas and over the last month, my son and I have been getting bites just like that. I’m guessing it’s a spider, since we live in the woods, and my grandmother’s house had a small wood behind it.
So the question is: what kind of spider lives in both Michigan and Texas and likes to bite people (especially on the arms) in their beds while they sleep?
Thank in advance (btw – where do we find responses to these questions???),
Heather
I saw on your website you can help identify spider bites.
Mine is 4 days old now and the pain is starting to get worse.
I have no symptoms of nausea or a flu like feeling.
I only have the pain around my calf.
It spreads up to my knee and I have trouble walking.
Would you please help identify the spider bite so I can find out how to treat it.
Thank you for the website
Thomas brown
Two days ago I found a pea size lump on my dog. At first I thought bot fly but now it’s opened up with 2 large craters and it seems to be growing! Is this a spider bite and if it is, what should I do next????
Thanks,
Brooke
This was day one. It’s been 4 days and it is bruised badly, the size of a baseball. It’s sore, but no swelling. Any ideas?
Here’s a couple photos taken 8 days after the spider bite / bites, in central Oregon. It’s on Bettys left ankle. Is it a Hobo spider bites?
Please respond to both email addresses. toribeth22 [at] aol.com, and whatmodernis [at] aol.com
Betty has not seen a doctor about this as yet, so any info might be urgent.
Thanks for any info you can provide to us.
Hi there,
My 2yr old has a nasty spider bite at the back of her hand an it’s extremely itchy an she complained of it being sore.
The suspected culprit is a small black hairy jumping spider an I kno this cos it’s the second bite within 6months ! And I’ve seen many of these buggers around!
Are they poisonous and what can I use to relive the discomfort and itchiness !
I did make her soak her hand in a dish of ice water and vinegar ! Seems to have helped a bit !
Many thanks!
Zakiya
Durban , South Africa
it was a week ago that my mom complained of spiders biting her cause they got in her closet. days later i got some bites too they itched like any normal bite but then i got a sort of rash on my back near some of the bites on Monday i got sick with a bad headache and stomach pains i through up i fear it could have been linked to a brown recluse spider bite but i am missing 2 symptoms the weird thing is i don’t have 2 pricks but i have one on every mark maybe it was a pack of baby mosquitoes i did some research and discovered the brown recluse spider does not live in northeast Michigan (my home) but could it have traveled here when i get back over to my mom i will ask about her symptoms I HATE SPIDERS i am just so scared i don’t know what to do tell me what bit me!!!!!!
I live in Northern Oklahoma and stayed out in the country a couple nights ago and noticed a bump on the inside of my left thigh yesterday and thought nothing of it. But the night before when I stayed there, I had seen at least 3 to 4 brown recluses in the room I slept in on the floor but didn’t think they’d bother me. Now this morning it’s a lot bigger inside my thigh and is purple all around it. Too bad I don’t have insurance though. I’d like to know for sure what it is.
I woke up the other morning with two small red swellings on the bottom of my heel and one distinct blackish dot in the middle of each swell (two dots total, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart). The area is smooth, and the dots feel hard. Seemed to itch at first, but now it’s just painful to the touch. Two nights ago I soaked my foot in warm water & Epsom salts. Yesterday I woke up to the dots having gotten bigger overnight. Now they are dark purplish – blackish spots that kind of look like blood blisters. They look the same this morning as they did yesterday. I’m going on the fourth day of having these, and it’s freaking me out that they aren’t getting better. It started Thursday morning, and this is Sunday. I live in San Jose, California. Could these be insect or spider bites?
Thanks for your help.
My son just experienced a bite this week. Didn’t know when it happened. Just experienced severe pain, redness and edema on foot. Later noticed two small fang marks above wound. Saw physician next day and was told had staph infection from the bite. Two days later and still have pain, and swelling with some redness subsiding.
Hi,
My boyfriend noticed what looked like a pimple on his arm a few days ago. Within 2 days, it became swollen to a rather large size. Just today, it popped/ruptured and is very red with a little blood and an area that looks like it’s turning black now! Before that, it was very painful to the touch. He’s planning on calling the doctor in the morning, but in the mean time, I’d appreciate some insight seeing how we are both a little freaked out. Thanks for your time.
My daughter was bitten Monday night. I took her to the emergency room Yesterday as a precaution. They had no idea what bit her… other than they thought it was some sort of spider. It was dark so she didn’t see what bit her. Whatever it was got under her pant leg. She said the stinging pain started immediately. Within 20 minutes the area around the bite was swelled to approx. 4 inches across. The bite mark looked like 2 black punctures. Yesterday before we went to the ER we took tweezers and removed the 2 tiny black things still sticking out of her leg. I checked spider bite pictures for widows and they all show red puncture wounds. Anybody have any ideas?
I was bite by a small white spider. I live in new Mexico. I haven’t found out what kind it is yet. I got bite and rolled over and it felt like my finger was burning. I got up and looked at it, I couldn’t see anything there but it hurt. On the side of my pinkie whereby got bite I saw a small blue vein. My husband got up to see what was wrong and I checked the bed. On his pillow there was the spider. It’s in a glass jar now and even has made a web. I took some benadryl and iced it. The redness is gone and there is a very small red dot, the burning and tingling is gone. But it still is sore. Any suggestions? Or know of the this spider?
I have a spider bite it looks like i have a knot but if you look close you will see one little hole and it has redness around it and the red part is itching but if i touch the part that looks like a knot it will hurt really bad it is located on my left arm almost on the part where you bend your arm i didn’t feel it bite me before it got like it is now it was a little bitty white bump and i popped it and puss started coming out then the next day it was bigger then bigger and now it like it is now and i would like to know what kind of spider bit me please help?! thank you
Two days ago I woke up with a small slightly red bump on my leg. It only itched a little so I didn’t think much of it. Well this morning I woke up and it is a darker red and slightly swollen. It is also hard in the center. There also seems to be a small white bump. It is hot to the touch and hurts if I press on it.
At first I thought it was an in-grown hair but it doesn’t look like the other in-grown hairs I have had, but I’m hoping that is all it is.
Any thoughts?
my brother got bit and passed out what do i do?
I was sitting by the side of a pool and when I got home I noticed a big red circle, the size of a golfball. I thought it was just a weird sunburn… but the next day it started burning and little white bubbles were coming out of my skin.(my mother said the bubbles had to do with white blood cells or something.) The bubbles started getting larger and connecting together as the days went on. My mother popped the bubbles and there were open wounds. Now it just looks like a third degree burn and it doesn’t hurt anymore, just looks disgusting. What kind of spider bite is it? This happened about 2 weeks ago.
I don’t know when I got it but I woke up with an itch on my leg and i live Wethern, NC it turned red and was stinging until i but some ice on it then it has went numb.
I was shopping at Lowes in Florida today and when I picked up a plant; all of a sudden I felt pain in my hand and noticed ants biting me. Well after I brushed off the ants and continued shopping I noticed the outside of my left hand was all purple so I am not sure if something else bit me but it appears to have gotten darker in color as the day goes on. Could this be some kind of spider bite? I have no other symptoms.
Two nights ago I was bitten by something. I woke up and had a very faint blotch on the inside of my forearm, and my elbow and bicep were very sore and stiff. There were no actual bite marks so I’m just trying to see if anyone has info on a bite like that in NY
So today while I was cleaning my bedroom I noticed a severely raised area on my arm the actual puncture marks are a bit far apart about 2cm and about and hour or two ago it started hurting now it really hurts and my hand is kinda stiffening up. Mind you I live in Colorado near Nebraska I have no idea what kind of spider it is, but it hurts and the actual bite area is turning red.
I had this bump recently pop up on my shin (Regular bump, wounded area) so i scratched it thinking it was a mosquito bite.Last night i was looking at it and starting squeezing to get pus out,and a greenish-yellow ball of something,shot out of where the bump was swollen at.i looked it up to see if it was a spider bite,but i wasn’t sure.i think it is possibly a Wolf spider bite, but I’m not completely sure.
Hi my names Alissa, & I think I have a spider bite on my lip. This came about 2 days ago. I went to sleep 4 like 3 hrs & when I woke up there was a painful lump on my edge of my lower lip. My dads convinced its a blister but if u look close u can c 2 tiny, pin-prick punctures. We don’t normally have spiders but we just got our house sprayed so…. Ya…. Um its red &looks more like a small scab on my lip sort of…. Um and it bleeds often.its not swollen but it hurts. Please answer.
I got bit by a brown recluse. I will describe the bite and tell you how I treated it. The bite starts out as a white dot, mine was the size of the end of my index finger. Day two it gets a red welt around it, and the white dot turns brown. By day three the welt is bigger (this is how mine went, yours may progress depending upon amount of venom) do not let it get away from you. My treatment: activated charcoal, which you can get from a health store take it orally and make a paste and put it on the bite (change bandage two or three times a day) next while cleaning use baking soda, let it sit on bite to draw out infection. And peroxided. Take vitamins daily and make sure you give your body proper nutrition ( stay away from over processed foods, pop, and chips like Doritos.) Rub oil of oregano on it and take it orally. Make sure you clean it every time you change your bandage. And don’t wait to start!!! Trust me, if you think you have any spider bite this will help!!! It worked for me!!!
I have inch apart fur filled bites. The fur,like a black ball of lint, is not round underneath but sunk into the puncture. It happens often, and sometimes through my clothes. No swelling and I am not sure like the time I really was but by a tarantula when i showered and puked for hours, but it hurts real bad when I scrub them off and there is jut this sense of horror. It has happened many times. I live in Ohio, but was told it may be a tarantula. It is midsummer now, so I am sure it could be.
I keep getting these bites that are an inch apart and filled with little lint ball looking fur that is stuck inside my skin about a quarter inch in, and has to be scrubbed with a copious amount of soap and a loofah. When they come out is painful with a puncture wound effect. Someone said tarantula, but I was bit by one of those before and i got really sick and never saw the fur balls, but it was on the back of my neck last time. These just freak me out. I felt the spider once,about the size of my hand. What was it?
I saw a wolf spider in my sink a couple weeks ago and immediately had the pest control come spray, I have now been paranoid about getting bit by a spider especially since I have a 3 month old son. He hasn’t been bitten, I have several bug bites, mostly mosquitoes or something like that and they are almost gone, so I’m not worried about those anymore. But I just noticed a red bump on my thigh with 2 white spots side by side (doesn’t look like white bumps as how they are normally described, it looks like 2 flakes of dry skin, but I can’t scratch it off….it doesn’t itch or hurt or no heat or anything to it…I just wondering if that sounds like anything to be worried about.
My name is Aracely and i think i got a snakebite i woke up with my lip very fat and swelled up. And my wrist swollen&red And i got some itchy red rash on my left shoulder;please help i have children!!
I’ve read all the comments on this blog but none really seem to be the same as my problem. We have wolf spiders, small spiders, and many other big spiders here in Texas. Just this week, we’ve killed a wolf spider in our hallway, and another dark spider our cats found one late evening, coming from the kitchen. I’ve seen bigger wolf spiders in our bathrooms, as well, and our son said he killed one this week, too. Well, about three days ago, I was about to get into bed after a shower, when I felt a stabbing bite on the back of my thigh. It made me jump a bit but I like swatted the area and got into bed. I tried to go to sleep but was drawn to scratch the area a lot. It itched so bad. I was finally able to go to sleep, even though through the night I scratched it several more times and my thigh started getting very swollen, painful and tight. When I woke up the next morning, I could barely walk, the pain was intense and the swelling was golf ball size. By the evening, it was baseball size and very tight and pinkish but in the center were white, painful blisters.
I have to sit in pain so now on the fourth day, I sit on the edge of the seat to avoid sitting on the sore thigh. Today, it still itches but not tight anymore. The blisters have not popped, so-to-speak. I read in the blogs to keep it clean, some use alcohol and peroxide, others use neoporin, and one person’s doctor said to use bentonite clay which draws out the poison and the next day it was gone, so my husband called a health food store and asked one of the ladies about it. She is giving him something else, so I will let you know if it helps. I know the pain and am so sorry others have to go through this, too. How do I post a picture?
so i woke up this morning and my little brother’s leg is swollen. it looked so nasty a huge bump in the middle and little bumps around well my mom is not up so i cant tell her right now but she will be so freaked out. gross!
I do not remember being bitten, but a have a bite, that arose out of nowhere, and the bitten area feels warm or at times HOT, and it not only itches, but hurts the area bitten(ELBOW AREA).It hurts to the touch, and the entire arm from the elbow down hurts a if I have been working out, the inner wrist mostly, along with the area where I was bitten. Anyone has suggestions?? I do not have insurance, so i do not want to make an unnecessary trip to the ER. But if this keeps going, I might have to. Thanks, Rob
Okay. I got bit by a spider 3 days ago. It only itched until last night. Now, it burns, itches, and stings.. I live in OK so I have no clue. My younger brother has had 9 bites in 3 weeks and we have no clue what kind of spiders they are. Please help!!
Tuesday June 21 I was laying on my air mattress. The chiggers are really bad along with mosquitoes this year. As I got up, I had a really bad itch on my right hip so I scratched it just once. It hurt really bad like scratching over a pimple so I ran to the bathroom and it had already started to swell. It was just red at the time and I could not figure out what it was.
So I left to go get my hair done, sitting in the salon chair I realized little red dots under the skin on my arms. I got home that evening feeling awful the bite was still red and swollen I began running a fever on my way home. As I layed down I started experiencing slight chills and nausea. The next day it looked like a pimple with slight purple around it. My papa told me to heat a rag and set it on there and when it cools, repeat the process, the next day the white head had popped. I noticed m thighs and arms have strange redness and bloodshot dots all over them and when I go to bed at night my legs is extremely badly, worst itch I’ve ever had. I thought the itching might be coming from the bed so i slept on the couch and because I thought that I could get better sleep since the past few nights have been sleepless I didn’t wake up in pain today and the itching was to a minimal while I slept the itches are also more active during the night. Today it’s still swelled a little but started turning purple. I haven’t seen a doctor and I also cannot find two spider holes like you would normally find. I’m confused. After it popped I began applying neosporin and since the bite I’ve been taking benedryl and applying cortozone to the itching areas. I don’t know what it could be from the last time i was diagnosed with a spider bite i also didn’t see two spider holes and it wasn’t quiet the same process either.
I’ve barely scratched it and the last night i “got bit by a spider” i itched it all the time. the doctors told me I almost got staph infection. help? any ideas on what it could be. the area is sore and has sharp pains shooting through it at times. now it is without band aids and neosporin and airing out.
So.. I had a small bruise on my back at first. And today it seemed put look more like a bug bite. MY brother scared me and started telling me it was a bad spider bite. Its only been about a day since I noticed it. It doesn’t have puss in it.. or at least I don’t think so. It doesn’t itch or anything.. I just don’t understand. WHAT IS IT?
Ok, so the setting was late last night. I had just gone to sleep, about 2am. I then awoke for some reason at like 430am, went to the bathroom and noticed this itching on my foot. I scratched and scratched for a moment wondering what was wrong. Even took a light to it trying to figure the situation out but just ended up falling back asleep. Now waking up for the day the site is pussy, bleeding, and yellow. Its not anything huge at the moment but we know how these things can get. To describe in a little more detail, it doesn’t have bites, almost more like a small blister with the skin removed. Yellow underneath, with a ring of blood around the outside, and a small pocket on the corning secreting fluids. The site of the bite also has a stinging sensation to it.
I got bit last night in my sleep. Whatever bit me seems to have crawled behind my ear, I must have rolled over and startled it or something and of course it did what spiders to best – it bit me, at some point in the night and I woke up to an itchy burning sensation behind my ear. I can’t see it but my sister describes the bite itself as zit like (very small) and the red area around it seems to only be about an inch in size. I’m kind freaking out because I’ve never reacted to a spider bite like this before, so if anyone has any ideas as to what may have bitten me I would be so appreciative. Oh and I live in Oregon :-)
I’m not sure if what I have is a spider bite. But I’ve been bitten twice. Both times there have been two punctures. The first day it is really swollen and the area is a little pink. The next day is the same except the punctures are visible. By the third and fourth day the swelling and itchiness has reduced and all that’s left are the punctures.
yes my name is Jon a small spider the color of how do I explain a tan dark clear cooking oil color with black tiny black specs on its legs bit my foot between my toes now its been two days and the tissue is darker around it kind looks like a irritated zit before you pop it and I was wondering if I should be worried or not the bite doesn’t look very bad just like a irritation not turning black or anything do I need to be worried or no.
I was in Arizona last week and just before getting on the airplane home noticed a large, red welt forming behind my knee. It was extremely itchy and went from being about the circumference of a quarter to as large as a silver dollar in less than an hour. I would guess it was raised about a centimeter as well…..I could easily feel it through my jeans and had difficulty bending my knee due to the swelling. The bite swelling went down with some cortisone cream and ice, but a large bruise still remains (about 3″ x 3″). Last night (3 days later) my foot and ankle on the same leg were noticeably swollen. I had several small bites on my ankle (also from AZ) and not knowing if they were the cause of the swelling, once again tried cortisone and ice which worked. After reading all the above comments, I’m just wondering if I should be concerned. I feel good otherwise, and am guessing this hideous bruise will go away in time. If anyone has any comments or reason for me to be concerned, I’d love to hear!
Not sure what happened, but my finger has been hurting, and gotten more painful daily X 3 days now. I can’t bend it well, and at night it hurts in my nerves down to my elbow. I don’t know what it was, but it looks like a small brown splinter??? Please help.
This happened on Monday, April 18 it’s been about three days now. No pain only feels like a bruise. Itched a little first day. Keeps getting darker every day. What do you think it might be?
1st time mommy of an adorable 2yr old FREAKING OUT! Earlier today we were at a party in Magnolia Tx & my son was playing about with the other kiddos in the grass. He came over saying “Owe Mommy!” limping. I brushed his little foot off & kissed it thinking he stepped on a sticker. Later on tonight we came home & after bath he told me his foot hurt. I looked at & ran my fingers over his swollen ankle & felt 2 puncture wounds (looked at them under bright light & there they were)! Not sure if this puncture wound is a spider bite or snake bite. By the way he was playing by a tree with vines & stuff. His ankle is giving off some heat around the bitten area & it appears to have som slight bruising as well.
Hi, I’m highly allergic to insects. What first looked like a mosquito bite, turned into a huge lump on my ankle. I was sleeping over a friends house, I saw three spiders on the floor ceiling and wall. I went to sleep n woke up the next morning to find blood all over my ankle, there weren’t two dots, only one. was it a mosquito or spider??
Hi my fiance, Scott, was bitten by a spider twice. Once over Memorial Day weekend, and the other time occurred this past weekend. These bites happened while we were sleeping in the guest bedroom of his father’s lake house in Wedowee, Alabama. His brother, David, was bitten sleeping in the same bed last night. Yet, my 6 month old son and I have both slept in the same bed and never been bitten.
We are going to wash the sheets, thoroughly clean, fumigate, and check for a nest or spiders in the room but are concerned about these bites.The two bites my fiance has are pretty nasty. One is worse than the other, but they are the same type of bite. The bite he received on Memorial Day is half dollar size. It is a red swollen welt with a green puss core (about the size of a bb) and is starting to get a dark color around the core. He popped it, the puss oozed out, and then scabbed over. This has been done repeatedly. It has been sore but has not began to hurt until now. It just now began to have the dark color around the core. I told him not to touch it in the beginning but he never listens. Typical man… lol. Yet, he has taken my advice on the second bite. The one he got last weekend is is dime size and has a needle to pen tip sized green puss core.
He said that he saw a spider in the room over this past weekend and killed it. The spider’s description according to him, “It was clearish looking and had a pea colored greenish butt”. I cannot find a spider that is even remotely familiar to this description that resides in Alabama on any internet database. I am actually scared that these bites are the result of a brown recluse because of the location of the house, and that he was bitten in bed. Can you please help me identify this spider or spiders? Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kristina
I moved to Virginia about 2 weeks ago. This morning I woke up and pulled an insect off my skin. It was round and flat, completely black, and a little under the size of a dime. The legs were extremely short, and very thin. After I pulled the bug off, I checked in the mirror. I found 4 round bumps close to the same size as the bug.
The bites are red, a little raised, and the skin around the bites is unaffected. The bites itch like mosquito bites, but the calamine lotion that I applied to them isn’t working. At first I thought it was a tick bite, but after doing some research on ticks and other insects that live in my area, I began to think it could be a spider bite. But, none of the spiders in my area match the description of the bug I pulled off my skin.
It could be a spider, it could be a tick, either one, I’m sleeping with bug spray on tonight. Please help.
my bite is the size of a quarter and it is purple/red with a small ring around it i have no idea what spider it is but i want to know if i should get it looked at
I was bit by something it might be a spider but I’m not sure. I was bit on the back of my left thigh. At first it itched then the next day it started hurting at that spot and then it started hurting on the left side of my lower butt. It feels like its a bruise but there’s nothing there but a bite.
Hey,
I got a spider bite maybe like a couple days ago, I cannot tell what type of spider did so.
I can see two ‘tip of a pencil’ big fang marks and it is red swollen very stiff and on the very top now is a random blister. I got bitten while I was asleep.