I just wanted to also add that I have been diagnosed with a white tail spider bite on my toe back in Sept 2011 which was a very painful burning blister underneath my toe at the time. (The spider was not seen by me) I immediately went to see my GP who gave me 2 weeks of antibiotics. It seemed to clear up that was until small clear fluid type blisters kept forming in the original region I was bitten. However on 20th Jan 2012 I had 4 very painful brown spots with white halo's surrounding and a large 10cm red area come up on the inside of my elbow??? Again went to my GP who suspected cellulitus from that bite I was sent straight to Emergency at the local Hospital to commence IV antibiotics and I am still on them (up to day 9 so far) The wound is huge and now looks like a very blistered sunburn.

Hi there, I've been bitten by a white-tail in Tasmania about 7 years ago. I do live in Germany and I haven't found anyone who's familiar with this type of problem... A couple of times during the year, probably every other month or so, the spot on my upper arm, where I got bitten, starts itching again and also has a little swelling to it. What can I do about it (other than apply a local treatment) and can it cause any long time problems? Has anyone had a similar problem? Besten Dank and Thanks! Kerstin

I was bitten by a white tail spider in December 2009, i had ulcers and satelite ulcer all over the top part of my back, i was bitten whilst in bed. I also had ulcers appear on my right leg around my knee cap and also on my jaw line on the right side of my face. My questin is i seem to be getting the itchiness back on my jaw line with the little pimple type then turning in to scabs. Is it common for the symptoms to come back and affect you?

I live in Tasmania & several years ago read in a magazine how a mother treated her child for a white tailed spiderbite with a common dock leaf found in most gardens (I think plantain is the real name for it) She rushed to a doctor firstly and when the treatment didn't offer much relief or cure she found the common dockleaf may offer a cure - it worked like magic (on an upper arm strapped with soft cloth overnight) and her doctor suggested she continue the treatment - my sister has also tried this in N. Tasmania with good results (the leaf contains an acid which counteracts the poison) Worth trying - Felicity

Was bitten by a white tail spider about eight days ago, and the pain from the bite came on very gradually, through the day, and it was not until the second day that a small [Removed] lump appeared in the center of a red welt from the bite. I am a generally very healthy person, but recently my immunity has been under more pressure, from a new relationship with somebody withdrawing from opiates, and also a minor accident, but I did not anticipate that I would have any problem with a white tail bite. However, this morning, eight days later, I am heading out to go to casualty at the local hospital (thinking it best to be well informed via the internet first), because the bite is becoming a larger ulcer as the inflammation subsides. The inflammation peaked at around day 5, but as the inflammation is subsiding, the small point of entry of the spider bite, is becoming an open sore. There is not much puss, but a lot of lymph. The puss has not been exposed at the skin at any time, but simply looked like a pimple at first, and then a scab developed around it, and then the scab became a blister, and then by this morning it was an open wound. I have wondered if it was because of a bacteria on my skin, but I have also wondered about a psycho-somatic response, since I have noticed that the spider bite hurts more after every time I complain to anybody about it. The blister and its late appearance, (it did not show up until after I first told another person about the spider bite) has also make me wonder about whether there maybe any connection between having the herpes virus and the white tail bite forming an ulcer? Many people have the herpes virus in a dormant form, and like me, have never had an outbreak on the genitals, but when our immunity is run down, the herpes simplex viruses tend to assault any vulnerable patch of skin. Some years ago I got given a homeopathic medicine that cured me of herpes on my lips, (although I understand homeopathy is a controversial method, my experience is of the medicines disrupting normal patterns of dreams, enabling the subconscious to become more astute to the daily conditions of life), and I have recently had repeated contact with that same substance, which could explain how the ulcer began. The medicine that cured the herpes outbreaks with me, was only oregano though, so I guess doctors are unlikely to want to agree. However, how the oregano in a homeopathic potency, impacted on my nightly dreams, was by making me conscious that if I over expose my own self belief in being hard done by to the extent that I provide information to another person which hurts their well being, then I am more likely to blister on my lip from the herpes virus. So it sort of makes sense to me, that since showing the spider bite to my partner, was what precipitated it hurting more, that perhaps the herpes virus is involved. I will ask the hospital to test for that this morning.

I love spiders, at the moment i have a baby white tale captive in a bug catcher. They are exactly the same shape and pattern but at the joints in the legs almost transparent in colour. At what size does this type of spider become dangeres its 5 mm exact thank you.

hi, I was bitten by a white tail last night and straight away I could feel it swelling and the pain was like a pinching pain and burning. I caught the spider in a jar and it is about 20mm. but this morning all I have is a little bruise and no side effects, which is good coz I was worried coz I'm pregnant. I was just wondering what the chances are of finding another one in my room tonight, do they travel alone??

Well, I just got bitten by one on the neck and it was no baby. Lets see what happens!

Hi Martyn I have seen little baby white tails before. They have the same shape, they are fast but they have red legs. They are too small to see the white dot, but believe me no other spider looks like that here. Now I need to just find the eggs and get rid of them... do you think they would be in the roof or under weedmat?

Oh isn't this interesting, another one came in now at 11:50pm, same size. I said to my hubby that I normally find them when the weather is going to change. They are hunting spiders but maybe they also come inside before heavy rain. We shall see, heavy rain predicted for Auckland for the next 4 days. I will make note of this pattern because they don't come every night

Hello, I am terrified of these spiders and am in New Zealand so I decided today to observe them from a distance. This is what I found. They love my house and regularly come inside. We don't have any other poisonous spiders so its easy to blame the White tail for bite related illness. My uncle was bitten by an 11mm body white tail, we think it was female because of its behavior and size. We got it in a jar, My uncle's arm went numb and he got a red line going from the bite up toward his heart. he started to have a problem with speech but they sorted him out at hospital - apparently the reaction to the bite here, depends on what the spider has been eating. The trick is to be aware of what spiders you have at home and in your garden. If you can get rid of them, the White tail will have no food and leave. Today: 11pm - 1 on kitchen wall about 9mm body, another opposite wall - they seem to like coming in pairs. The bigger one raised her abdomen like a scorpion in defense as I tried to kill it. Too scary - the smaller one was faster, both produce web strings that allow them to float off the wall. They can feel you coming through their legs so even if they can't see, they still feel you. I think the bigger one was female because that would make sense for a spider. They raised their front legs and charged toward me on the carpet... like mini tarantulas. I felt really bad for killing them but I did not want to get bitten.

I was scanning the net for people that have been affected by white tail spider bites . I thought I was going mad . I was bitten christmas eve in my bed by boxing day my leg was 4x the normal size and red up to my groin I went to hospital and was sent home on antibotics oral ones and told it was cellulitis , but 4 days latter I was so ill and couldnt walk I went back to the hospital and was kept in , by this time an ulcer had form under a huge blister , the doctor still would not say it was a spider bite . I spent most of January in hospital on Antibotics . Since I have been home I am unable to put my leg or foot to the floor for more then 10 minutes at a time or I am in so much pain , my foot and leg continue to swell so much I cant put on shoes therefor I have had to stop working , the bottom of my foot to my ankle is numb most of the time . I also am experiencing lots of bouts of tears and pain in other joints like my hip elbow and other leg . The ulcer has left a huge scar ( no leg modelling for me LOL) and keeps breaking down in parts . I dont know if you give me more information or put me onto other that are experiencing the same thing . I am usually a healthy person , that was working full time and was active in my life now I feel like a waste of space . please I hope you can help I am away at the moment and not on my laptop so therefore I dont have the photos my partner and I took of the sequence of events and the leg through to ulceration I will be back to my laptop on monday so will forward photos if you are interested . To date the doctors still won't give me a diagnosis Thank you

Hi There! We have some recently hatched baby white tails in our house - (noticed them yesterday, on the ceiling, about 15 or so... & counting! - I'm thinking they hatched in the roof & have come inside via the downlights) I'm just wondering how many are usually produced from one egg sac, is Summer traditional breeding/baby spider time, and how long do these little guys take until they become BIG guys?! thankyou so much! Kathy.

hi i'd like to also add a different view here i'v now been bitten twice by white tails,recovering now from 2nd 1. you may be right about a secondary infection but on both occasions i was bitten the hospitals lab chose what bit me,i didn't see the spider either time. strangly enough both times i have ended up with ulcerated sores & bad sunburn type rashs. i was also informed that it was most likely the cause of long term cellulitus in my leg by the doctor. every year the rashs & sometimes sores that take ages to heal come back this time the bite is on the other leg which is now dressed daily , i also have a canular in my arm in which i receive high dose antibiotics daily. the doctors seem to have a different opinion on what these can do

I just discovered quite a large female white tail spider in my apartment. This causes me concern as I only got the place sprayed for cockroaches and spiders about 3 weeks ago and this spider did not look at all ill. I have a 7 month baby and am really nervous about having this type of spider in my unit. How agressive are they and what should I do if my baby gets bitten?

I just removed a white tip spider from my room what are the chances of there being another one? I am quite afraid of spiders.. Do they normally travel in groups or alone

I was bitten by a white tail a couple of years ago. i saw the spider as well so i'm sure what it was. I did come up with an ulercating toe where i was bitten and i lost my toe nail and it took a while for the infection to heal. I was told it was not the venom itself but more a bacterial infection that may have been introduced by the spider bite. I was bitten again today by one (this time i saved the spider in a jar) and i instantly cleaned the bite and iced it so i'm hoping i don't get the same problem i had last time. We normally don't kill spiders in our house , but i might hang on to this one in the jar in cause i have problems with the bite. I still have issues with the sensitivity of my toe where the nail fell off (the whole end of my toe was a weeping sore at the time) so i'm hoping that the ulceration is a rare responce and i don't get a repeat performance.

Hey there, I remember when i was a child there was a nest in my bed in Sydney's inner west, i'm not sure if i was ever bitten, but i have never suffered any necrotic ulcers. Because my grandmother has a large garden and is unable to do the work herself, i am helping out, so i did some reading on all the venomous Aussie spiders and apparently there is a chemical in the white-tails venom that is very similar to that of the Brown Recluse spider in the US (also causing severe necrosis). From what i read the toxin only affects about 15% of the population but for those who are affected, they have found that nitroglycerin patches applied directly on the necrotic tissue fixes it up immediately... though i have spoken to a few GP's in Sydney and none of them had any idea where they could even get nitroglycerin patches (a few had never even heard such things exist). Anyway just thought for people like Mort, this may be useful in some way (i have always found that it pays to come up with a few idea's of your own before you go to your GP).

My friend had a whitetail bite which was mild but a year after he had an acupuncture treatment and the bite wound reapeared. If the whitetail has been proven to not have a necrotic venom then I suggest it may be a bacteria other than the venom that causes the adverse reaction, after all they prey on other venomous spiders so maybe it's carrying a bacteria from another species it recently devoured. I have seen whitetails approach the funnel webs of black house spiders, tap the extremeties of the web causing the house spider to emerge seeking prey and then the whitetail pounces.They are very evolved for spider hunting. However I have also seen that they are not the top predator in my house. I have seen a daddy longlegs carefully wrap up the legs of a large whitetail that was moving across the ceiling. The whitetail was oblivious to the slow gentle entrapment. Once the whitetails legs were bound only then did the daddy longlegs bite it, the whitetail unable to move. Since then we refuse to kill daddy longlegs as they are excellent spider controllers! Leave them alone and they will help you out!

Hi Clint here, I've been bitten by 2 white tails, once when working on my car, it bit me on the back and it swolled up to a size of a golf ball. Second one was when I was in bed and it bit me on the leg, it only hurt but no swelling, so yeh it seems like different white tails have different effects.. What bought me on to this subject was that I just killed one with my finger.

Hi! I believe my daughter has been bitten by a white tip/tailed spider. she is 2 years old and the bite is near her right ankle. It is extremely inflammed and pussy. It has also started swelling around the bite. I have heard that it will not affect her.. is this true or should i take her to the hospital??

Hi all well I have a different point of view. I got Bitten by a large white tail(I found the spider and chatted briefly to it ) in my bed on my left ankle. It got worse and ulcerated for maybe 2 years, then went away slowly. I had given up alcohol and I believe that helped. 10 years later I have been drinking again and the ulceration has erupted painfully and badly. Large and ugly. Info For those who are interested. I also have a friend whose white tail bite gave him kidney failure and a mild heart attack as well as an ulcer larger than a dinner plate. Nasty little creepy crawlers.

Hi, I have a white tail egg sack on the cornice in my bedroom with a female guarding it. How can I get rid of it before they hatch? I can't stand the thought of them in my bedroom!

I have been gardening today and came across heaps of these spiders in my garden, not realising at the time what they were. Last week, my dog came out in a huge ulcer under her collar, which has resulted in a very infected welt which has spread to the eyes, ears and stomach. We saw the vet and have been treating with antibiotics and bathing however it is only healing very slowly. The vet thought it was a "hot spot" however I am now wondering if she has been bitten by one of these spiders. Is it likely a dog would have similar symptoms to some humans and if so, would the treatment be any different?

I recently found a large white tail spider in my room which we took outside. Since then i have found four small, what i believe are white tails in my bedroom. is it possible they have hatched in my bedroom? and how exactly do i find them or get rid of them? eeeek. i'm really uncomfortable, and i need to get rid of these suckers so i can rest easy!

I have just removed a white tail from my work place. I caught it in a glass and released it outside. Given the lack of scientific evidence, as distinct from anecdote, on ulcerating lesions caused by these spiders I have no hesitation in letting them live. I removed this particular spider because a colleague has a slight phobia for spiders.

Hi There. Just a question regarding the sizes of the white-tailed spider. I reside in Sydney's South West, and this summer the white-tails have been unusually active in our household. The ones we are seeing are obviously female due to their size but they are HUGE! Most averaging around 15mm body length but some as large as 25-30mm. Very distinctive white-tailed markings, not just the white tip but the dual bands of white as well, cigar-shaped body. Could these be a different species? We are worried with our 10yo daughter here, as we have heard stories of flesh-eating disorders after a white-tailed bite, but have since researched that these are possible unconfirmed species or alternative factors contributing to these cases. We find that the "window spiders", daddy-long-legs and white tails are living together quite happily in our home. We will shortly be getting the house sprayed but are worried due to the large number we have been seeing this summer that there may be a large infestation. Is it possible that the white-tailed spider may "nest"? Thanks.