General Information

• There are over 20,000 species of spiders in the world.
• In the United States, there are two species that cause bites in humans of medical importance: the black widow (Lactrodectus) and the brown recluse (Loxosceles).
• If you decide you need to see your doctor, bring the spider along in a jar for identification (brown recluse spiders are especially hard to identify).
• Sometimes people incorrectly believe that they sustained a spider bite, when instead a minor break inthe skin instead simply became infected with a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus.