Wolf Spiders Bites
If are bitten by a Wolf Spider the chances are that it is a rather large specimen, as smaller specimens doesn't have the power to penetrate skin. If the bite has penetrated your skin, and it is a wolf spider, you will probably experience a swelling around the site of the bite.
Although the Wolf Spider is venomous, its bite is not lethal for healthy people. However, children and elderly definitely need medical treatment to prevent complications from the bite.
Necrotic arachnidism
Necrotic arachnidism is usually attributed to wolf spider bites (Isbister ' Framenau, 2004)1. In a study they showed that approx. 24 % of all wolf spider bites could be considered severe, but that wolf spider bites did not cause necrosis (death of tissue), and that the pain associated with wolf spider bites is mainly due to mechanical trauma. In the same study they also found that the median duration of pain is 10 minutes only.
A study in Toxicon also showed (Ribeiro et al., 1990)2 that "No local necrosis, a severe complication described in the previous literature, was detected, suggesting that those old cases were due to misdiagnosed Loxosceles (brown recluse spider) spider bites".
Please note that Loxosceles is the brown recluse spider. Indeed, brown recluse spiders are potentially dangerous and their bites do cause severe necrosis.
Another study (Campbell et al., 1987)3 reported that bites from North American wolf spiders are generally mild, and that any mild cause of skin necrosis is due to the bite itself, and not the venom. It is recommended that wolf spider bites are treated with antibiotics, local application of ice and an immunization vaccine against tetanus.
Resources
1. Isbister, G.K. & Framenau, V.W. Australian Wolf Spider Bites (Lycosidae): Clinical Effects and
Influence of Species on Bite Circumstances. Journal of Toxicology Clinical Toxicology 42(2) pp. 153-161 (2004)
2. Ribeiro, LA, Jorge, MT, Piesco, RV, et al. Wolf spider bites in Sao-Paulo, Brazil - A Clinical and
Epidemiologic-study of 515 Cases. Toxicon 28(6) pp. 715-717 (1990)
3. Campbell, D.S., Rees, R.S & King, L.E. Wolf Spider Bites. Cutis 39(2) pp. 113-114 (1987)
Web resources
Wolf spiders bites (Australian website)
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