How Does a Spider Bite?
Spider Anatomy
The main parts of a spider's mouth concerned with biting are its chelicerae. The chelicerae is made up of two parts, the fang and the basal section. The fang is more like a hollow needle similar to a hypodermic needle used for injections in a doctor's office. These fangs vary in strength and sharpness, but some spiders have the ability to bite through even toenails and soft leather shoes. The basal section is where the spider's venom glands are located. When the spider bites, it can voluntarily inject a prescribed amount of venom through its fang and into its victim. This can either either stun its prey or kill it, dependent on its motives.
Attacking Versus Defensive Bites
The spider has two separate types of bites, defensive and attacking. As mentioned with spider anatomy, the spider can control how much venom it chooses to inject during its bite. For every amount of venom injected, a spider has to use that amount of energy to renew the lost venom. As such, spiders are careful not to use their venom unless absolutely necessary. As such, most defensive bites from a spider use no venom at all. This is the case with most human bites. Usually the pain induced by the bite is enough to repel what the spider may feel is a threat, such as a human. When a spider does not use venom, it is considered a "dry bite." However, an attacking bite always uses venom. These are the bites that a spider will make when killing its food. The spider has the ability to inject as little or as much venom as it deems necessary to kill or stun its prey. This is mostly dependent on the perceived size of the prey itself. The larger the prey, the more venom needed to subdue it.
Spider Venom
When a spider chooses to inject its venom, it's called spider envenomation. This envenomation on humans varies by the type of spider and how toxic its venom is. There are two main types of venom, neurotoxic and necortic. Neurotoxic bites, like the widow spider, cause interruption of the neural system. This can cause the body to go into muscular shock or may cause painful cramps. The necrotic bite, such as from a recluse spider, can cause necrotising ulcers at the scene of the bite, causing the skin to die and tissue surrounding the bite to die. This can leave large holes in the body, and in some cases lead to death.
Symptoms of a Spider Bite
A spider bite will look like a slightly raised red bump with a bite mark in the center of it. However, not all bites that look like a spider bite really are. One of the most falsely claimed medical emergencies is a spider bite. If you saw the spider bite you, or if you experience a large amount of pain or muscle cramping associated with the bite area, contact a medical professional.
Treatment
Treatments vary dependent on the type of spider. This is one of the greatest obstacles to treating a bite. Unless you saw the spider bite you and caught it for further examination, then it is nearly impossible to be treated, or even to be sure it is a spider bite. If the spider bite is proved to be necrotic, usually the limb is elevated and ice is applied to the area. Antibiotics may be used if infection occurs from the bite. If the bite is neurotoxic, the wound should be encouraged to bleed, then washed thoroughly, and an antiseptic ointment should be applied to the affected area.
If the bite came from a widow, Brazilian Wandering, or Funnel Web spider, it should be treated as a medical emergency. The victim may have a severe allergic reaction to the bite and go into shock if not attended to.
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