Posted by Venom on November 27, 2002 at 14:06:45:
In Reply to: Re: Wolf or Hobo...Need an answer please posted by toxic on October 06, 2002 at 15:19:10:
First thing, it isn't a hobo. They live ( in the usa ) only in the Northwest ( Washington , Oregon region ) and in part of Utah.
HOWEVER , I would still be concerned. The spider you described has only six eyes. That is very important. It could be a species of recluse spider , which are dangerously venomous, and DO produce symptoms like what you described. The most common species of recluse in the USA is typically mild tempered and non-aggressive, but it is very possible for there to be individual spiders with worse tempers than others of the same species. Recluses ARE found in Florida, and can sometimes attain to the size of your spider, or larger. USUALLY they are not large, but there are definetly exceptions to this .
This is a picture of a non-native recluse that has introduced to parts of the usa ( California and Massachusetts ) . But it is not impossible that this is what you have. I mentioned this species because it large, and usually aggressive. It has also been found in Florida.
Look at this page for info on Chilean recluses
http://doacs.state.fl.us/~pi/enpp/ento/loxoscel.html
http://www.cevap.org.br/english/Medical/photo_26.htm
Or it could be an unusually aggressive brown recluse
http://entomology.unl.edu/charts/recchart.htm
Here is another good webpage on recluses.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/1323/fiddleback.html
And another webpage on recluses ( scroll down the page until you see the link to the brown recluses ):
http://www.hobospider.org/
And one more :
http://kaston.transy.edu/reclusa.html
Have a look at these webpages, and the pictures, and if the eye configuration matches your spider, or any of the pictures look like your spider, then I would get him to a doctor ASAP. Recluse bites are serious.
Most species of recluse spiders are not aggressive, but the Chilean recluse is the exception, being quite foul - tempered.
