What are the most dangerous spiders found in Wisconsin?

Question

I'm just a little curious, plus I hate spiders. I live about 30 miles northeast of Madison, so what are the most dangerous in my area?

Answer 1

It is a matter of some concern to those of us who love these cuddly little creatures that so many people think of them as dangerous, they are not, unless you have a particular allergic condition.

Even the so called "tarantulas" ( actually truly called "Bird Eating Spiders" give a bite that is no worse than a bee sting, ) some people are allergic to the hairs, called "urticating" hairs, that can be flicked off a spiders abdomen, by the spider using its back legs, to rub over it self, as a defence mechanism,  they are hooked and tiny, and get under the skin of predators, causing irritation, containing a protein splitting amylase, they can actually cause the tissue to break down, but I stress that for the majority, this will never happen ! ( a zoo keeper at London zoo was injured by one in this fashion, and has a paralysed arm, as a result, but this allergic reaction is very, very, rare, ),  a true tarantula, is a mediterranean spider, that has an hourglass shaped marking under its abdomen, and is no larger than a match head normally, and only the female is poisonous to any real extent, ( the male, is a spider version of Homer Simpson, and is one of the "fat boys" some way larger than his missus ! ),  sometimes causing a high fever for some people, ( no worse than a bout of 24 hour flu, )

In fact if you actually check the results properly, worldwide for the animal in question, for the last 150 years of records there are no cases of a healthy adult ever dying as a result of spider bites, some are listed as such, ( including some child deaths, usually as a result of allergic reactions, though, not levels of toxins), but on inspection of the medical records, show that the people in question were heart condition sufferers or really old, and died as a result of shock, all this is just an urban myth, "spidey" has had a rotten press, no doubt abouit it...

As to your concerns any reclusive spider has the capacity to cause death ( to its prey ), these include the "trapdoor" species, ( they hide under a lid , spun by themselves, in little tunnels in the ground, and are very unlikely to ever be seen by you, the brown recluse, is as its name says a "hider spider" and not likely to come out for a "love in" with you, the spiders that concern most people are the fast running species, "the lycosidae" ( wolf spiders), because of their sprinting speeds, ( these guys are Olympic standard, runners ), the Solfugids, ( sun loving spiders, furry bundles of fun, and quite beautiful as a golden variety, ), because of their size, they are relatively inactive in the cold but some can appear to be quite large, and enjoy sunbathing, and finally the house spiders, ( tegenaria domestica ), or araneus diadematus ( common spiders from the garden, the ones that spin the orb webs that you see on damp mornings, on the hedges, and, marked by the large "cross" on their abdomens, in England this is refferred to as the "common garden spider", ( or as a more general term, that applies to many types, as an "orb web" spider), and in Germany it is "Die Kreuzespinner", it is the most common of all spiders and is ubiquitous ( everywhere)

In fact the writer on these matters ( W.S.Bristow) of England claims in one of his last works, ( The Comity of Spiders ), that their are about 35,000 spiders per acre, and from experience and some counting, I am inclined to believe this figure, if all species are included,

It is also the assumption that Simonides, ( a greek writer, from France ),  uses in his "les Arachnides de France" the definitive work, on the French species, rarely bettered as a reference book, in my humble opinion, America, has the least (  in both senses of the word, fewest,  and less scary ), frightening species, of all the continents, for some reason, ( often the ones that you see as pets in stores are collected from the desert regions by ten (and less) year old kids ), but is good hunting grounds for many non threatening types, if you need to "deal" with a spider, here is the answer, "just blow on it", depending on the species, it will either stand still, imagining that it can not be seen by virtue of its camoflague, or it will run like h**l, ( the wolf spiders, are really terrific at this sort of game  ), away from you, imagining that a bird has caused the change in air pressure, it will flee from its adversary, just get a cup, and a piece of card and put the cup over the spider, and slide the card under the cup ( use a glass and you can see the spider safely trapped, the put it in the garden... or for professional killing results, use a quick blast of hairspray, ( please do not kill them unless you relally need too , please ! ),

The best result is to look up an orginisation called the "Staffordshire Spider Collecting Scheme", in England and ask for their advice on how to make a "pooter",, or where to buy one (its an amateur/professional make, of spider collecting device ), hope that this eases your mind, there is really little to be afraid of my children and grandchildren play with mine all the time and show no fear, they even appear to have different personalities , when you see them as seperate individuals...I hope this eases your mind, and you learn to overcome the inbuilt mechanism that most people have to their movement, and learn to enjoy them, especially the little spiderlings nesting in the web balls, who look after each other, and herd the little ones back to the group, if they should stray, it is something to see...

Answer 2

brown recluse

Answer 3

Few people LIKE spiders....myself included. I wouldn't go out of my way to harm them however. Even in my house...if I think I can catch one and release it outdoors I will, but I get very,very few...maybe one or two a year.

Anyway....the only spider I am aware of that could be regarded as harmful is the Brown Recluse. Don't know if that spider lives in your region. You can do a search on it and see where its range is. Aside from that one, I don't know of others in that region of the country that could be regarded as harmful.

Even with the Recluse, I don't know how harmful it is to an adult. Its bite killed a young girl, but this was years and years ago.

We need spiders.....without them we'd be so overrun with gnats and crickets and other stuff that we'd go crazy. If you see spiders around....that means there's other insects around for them to eat. No insects = no spiders (for the most part).

Keep your home clean....try and transport spiders to the outdoors of you can. Leave them alone when you see them outdoors, and everyone will be happy.