Dear Marcel
Please find the following information regarding violin spider and photos:
The spider and photos was taken in the USA almost 20 years ago. I often get this e-mail and through the years the spider has “appeared” in various parts of our country, the e-mail making its way to the Western Cape since late last year. Norman Larsen, the Cape spider fundi, has received this e-mail almost 200 times in the last six months – some even from the Department of Health, so it is not a error on anybody’s part to take this seriously. The American violin spider is quite venomous and the cytotoxic effects are severe. The photos of the bite shows secondary bacterial infection, as in the case with most cytotoxic venom bites.
The South African violin spider species are very, very shy and rare spiders, hence the name: recluse. Also, our violin spiders do not show the distinct “violin” mark on the carapace. The bite of our South African violin spiders can be terrible, but nowhere as bad as in the photos from the USA.
The SA violin spider nests under a solid and unyielding obstacle. That means that they are mostly found in undisturbed areas and also, rarely seen. Where humans do come in contact with violon spiders, is when veld or old shed/garages are being cleared, or when hikers / campers roll away logs or rocks to make sleeping arrangements. The spider will also only bite when seriously provoked, such as being squashed. That is why most bites occur on pressure areas – thighs, calves & buttocks when sitting down, shoulders, hips & arms when lying down.
In Gauteng, the cave-living violin spider has settled in some dwellings of the mining towns close to where they were disturbed. In the Western Cape the chances of seeing one is virtually nil.
The difference between a daddy-long-legs and the violin spider is very noticable:
1. daddy-long-leg-spider lives in an untidy web, the violin spider under an obstacle in a nest of silk with some trap lines running from it.
2. daddy-long-leg-spider has white “knees”
I had some violin spiders in my collection of live spiders at Butterfly World a year or two ago, being brought to me by a chap from Touwsrivier. I am always on the lookout for spiders and have seen this spider only twice – in Limpopo! There was a spider in the Peninsula wrongly identified as a violin spider, but is has since been ID’ed as a harmless species from an entirely different family.
I hope this will clear up some of the confusion regarding these spiders. I am concerned that harmless spiders (most of them) will get the short end of the stick here. If you need more information regarding stories on spiders (or many other things) see the website:
www.hoaxslayer.com – it will give you very interesting hours of gory entertainment, but will also show you that many stories we believe as true, actually isn’t.
I want to thank Lynn, however, for bringing this under the attention of the Reptile Club, thereby giving me the chance to respond to a group of people I would not thought to reach regarding this topic. Please do not hesitate to forward stories or questions regarding spiders – I get a lot of questions virtually daily and have an idea what the fears and stories are that’s doing the rounds. I am passionate regarding the education of spiders and will never think that any comment or question is frivolous or dumb.
Yours sincerely
Esther van der Westhuizen
Zoologist
Butterfly World
Route 44, Klapmuts, 7625
P.O. Box 41, Klapmuts, 7625
Tel (27) 21-8755628 Fax (27) 0866709464
esther@yebo.co.zawww.butterflyworld.co.za