The African continent has a wide variety of venomous reptiles; mambas, adders, cobras, etc.

What about venomous arachnids?

The US has the brown recluse, the black widow, the hobo spider, and the sack spider. Australia has the funnel webs and the red back. Brazil has the wandering spider and other assorted nasties.

What spiders, if any, should give one pause in Africa? Are there any seriously venomous, either neurotoxic or hemotoxic, spiders on the continent?

Red Romans: a nasty freakish creature somewhere between an ant and spider. You dont want to be bitten.
Baboon Spiders: Even if they didn't have venom, their looks could kill. Basically a tarantula.
There are plenty others, but these are my two favorites.

Do pubic lice count?

Zimbabwe and other countries in southern Africa have a spider whose bite has effects similar to the brown recluse.

Regards

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Goldfinch:
Red Romans: a nasty freakish creature somewhere between an ant and spider. You dont want to be bitten.
Baboon Spiders: Even if they didn't have venom, their looks could kill. Basically a tarantula.
There are plenty others, but these are my two favorites.

What the hell is a Red Roman? Is that something like a velvet ant? Do you have a pic?

Here you go:
http://seds.org/~spider/spider/Spider/Spin_1.jpg

Trust me, they look a lot more scary in person.

is it a hemotoxin?

How bout them crotch critters ?

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Goldfinch:
Here you go:
http://seds.org/~spider/spider/Spider/Spin_1.jpg

Trust me, they look a lot more scary in person.

that kinda resembles a camel spider or a wind spinder except way bigger than a wind spider. One of the same?

Look out for the violin spider - small but nasty. Both my wife and I were bitten, she ended up with a large chunk of her arm having to be removed, I was a little more fortunate, just being scarred on my leg. His poison just eats at your flesh.

Check out www.spiderclub.co.za/medical.html

quote:

John Frederick
one of us
Posted 28 February 2010 07:19 Hide Post
Do pubic lice count?

Only if you on Safari in downtown Nairobi at night

quote:

Originally posted by Neil-PH:
Look out for the violin spider - small but nasty. Both my wife and I were bitten, she ended up with a large chunk of her arm having to be removed, I was a little more fortunate, just being scarred on my leg. His poison just eats at your flesh.

Violin spider? Venom eats away flesh? Just like our brown recluse here in the US, same marking too, aka the fiddle back spider. The African one seems much larger in size but shares alot of the same characteristics.

My wife was bitten by a Brown Recluse on the back of her calf about 5 years ago. Turned into what looked like a huge pimple about 1.5" across and about as high. Took her to the doctor and they lanced it(bad enough to gag a maggot). It left a hole in her calf approx. 1 inch deep. I have stepped on Cottonmouths had them chase me, chased down rattlers to shoot them, but I hate friggin spiders!!!

Recluse spiders are very common in Texas. A Brown Recluse spider bite is extremely painful! After you get bitten, it looks like a target, red circle with a red spot in the middle, followed by pain. I was given a shot of cortisone the day after I was bitten, and that was the only treatment I received. It healed in about two months, but remained a solid black spot on my leg while healing. The scar that remains looks just like a bullet hole scar. I have got to come up with a good story to go with that scar!

quote:

Originally posted by Neil-PH:
Check out www.spiderclub.co.za/medical.html

Those button spiders are of the Latrodectus family, same as the widow spiders. The violin spider appears to be very similar to the brown recluse. Both are pretty nasty. I know a fellow who lost a couple of fingers to a brown recluse bite.