Loxosceles spiders are of concern outside of the arachnological world because their bites can cause occasional necrotic skin lesions and/or systemic complications; these manifestations are known as loxoscelism. Once these spiders became well associated as medical entities, much notoriety was attained through the publication of medical case histories as well as tales of horrific wounds in the ge...

BACKGROUND Brown recluse spider bites are a serious medical problem in the southeastern United States. Although most bites are asymptomatic, envenomation can result in a constellation of systemic symptoms referred to as loxoscelism. Patients can also develop necrotic skin ulcers (necrotic arachnidism). These ulcers are often difficult to heal and can require skin grafting or amputation of the b...

The current study examined the role of thought suppression in spider phobia. Spider phobic (n = 41) and non-phobic (n = 40) subjects were asked to monitor their thoughts for three 5 min periods. During the first period, all subjects were instructed to "think about anything". During the second period, half of the subjects received suppression instructions (i.e., subjects were explicitly asked "n...

This paper presents an immobilization-based control method for spider-like robots that move quasistatically in tunnel environments. The control method is based on an immobilization theory which ensures that when a spider-like mechanism is bracing against the environment at an immobile posture, the naturally occurring compliance at the contacts stabilizes the mechanism as a single body. Based on...

UCLA scientists Katharina Kircanski, Matt Lieberman, and Michelle Craske demonstrated the power of words for people with a professed spider phobia. The experiment went something like this: First, the spider phobics were asked to stand outside next to a Chilean rose-haired tarantula (donʼt worry, it was in a container). People were encouraged to approach the spider little by little. On the first...

Increasing evidence suggests that disgust and fear of contamination is involved in spider phobia. Yet, because the evidence exclusively relies on self-report data it can not be ruled out these findings are produced by mechanisms such as a negative attribution bias, or imprecise emotional labeling. Therefore, the present study sought to complement these previous studies by including physiologica...

AIM To analyze clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the black widow spider (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) bites and asses the impact of antitoxin administration after the bite on the intensity and duration of pain. METHOD Retrospective analysis of clinical appearance, laboratory findings, and clinical assessment of the antitoxin administration efficacy in 32 patients with latrodect...

Brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa) envenomation, known as loxoscelism, can produce a wide range of consequences. The symptoms may range from itching to wound necrosis, which may ultimately result in death.1 Biopsies of loxoscelism wounds show evidence of acute inflammation, hemorrhage, thrombosis, induration, and liquefactive necrosis of the dermis and the epidermis.2 These effects are a...