Chilean recluse
The Chilean recluse is a brown spider from South America that is considered the most dangerous of the recluse spiders. Its bite can cause serious skin damage and, in rare cases, serious illness that affects the whole body. It is also known for spreading to homes and buildings in several other countries.1

Cómo reconocerlo
- Brown, ranging from light tan to brown.1
- Usually has a dark, violin-shaped marking on the top of the front body section, but this marking may not be visible.1
- Has six eyes arranged in three pairs, not the eight eyes most spiders have. Checking the eyes is more reliable than checking the marking.1
- Measures 8 to 40 mm including legs, making it one of the larger recluse species.1
- Builds irregular webs with a messy shelter of tangled threads. It leaves these webs at night to hunt.1
Se confunde a menudo con: Other recluse spiders look similar. The violin marking is not a reliable guide, so the eye arrangement is the more important feature for identification. Six eyes in three pairs is the key clue.1
Poder del veneno
El veneno sale por sus colmillos o dientes cuando muerde.
¿Qué hace su veneno?
Its venom contains sphingomyelinase D, a substance that destroys skin and tissue. Most bites cause mild irritation, but serious bites can cause a necrotising skin ulcer, which is an open wound where tissue dies. In 10 to 15% of cases, the venom causes a whole-body condition that damages organs, blood cells and kidneys. Bites may feel fine at first, and visible damage can take up to seven hours to appear, while the venom can spread through the body within minutes.1
¿Qué peligro tiene para las personas?
Peligro para las personas: GraveUna mordedura necesita médico. Las muertes son muy raras.Its bite often causes serious reactions, up to and including death. In a study covering 30 years of bites in Chile, 3 to 4% of cases ended in death. In a study of 250 cases in Santiago, Chile, from 1955 to 2000, 9 of the 47 people with the most severe whole-body reaction died. Skin damage can take months, and sometimes years, to heal, leaving deep scars.1
Buena noticia: los médicos tienen un medicamento (antídoto) o un tratamiento para esto.1
¿Qué hace cuando se asusta?
It is not aggressive and usually bites only when it is pressed against skin, such as when someone puts on clothing where it is hiding.1
Si muerde
- Applying an ice pack helps, because the venom is more active at high temperatures. Aloe vera may soothe the skin and help control pain.1
- Lava la mordedura y ponle hielo para el dolor. Busca ayuda médica si el dolor es fuerte, se extiende o la persona se encuentra mal.
Llama siempre primero a tu número de emergencias (112, 000, 911). Esto son pautas generales de primeros auxilios, no consejo médico. Primeros auxilios básicos
Mantente a salvo
- Nunca toques, atrapes ni molestes a un animal salvaje, aunque sea pequeño y aunque parezca dormido o muerto.
- Déjale espacio. Si te encuentras uno, mantén la calma, retrocede despacio y deja que siga su camino.
- Si te muerde: mantén la calma, no te muevas, llama a tu número de emergencias (112, 000, 911) o ve rápido a un hospital. Recuerda cómo era, una foto ayuda.
No va a por ti. Usa su veneno para cazar o defenderse, y prefiere mil veces esconderse. Más sobre cómo protegerte
¿En qué parte del mundo?
¿Qué tamaño tiene?
¿Cuánto mide?
más o menos lo que mide un clip¿Qué tamaño tiene Chilean recluse comparado contigo?
Solo cálculos en tu navegador. No se guarda ni se envía nada a ningún sitio.
¿Qué velocidad alcanza?
Datos
Its venom contains sphingomyelinase D, which is otherwise found only in a few harmful bacteria.1
Its venom contains about ten times more of this substance than other sicariid spiders, such as the brown recluse, according to one study.1
A colony has lived in the Natural History Museum of Helsinki, probably introduced through fruit shipments in the 1960s and 1970s.1
It can survive for a long time without food or water, which helps it spread to new places around the world.1
Chile's Loxosceles laeta can produce 60 μg of venom by electrical stimulation, more than the related Loxosceles intermedia and Loxosceles gaucho.1
Cazamitos
Mito: The violin-shaped marking on its back is a reliable way to identify it.
Verdad: The marking may not be visible and is not reliable. Counting the eyes, which are six in three pairs, is more important for identification.1
De dónde salen los datos
- Chilean recluse spider (Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0))
- Loxosceles laeta (iNaturalist): nombres y clasificación.
- Venom Wiki: el nivel de peligro, el tamaño típico y la velocidad estimada son nuestros. Mira cómo los calculamos: Cómo valoramos el peligro.
Cada dato de esta página tiene un número que lleva a su fuente. Si nos hemos equivocado en algo, perdón, somos fans de los animales, no una revista científica. Escríbenos a [email protected] y lo arreglamos.
Mordeduras