Editing Brown recluse spider (section)

==== Other spiders ====
: ''For a comparison of the toxicity of several kinds of spider''
: ''bites, see the [[list of medically significant spider bites]]''

Many arachnologists believe that a large number of bites attributed to the brown recluse in the [[West Coast of the United States|U.S. West Coast]] are either from other spider species or not spider bites at all. Other spiders in western states that might possibly cause necrotic injuries are the [[hobo spider]], [[Loxosceles deserta|desert recluse spider]], and the [[yellow sac spider]].

For example, the venom of the [[hobo spider]], a common European species now established in the northwestern United States and southern [[British Columbia]], has been reported to produce similar symptoms as the brown recluse bite when injected into laboratory rabbits. However, the toxicity of hobo spider venom has been called into question: Actual bites (rather than syringe injections) have not been shown to cause necrosis, and no necrotic hobo spider bites have ever been reported where it is native.<ref name=AnnEmergMed2004-Isbister>
{{cite journal
 | vauthors = Vetter R, Isbister G
 | year = 2004
 | title = Do hobo spider bites cause dermonecrotic injuries?
 | journal = [[Annals of Emergency Medicine]]
 | volume = 44 | issue = 6 | pages = 605–607
 | pmid = 15573036
 | doi = 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2004.03.016
}}
</ref>

Numerous other spiders have been associated with necrotic bites in the medical literature. Other recluse species, such as the [[Loxosceles deserta|desert recluse]] (found in the deserts of southwestern United States), are reported to have caused necrotic bite wounds, though only rarely.<ref name = Vetter2008>
{{cite journal
 | last = Vetter | first = R.S.
 | year = 2008
 | title = Spiders of the genus ''Loxosceles'' (Araneae, Sicariidae): A review of biological, medical, and psychological aspects regarding envenomations
 | journal = [[Journal of Arachnology]]
 | volume = 36 | pages = 150–163
 | s2cid = 7746032
 | doi = 10.1636/RSt08-06.1
 | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229051
}}
</ref>
The hobo spider and the [[yellow sac spider]] have also been reported to cause necrotic bites. However, the bites from these spiders are not known to produce the severe symptoms that can follow from a recluse spider bite, and the level of danger posed by these has been called into question.<ref>
{{cite journal
 |vauthors=Bennett RG, Vetter RS
 |date=August 2004
 |title=An approach to spider bites. Erroneous attribution of dermonecrotic lesions to brown recluse or hobo spider bites in Canada
 |journal=Canadian Family Physician
 |volume=50  |issue=8  |pages=1098–1101
 |pmid=15455808 |pmc=2214648
 |url=http://www.cfp.ca/cgi/reprint/50/8/1098.pdf
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite journal
 |first=James H. |last=Diaz
 |date=April 2005
 |title=Most necrotic ulcers are not spider bites
 |journal=American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
 |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=364–367
 |doi=10.4269/ajtmh.2005.72.364 |doi-access=free
}}
</ref>

So far, no known necrotoxins have been isolated from the venom of any of these spiders, and some arachnologists have disputed the accuracy of spider identifications carried out by bite victims, family members, medical responders, and other non-experts in arachnology.
There have been several studies questioning the danger posed by some of the other spiders mentioned: In these studies, scientists examined case studies of bites in which the spider in question was identified by an expert, and found that the incidence of necrotic injury diminished significantly when "questionable" identifications were excluded from the sample set.<ref name=WhiteTail>
{{cite journal
 |vauthors=Isbister GK, Gray MR
 |date=August 2003
 |title=White-tail spider bite: A prospective study of 130 definite bites by ''Lampona'' species
 |journal=The Medical Journal of Australia
 |volume=179 |issue=4 |pages=199–202
 |pmid=12914510 |s2cid=46155627
 |doi=10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05499.x
 |url=http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/179_04_180803/isb10785_fm.html
|url-access=subscription
 }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite journal
 |vauthors=Isbister GK, Hirst D
 |date=August 2003
 |title=A prospective study of definite bites by spiders of the family Sparassidae (huntsmen spiders) with identification to species level
 |journal=Toxicon
 |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=163–171
 |pmid=12906887
 |doi= 10.1016/S0041-0101(03)00129-6
|bibcode=2003Txcn...42..163I
 }}
</ref>