POISONOUS INSECTS AND THEIR RELATIVES 403 



and collected in Central and South America, says regarding 

 a similar species of spider, "The only case of a Mygale 

 (large trap-door spider) bite which has come under my 

 observation was that of a man who was bitten on the foot 

 deep enough to draw a little blood. There was hardly 

 any swelling and 

 he paid no atten- 

 tion to it." 



There is one spi- 

 der in the United 

 States, known 

 as the "hour- 

 glass" spider 

 (Figs. 137, 138), 

 Latrodectus mac- 

 tans, that has a 

 most unsavory 

 reputation. It 

 is practically the 

 only spider in this 

 country that ento- 

 mologists are 

 ready to admit as 



possibly Seriouslv FlG - 137 ' — Hour-glass ; spider, dorsal view. 



dangerous to 



human beings ; yet here again there is no definite 

 authentic proof that the bite of this spider will cause 

 death. Riley and Howard relate two instances in which 

 farm laborers near Greensboro, North Carolina, were, 

 according to the testimony of the victims themselves, 

 bitten by what was judged to be this spider. In the 

 first case the victim died, while in the second case the 



