Nurse Thornfinger: How dangerous is the bite of the thorn finger spider?

The nurse’s thorn finger is a poisonous spider in Germany. The bite of the thorn finger spider can cause various symptoms in humans. In the following profile of the thorn finger spider, you can read how to recognize the poisonous nurse thorn finger, when it is active and where you can encounter it. In addition, in this article, you will learn how dangerous the spider’s bite is.

What is a nurse’s thorn finger?

The nurse’s thorn finger (Cheiracanthium punctorium), a species of the thorn finger spider genus, is a web spider whose bite can lead to human poisoning. With its powerful jaws, the poisonous spider can penetrate human skin. Nurse’s thorn fingers can be found in Germany, especially in summer and autumn in the long grass. Their eggs are laid in brood webs the size of chicken eggs, which they defend when disturbed.

 

What does a nurse’s thorn finger look like?

The nurse’s thorn finger has a size (body length) of about one to one and a half centimetres and can be recognized by the following typical features:

• The yellow-brown front body with the strong jaw claws (chelicerae) is particularly characteristic.
• This is followed by the black poisonous claws responsible for the poisonous bite.
• The spider’s abdomen is greenish-yellow in colour.

Where does the thorn finger spider live?

The nurse’s thorn finger lives mainly in warmer areas and originally comes from the Mediterranean region. In the meantime, however, there has also been an increasing spider spread in Germany. You can find them in Germany, for example, in Berlin and Brandenburg, in Saarland or on the Upper Rhine.

The habitat of the poisonous spiders is mainly fallow fields or forest clearings. It is rarely found indoors.

Their nests consist of webs spun from fine threads on tall blades of grass or in bushes. During the day, the shy spiders hide in their living webs; only at night do they leave them to search for food – their diet consists mainly of small insects. It is, therefore, relatively unlikely to find a thorn finger spider during the day.

 

When is Nurse Thornfinger active?

The males of the nurse thorn fingers can be found between July and September, and the females from July to November. The Dornfinger females lay their eggs between the end of July and the beginning of August, and the offspring usually hatch at the end of September. Thorn-finger spiders have a short life; they live only one year.

An encounter with the spider is possible if you walk through tall grass where such a poisonous spider is in the summer months. As a rule, the spiders retreat into their nest when you approach them. However, if the females have laid eggs or the young spiders have already hatched, they will defend them, and there may be an unpleasant encounter with the animals.

You should avoid touching webs on a walk through the forest to prevent this meeting. Otherwise, the nurse’s thorn finger can bite. With its powerful poisonous claws, it is the only spider species native to Central Europe that can penetrate human skin. Due to this characteristic of the web spider, it is one of the most feared spiders in Germany.

What does the bite of a thorn finger spider look like?

The bite wound of a nurse finger spider is usually characterized by two small holes in the skin, about five millimetres apart. In addition, other symptoms may appear at the bite site, which are explained below.

What symptoms can appear after the spider bite?

Symptoms after a thorn finger spider bite include discomfort in the area surrounding the bite on the one hand and systemic effects on the other that can affect the entire body. The systemic effects occur primarily in children.

The following symptoms may appear at the bite site:

• The spot is red and swollen. The swelling can also spread to the surrounding area so that affected limbs can become severely swollen.
• There is an immediate, stinging pain that can be compared to the pain from a bee or wasp sting.
• Discomfort, such as tingling or numbness of the skin, can occur, which can last for days.

Possible systemic symptoms after a bite from the nurse’s thorn finger include:

• fever and chills
• nausea and vomiting
• dizziness and circulatory failure

The symptoms mentioned usually disappear within one to three days. In some cases, discomfort or swelling can last longer.

In addition, people can also have an allergic reaction to the bite of a nurse’s thorn finger. In the case of an allergic reaction, redness and wheals appear on the skin, which is accompanied by itching. If a significant allergic reaction occurs, shortness of breath and circulatory shock can occur quickly. In such a case, medical help should be sought immediately.

 

How poisonous is a nurse’s thorn finger?

Together with the garden spider, the nurse’s thorn finger is one of Germany’s most poisonous spider species. Although fever, chills, and other systemic reactions can occur after a bite from the nurse’s finger thorn, spider poisoning is usually harmless and usually limited to the symptoms mentioned above at the bite site.

So far, there are no known cases in which a person has died or suffered permanent damage as a result of the bite. Therefore, the thorn finger spider is not particularly dangerous for humans, and fortunately, its bite is usually not fatal.

What do you do if a thorn-finger spider bites you?

The following five bite treatment tips explain what to do in an acute situation:

1. If you’ve been bitten, don’t panic. Keep calm because a bite from the thorn finger spider is usually harmless.
2. Clean the wound, if necessary also with disinfectant.
3. Cooling the bite site is controversial but usually not considered helpful. Instead, you can run them under warm to hot water.
4. The most important thing is not to scratch the wound or try to suck out the poison. Any manipulation should be avoided.
5. After these initial measures, you should seek medical advice, especially if you have a fever or severe swelling.

There is no separate therapy for a bite from a nurse’s thorn finger. Doctors can only treat the symptoms caused. For example, antipruritic agents can be applied, or medication can be administered to treat nausea. The symptoms usually disappear after one to three days.