Reply #17: brown recluse bites are EXTREMELY uncommon...

[mike_c]

...even in areas where they live, and it's even more uncommon to get them in places like that (on the leg). Most people bitten by recluses get them on their hands because they've reached into a hiding place or otherwise disturbed the spiders, which really are reclusive. Recluses don't generally roam around.

Lots of common house spiders do roam, and they tend to bite when they get into bedclothes or into clothing-- such bites are purely defensive and often they don't inject much (or any) venom. Some of the "normal" reaction is localized immune response to spider venom, and some is caused by infection. In the OVERWHELMING majority of cases, any necrosis or serious reaction is caused by the wound becoming septic. That's no laughing matter-- I had one on the back of my hand that went necrotic several years ago and it was terribly painful