Warm weather lures white-tails

White-tailed spiders come out in search of food during warm summer weather, and their numbers are up, according to pest controllers.

White-tails, which can inflict a painful bite, top the list of pests homeowners want eradicated.

Kurt Loklindt, of Target Pest Control, said he had also had the usual increase in white-tailed spider jobs this summer.

"What normally happens this time of year is because it's warmer the spiders come out of hibernation and end up going through doors and windows to feed on other spiders in the voids. They end up in people's houses and people end up getting bitten quite a bit more," he said.

The National Poisons Centre said the number of reported white-tailed spider bites had remained about the same over the past six years.

In the period from January 2011 to December last year, the centre received 117 inquiries about unidentified spider bites and 37 calls involving white-tailed spiders where the caller was able to identify the species.

John Fountain, a medical toxicologist at the centre, said there was a misconception about white-tails.

"There's been a lot of myth put out that a bite can lead to very nasty ulcers and skin lesions. This is not actually the reality.

"We hear from a lot of people who believe they've been bitten by a white-tailed spider because they've got a painful area that's developed, in fact, that's highly unlikely."