An Italian man, 23, died yesterday, Saturday, due to complications from a bite by a Mediterranean recluse spider, according to the ANSA news agency. This marks the second fatal incident of this kind this summer in Italy. Giuseppe Russo passed away early in the morning at a hospital in Bari (southern Italy) after suffering from septic shock and total organ failure more than a month after being bitten on his leg.
In July, police officer Franco Aiello, 52, from Sicily, also died from a bite from the same type of spider. The Mediterranean recluse spider, Loxosceles rufescens, is found in Mediterranean countries, Asia, and North America, according to the global spider list maintained by the Natural History Museum in Bern.
This spider is characterized by its small size (up to 7.5 millimeters) and has a violin-shaped mark on its body, which is why it is also referred to in French as the "violin spider." This species prefers arid land and crevices and is often found near homes, particularly in gardens.
