• Litany@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      ·
      17 days ago

      Memes aside, since I’ve been on the internet long enough to know that this could legitimately be the first time someone’s seen this information:

      A brown recluse is a real spider endemic to the central United States. They are small, slender, and brown. Their bites are venomous and can require medical attention. In rare cases they can potentially be lethal, especially in young children.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider

      • tobogganablaze@lemmus.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        37
        ·
        17 days ago

        Thanks for that!

        To expand more on the meme side: It’s a notorious problem in spider communities that every brown spider will at some point be called a brown recluse by … less educated people. Which can lead to innocent spiders being killed just for their skin colour! Which is why there are usually rules that prohibit layman from identifying medically significant spiders.

        The spider in the picture is a tarantula, so very obvious not a brown recluse. That’s the joke. It’s funny here, but seriously don’t make that joke on an actual spider community, none of the residents will think it’s funny.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        17 days ago

        My grandmother lost her pinky finger to one of those! Do not ingore the bite! It will require medical attention.