The National Poison Centre has revealed whitetailed spiders are not as dangerous as people might believe.
It says whitetail bites do not inflict nasty flesh eating wounds.
A paper published in the New Zealand Medical Journal details the effects of 11 of the most deadly creatures in New Zealand, including jellyfish and katipo spiders.
Co-author Leo Schep says a recent Australian study of 130 whitetailed spider bites showed none of the patients developed flesh eating ulcers.
Dr Schep says many people believe a bite from a whitetailed spider can cause an arm to drop off, but this is not the case.
Though whitetail bites are painful and can cause swelling and redness, he says the greatest risk is catching a secondary infection from the wound.
