Bites by male spiders are much rarer than those by females, perhaps due to their smaller jaws rather than lacking venom of similar potency to females or being unable to administer an effective bite. Māori legends recall many deaths, the last of which appears to have been a Māori girl who – according to the missionary Thomas Chapman – died in approximately 1849. While there were reports of severe katipō bites in 19th or early 20th century records, no other fatalities from spider bites have since been reported in New Zealand. The most recent fatality seems to have been in 1901, as reported in the Evening Post on 25 September of that year: "AUCKLAND, This Day. Mr. George Twidle, aged 47, son of Mr. George Twidle of Pukekohe, was bitten by a katipo spider on 16 September. His arm swelled, and he suffered great pain till Saturday last, when he died. He leaves a widow and several children." The most recent reported katipō bites () were to a Canadian tourist in 2010 and a kayaker in 2012. Symptoms The clinical features of latrodectism are similar for all species of Latrodectus spiders. It is generally characterised by extreme pain. Initially, the bite may be painful, but sometimes only feels like a pin prick or mild burning sensation. Within an hour victims generally develop more severe local pain with local sweating and sometimes piloerection (goosebumps). Pain, swelling and redness spread proximally from the site. Less commonly, systemic envenoming is heralded by swollen or tender regional lymph nodes; associated features include malaise, nausea, vomiting, abdominal or chest pain, generalised sweating, headache, fever, hypertension and tremor. Rare complications include seizure, coma, pulmonary edema, respiratory failure or localised skin infection. The duration of effects can range from a few hours to days, with severe pain persisting for over 24 hours after being bitten in some cases. Treatment Treatment is based on the severity of the bite; the majority of cases do not require medical care, and patients with localised pain, swelling and redness usually only require local application of ice and routine analgesics. Hospital assessment is recommended if simple analgesia does not resolve local pain or clinical features of systemic envenoming occur. In more severe bites, redback antivenom can be given. Redback antivenom can also cross-neutralise katipō venom, and it is used to treat envenoming from Latrodectus katipo in New Zealand. It is available from