A mother has posted a picture of her young son's foot online after he was apparently bitten by a venomous spider that is invading homes in Bahrain.

It appeared on a Facebook group and was uploaded by a parent who also shared pictures of what are believed to be a Brown Widow spider and webs found in her garden in Saar, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The GDN reported last Thursday that health inspectors were hunting for potentially deadly Black Widow spiders after a woman in Budaiya said she found as many of 15 of them in her garden.

However, its smaller cousin the Brown Widow has also been found in Bahrain - and the bite from one of them has apparently resulted in a young child falling ill for weeks.

“These are Brown Widow spiders,” the child's mother, who asked not to be identified, said in a post on Facebook yesterday.

“My son was bitten and has been sick for two weeks.

“They had to cut the flesh away as the wound doubled (in size) every day.”

Health Ministry environmental health section chief Abdulaziz Alkhedri said an inspection team had been sent out after several reports were received from concerned residents.

“We have already sent inspectors to the areas where spiders were spotted,” said Alkhedri yesterday.

“We will also check if they are breeding in bushes or old and dilapidated houses.

“This could be dangerous as we have been receiving calls from several residents.

“After checking all the areas, we will send our team to spray pesticide and sweep the whole area.

“A full report will be prepared for future reference.”

Reports of Black Widows in Bahrain hit the headlines last year, when they were discovered in several Barbar residents' gardens.

It followed a previous scare in 2011, when six of the non-native species were uncovered in the same village.

Officials at the time believed the spider was inadvertently brought to Bahrain in the belongings of a European family, who had recently immigrated.

Symptoms of a Black Widow bite include severe abdominal pain, nausea, tremors, sweating, vomiting and leg cramps for up to 48 hours.

A Brown Widow bite can cause skin ulcers and, in rare cases, a bite from either can be fatal. - TradeArabia News Service