high as 1 per 1,000 people. bite from phoneutria (brazilian wandering spider) number in the thousands with most being mild. severe effects are noted in 0.5% of cases, mostly in children. history recorded treatment from the 1890s for spider bites in general was rubbing in tobacco juice to the bitten skin, similar to some of the traditional uses of the tobacco plant for various bites and stings from central and south america. wild dancing and music was the cure for tarantism—the frenzy was believed to arise from the bite of a spider. an antivenom was developed against wolf spiders in brazil and used for decades. wolf spiders have since been exonerated—they never caused illness.