KEY POINTS:
The last thing little Isla Paul wanted for Christmas was a nasty spider bite.
The 21-month-old's parents were convinced the Auckland tot had broken her ankle after she jumped off a sofa on Christmas Eve.
"The kids had made a pretend slide and Isla landed badly," mother Fiona said. "She tried to get up and was hobbling. Her ankle looked red and was huge with a swollen big lump. I thought she had badly sprained her ankle because the swelling was getting bigger."
Isla was rushed to White Cross Accident and Medical Centre in Mt Albert where doctor Rohit Santram diagnosed her injury as a spider bite.
"The doctor recognised it immediately as a white tail spider bite. He said it was becoming increasingly common for people in Auckland to present with spider bites," said Fiona.
A precautionary x-ray proved Isla's ankle wasn't broken. She was given a course of antihistamine and antibiotics to kill possible infection.
"Isla recovered pretty quickly but hobbled around for the first couple of days," Fiona said.
The medium-sized spider originated in Australia and its first recorded sighting in New Zealand was in Waiwera in 1886.
Hawke's Bay entomologist Robin Hilson said rising temperatures were boosting the population of the cold-blooded creatures.
"There is no doubt the numbers are increasing everywhere," Hilson said.
"If the doctor says there are more white tails around I think that would be possibly right."
The slender greyish spider has orange-brown banded legs and a distinct cream-white marking on the tip of the tail.
It is not believed to be aggressive and usually bites hands, arms or feet.
