An Australian man played host to an uninvited guest for a couple of days on a vacation to Bali - a tiny tropical spider under his skin.

Dylan Thomas was treated for an insect bite on the Indonesian island when a vertical red mark appeared on his stomach on the weekend, the Northern Territory News website reported today.

But doctors took a closer look after the scar began to extend from his belly button to his chest, blistering the next day.

“That’s when it became painful, it was a searing burn,” Thomas was quoted as saying.

Doctors removed the spider that had burrowed into the scar from his recent appendectomy and made its way north.

“It was a bit bigger than the size of a match head,” the 21-year-old told NT News .

“It takes a lot to deter me, but I do feel violated. It was a very bizarre experience just to know something like that was in my body for a couple of days.”

- dpa