False widow spider

[Micke]

Howdy folks,

Curious if anyone here has had any run-ins with these yet?

I heard they only really bite defensively, but it's still a little unsettling to see what I presume to be false widow spiders spinning webs above the back door...

I don't particularly want to be bitten myself, much less my family or 15-month-old Nephew.

Hopefully it isn't one, but I'll try and make sure.

 

[James.R]

We've just recently found them in the log stack in the garden and have noticed that they are everywhere around here! Shed is full of them and found one in the kitchen. A little worried but no problems so far.


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[Micke]

Hopefully I don't have any troubles with them. I'm more worried about my Nephew.

I'm not too fussed for when I am out and about, just worried more about family than myself.

 

[sunndog]

Not a lot to worry about by all accounts. I once read there are a dozen or more spiders in this country that can bite and I can't ever remember anyone saying "that spider's just bit me"

I'm sure it happens occasionally but must be pretty rare....imagine how many wasps you get buzzing around you in summer, they don't sting you very often
Wasps do have the common decency to let you know they are there though. Unlike the sneaky, evil, filthy, in league with the devil, dirtbag creature that is you're average spider lol

 

[Toddy]

On principle if there's an insect in my house, it's soon to be dead or out. However, I struggle to reach some heights these days, and clambering up on a chair is not really the safest option. I have a new weapon. It's a Dyson hand held cordless vacuum cleaner With the nozzle on I have two foot of extra reach Something like this false widow thing, I'd have no compunction to eliminating.

Three of the species are not native, the one implicated in the majority of bites doesn't belong and it's not a good companion to have around near people I reckon.
But then, I am biased, as I said, if there's an insect in my home that I can see (and I am a fussy bitch, even my kickboards come off in the kitchen for cleaning behind) it's dead or out.

In the garden.... if I found a nest of them I'd kill it. I know it's said that they'll just recolonise from round about, but the more I take out the fewer there are to breed more of the blighters.
Up to yourself what you tolerate in your home and garden; I wouldn't tolerate a wasps byke (nest) in either, why should I tolerate a known to bite alien spider ?

The one above your door I'd have flattened as soon as I knew what it was; if you leave it and it feeds well enough, it'll want to breed.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Harvestman]

Take a picture and post it up here. I will give you a straight answer. I'm a Uk spiders expert.

However, in principle, don't worry. The only people who have had major reactions to bites from them have been suffering unusual allergic reactions. For most people it is no worse than being stung by a wasp. It is actually quite difficult to get bitten by them. They have to get trapped in your clothing, or you put your hand in the middle of their web and they feel threatened.

A useful link with the facts:
http://wiki.britishspiders.org.uk/index.php5?title=False_Widow_Spiders

 

[Pterodaktyl]

It's also worth noting that in many of the cases where bites leading to serious complications are attributed to False Widow Spiders there is no actual proof that this is the case. There's a story doing the rounds this morning about a lady who unfortunately lost a finger after developing necrotising fasciitis. As far as I can tell she never saw what bit her, but doctors told her it must have been a False Widow because there were two puncture wounds at the site of infection. My understanding is that you can develop NF from pretty much anything that breaks the skin - a lady down this way passed away a few years ago after developing it from a gorse bush scratch - so pointing the finger at a particular species of spider seems pretty tenuous.

 

[nephilim]

Found them, let them crawl on my hand, he/she was fine. Didn't bite, didn't attack. Just offered a better surface for it to climb on than my bath, then released it in my garden.

 

[Harvestman]

It's also worth noting that in many of the cases where bites leading to serious complications are attributed to False Widow Spiders there is no actual proof that this is the case. There's a story doing the rounds this morning about a lady who unfortunately lost a finger after developing necrotising fasciitis. As far as I can tell she never saw what bit her, but doctors told her it must have been a False Widow because there were two puncture wounds at the site of infection. My understanding is that you can develop NF from pretty much anything that breaks the skin - a lady down this way passed away a few years ago after developing it from a gorse bush scratch - so pointing the finger at a particular species of spider seems pretty tenuous.

This is very true. It happens in the US with the Violin spider, Loxosceles sp, which is a potentially dangerous species to humans. Bites get attributed to it without the creature being seen, even in areas hundreds of miles from where the spider actually occurs.

 

[Green Weasel]

Is it anything like this?. I know of one instance of a lady being bitten by a spider.
While helping a friend with some tree-work we were rather embarrassingly confronted by the lady customer who came rushing into the garden and promptly showed us her bum!
Apparently she had been changing for the school run and the spider-now a bit dead from being crammed twixt white cotton and white bottom- had been taking a siesta in her clothes' pile.
I have to add that she knew my proper job is that of pest controller so the bottom showing thing was on a purely professional level
I took the corpse home and identified it (though I can't remember the Latin name after all these years but it was one of the "crab legged" ones).

 

[Nice65]

I got a bite on the neck once. I was asleep and must have felt something crawling on me and subconsciously put my hand up to brush it off, kind of squashing and scaring it in the process. It stung a bit and came up in a lump, but nothing serious.

Compared to the utter shock horror of a huge, hobnail boots and all, bugger running up the duvet towards my face last night it was nothing. Again, third time I've had them on the bed or pillows. I know it's probably an old wives tail, but my mum swears by putting a conker in each room, I lived there for a couple of years, never saw a spider once. We've a huge conker tree opposite, I'm going to grab a load.

 

[Robmc]

We found a False Widow in the garden the other day. Last year we also had Tube Web Spiders in the garden. Nasty looking things which can also give you a bad nip apparently.

 

[Micke]

These ones are babies, so it's going to be difficult to get a picture, but I'll try.

I just noted the bulbous abdomen and silvery features on it. The legs also look like they're multi-coloured, presumably brown and orange. I'm yet to look at it properly in good light.

 

[Steve27752]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl5|sec1_lnk3&pLid=296858

 

[Essexman]

It's also worth noting that in many of the cases where bites leading to serious complications are attributed to False Widow Spiders there is no actual proof that this is the case. There's a story doing the rounds this morning about a lady who unfortunately lost a finger after developing necrotising fasciitis. As far as I can tell she never saw what bit her, but doctors told her it must have been a False Widow because there were two puncture wounds at the site of infection. My understanding is that you can develop NF from pretty much anything that breaks the skin - a lady down this way passed away a few years ago after developing it from a gorse bush scratch - so pointing the finger at a particular species of spider seems pretty tenuous.

BBC report - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-29414450

 

[Harvestman]

It's also worth noting that in many of the cases where bites leading to serious complications are attributed to False Widow Spiders there is no actual proof that this is the case. There's a story doing the rounds this morning about a lady who unfortunately lost a finger after developing necrotising fasciitis. As far as I can tell she never saw what bit her, but doctors told her it must have been a False Widow because there were two puncture wounds at the site of infection. My understanding is that you can develop NF from pretty much anything that breaks the skin - a lady down this way passed away a few years ago after developing it from a gorse bush scratch - so pointing the finger at a particular species of spider seems pretty tenuous.

Also, note that it was a bacterial infection that caused the finger to be lost, not the spider venom. You can pick up a bacterial infection from anything if skin is pierced.

 

[Harvestman]

These ones are babies, so it's going to be difficult to get a picture, but I'll try.

I just noted the bulbous abdomen and silvery features on it. The legs also look like they're multi-coloured, presumably brown and orange. I'm yet to look at it properly in good light.

The small brown and orange ones are usually Steatoda bipunctata, which is a native species and completely harmless, not even capable of biting people.

 

[Micke]

I've zapped one with spray and will wait until tomorrow when there's better light to try and get a good snap of it.

I tried, but the flash was ruining it and without flash wasn't picking up much of anything.

In the mean time, found this badboy as well!

http://i.imgur.com/HZQeFZ1.jpg

 

[Harvestman]

I've zapped one with spray and will wait until tomorrow when there's better light to try and get a good snap of it.

I tried, but the flash was ruining it and without flash wasn't picking up much of anything.

In the mean time, found this badboy as well!

http://i.imgur.com/HZQeFZ1.jpg

That's a badgirl! probably a common garden spider, but she looks a little unusual in markings. She could give a bite, but is not remotely dangerous.

 

[xylaria]

I got bit last year by spider, while sitting on my front door step. It was the right shape but legged it become before I got good look. The bite needed some tea tree oil when it turned into a blister. My leg didnt fall off or go black and manky. I knew someone that lost their leg to bite from a pigeon flea when they got mrsa through it. The daily mail (great paper ) had a story of woman a few weeks ago that was hospitalised by her cat. They also carried a story of man that kill by a gnome when he contracted tetanus. Dangerous world stay in bed.

I will take some photos of the spiders nest by the dining room window, they are the right shape for the family.