False widow spider - newest scaremongering?

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

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I'm sure these spiders have been in the UK for over 100+ years? Now all of a sudden there's reports popping up of bites occurring and 'terror' over sightings?

Came into work this morning to find a few people talking about it - apparently they've migrated to Scotland :eek: :rolleyes:

Some articles:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-24470023

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/britains-most-poisonous-spider-bites-2356359

http://news.sky.com/story/1153770/false-widow-spider-gives-boy-red-raw-wound

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/lat...venomous-False-Widow-spiders-race-towards-her

Just more media scaremongering after one bad bite incident? I would think so.
 
I skimmed that mirror article whilst waiting for a train, what a complete load of rubbish. The bloke got bitten by a spider, fair dos, but they make it sound like a scene from Alien or similar.
 
People have varying degrees of reactions to it from what I've read. So one person had a bad reaction and now we're all doomed.
 
Well there is evidence that is largely attributed to milder summers that the population has grown and continuing to spread further North. That's not some sensationalist newspaper story, its research by biologists.

There were a number of incidents last year reported on, so its not just a one-off.

I think what is increasing though is the number of reports of them because now they are in the public conscience, people are easily confusing many spiders for them.
 
Arent those extreme cases where someone has had an allergic reaction to the bite though? People have been allergic to Wasps and Bee stings and could die from one of those but I guess that is old news now. Got to have something to sell the papers.
 
Greg Hitchock, who is a conservation officer at the Kent Wildlife Trust, has claimed a bite from a false widow is ‘no more dangerous than eating a peanut’.

Despite fears this arachnid species is the most venomous in the country, he said there has never been a death from a spider bite in Britain.

Mr Hitchock has claimed spiders are being unnecessarily harmed because scared families are beating them to death.
 
We get more than our fair share of false widows in our house! We did some research and even consulted the Natural History Museum when we first discovered them. They said to release the one I'd trapped back into the wild which I did but to always check clothing from then on - especially stuff that's been lying around.

The bite is no different to a bee sting (apparently) but like bee stings, some people will react badly to them.

Here's my original thread with pics:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18005296
 
DJMK4 said:
Greg Hitchock, who is a conservation officer at the Kent Wildlife Trust, has claimed a bite from a false widow is ‘no more dangerous than eating a peanut’.

Despite fears this arachnid species is the most venomous in the country, he said there has never been a death from a spider bite in Britain.

Mr Hitchock has claimed spiders are being unnecessarily harmed because scared families are beating them to death.
Click to expand...

The False Widow does have a medically significant bite to humans though. This of course can cause different reactions in people, based on health and their immune system. His suggestion of no more dangerous than eating a peanut is a silly one, as he should be well aware that eating a peanut can be fatal for people who suffer from such allergies. As such, anyone who has suffered from a spider bite could suffer, I agree its unlikely that somebody is going to die from it, but it could still cause them a problem.

His last comment is also kind of stupid. I would imagine many families kill spiders they find in the house. There will however be thousands of them in gardens and even the most determined person would struggle to find and kill them.
 
Nexus said:
Well there is evidence that is largely attributed to milder summers that the population has grown and continuing to spread further North. That's not some sensationalist newspaper story, its research by biologists.

There were a number of incidents last year reported on, so its not just a one-off.

I think what is increasing though is the number of reports of them because now they are in the public conscience, people are easily confusing many spiders for them.
Click to expand...
so they really can kill you with a single bite? we should all be terrified because one bite will kill us?
I suspect the answer is no.


next week someone might die from an allergic reaction to a nut and then the daily mail maybe will come out with "killer nuts invading britain" just one sniff and you could die.


are false widows causing cancer yet?
 
I'm hoping to catch one then put it in the shower with me & provoke it to bite me - SpiderMalc here I come. :D

Also I love the way they have a Skull on there back, Pirate Spider of Epicness if you ask me.
 
scaremongering, nothing else better to do, every day a new post pops up on facebook too, starting to do my nut in how panicy people are getting considering these things are no more lethal than bees or wasps.

I got bitten by one of these last year before i even knew that it was a false widdow. I've been bitten/stung by a few things before, not allergic to anything as far as i'm aware, in order of pain:

Common Garden spider/orb weaver (female) - least painful, little nip which did not linger at all.

Was sting - bit like a hot needle, slight burning sensation for a couple of minutes, itchy for a few hours.

False widow - very similar to the wasp sting, didn't realise it was there and shook my hand to get rid of it, i'd say it's fangs were in my skin longer than the wasps sting. lasted a couple of days with some localised swelling, itchyness was the worst thing really, was there for 24 hours.

Bee sting - most painful of them all, could be situational though, as it happened when i was driving and therefore too a while to get the bee off me and then even longer to get the sting out. Felt like i'd dropped a cigarette on my hand. Burning lasted a good 10 mins. Localised swelling, no worse than that of the false widow, lasted longer though, with almost an entire week of itching.


That's my personal experience, and i agree, different people will react differently, but that's the same for bee stings. I'd be more worried about these 'killer' hornets. Again, not really 'killer' but the group behaviour of them reacting to one sting is what freaks me out a bit. Do no like swarmy things =s
 
That swatted spider is not a widow. Looks more like a common house spider, there's hairs on the legs, which is definitely not a trait of the false widow

edit:

Mystery surrounds whether the insects were related to the false widow.
Click to expand...

insects... smooth.
 
^ If it had a greenish tinge (on the mouth area - Technical term) it was probably a tube spider.

ED: The swatted pic is blatantly an average house spider. Paranoia FTW!
 
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