Soldato
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Spider identification
- Thread starter dacads
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Soldato
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It's unlikely an issue since being true to form for several spider species, including the false widow, the female will have already dispatched the male and in some cases consumed them.
Now, how you process that and what opportunities it affords is really down to whether you are a glass half empty or half full person.
Missing sector Orb weavers and lace web look pretty similar but are totally harmless.
This one in the OP however looks like a noble false widow IMO. They aren’t particularly dangerous but I guess if you do indeed routinely handle them then maybe you’re lucky not to have had a nip… or they just trust you lol.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-dangerous-are-false-widow-spiders.html
Soldato
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Here's one of our false widows that frequently dispatches competing spiders in the locality.
32mm bolster chisel for scale
32mm bolster chisel for scale
Tend to call them Cupboard Spiders, its less dramatic. We have loads of them and Tube Web Spiders. I found a couple of Tubewebs much, much larger than anything I have ever seen online. They didnt survive interragation. We have been in the current house for 7 years and only seen one spider indoors, i think the Tube Webs eat anything that crawls on the outside of our house and never come indoors themselves.
@Scrutinize oh my, definitely moving out now
in fairness I saw similar in the garden underneath a plant pot
in fairness I saw similar in the garden underneath a plant pot
Here's one of our false widows that frequently dispatches competing spiders in the locality.
32mm bolster chisel for scale
That's just a house spider isn't it, thought false widows were more bulbous.
Soldato
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Loads of them down south but never saw them up north. It's a male cupboard spider (aka false widow). The female has a big round butt with grey on. Around the female there'll be multiple egg sacks, destroy them. They generally behave like regular house spiders, including getting into your bed at night, and if you accidentally squish them you'll get bit. Bite is like a wasp sting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_grossa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_grossa
That's because it could also be an acorn, or a pine cone. Difficult call.
Alleged incidents
- In 2006 a Dorchester man spent three days in Dorset County Hospital with symptoms of heart seizure, after suffering a spider bite believed to be caused by Steatoda nobilis.[3]
- In 2013 a man in Sidcup, Kent was allegedly bitten in his sleep, reporting that his hand had turned black and yellow. His hand remained swollen for five weeks until doctors gave him a course of antibiotics.[33]
- In October 2013, it was reported that a man from Romford in London had been allegedly bitten by a false widow. He was treated for bacterial infection with antibiotics and needed to have his leg drained of pus.[34]
- In October 2013, a British school in the Forest of Dean was closed for a day for fumigation as a result of a dense population of Steatoda nobilis on the site.[35]
- In 2014, a woman from County Durham had her left index finger amputated after contracting the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis following a claimed bite from a false widow spider.[36][37]
- In October 2014, an Irish man went into cardiac arrest and spent a day in intensive care after being bitten three times by what was claimed as a false widow, on the hip, side and shoulder.[38]
- In October 2018 four east London schools were closed due to false widow spider infestations.[39]
- In September 2019, it was reported that a man in Southampton was bitten while he slept, and left "barely able to walk"
Was definitely a bite, as there was a bite mark that the swelling propagated out from. Due to the mowing, the only other thing I could have thought would be some kind of ant?
Interesting, that's quite a few than I thought! Now where did I put my vacuum to get rid of these cobwebs....
Some kind of tick comes to my mind. Or a flea of some kind. There are some bitey bugs.
Does a bite from something so small leave a mark that's unambiguously a bite mark? How would you tell the difference between a tiny puncture wound from a small spider's fangs and a tiny puncture wound from a thorn or a sliver of something thrown up from a mower? It's not something I know anything much about.
Alleged incidents
Seen loads of these in the garden.... Time to get the flame thrower out.
- In 2006 a Dorchester man spent three days in Dorset County Hospital with symptoms of heart seizure, after suffering a spider bite believed to be caused by Steatoda nobilis.[3]
- In 2013 a man in Sidcup, Kent was allegedly bitten in his sleep, reporting that his hand had turned black and yellow. His hand remained swollen for five weeks until doctors gave him a course of antibiotics.[33]
- In October 2013, it was reported that a man from Romford in London had been allegedly bitten by a false widow. He was treated for bacterial infection with antibiotics and needed to have his leg drained of pus.[34]
- In October 2013, a British school in the Forest of Dean was closed for a day for fumigation as a result of a dense population of Steatoda nobilis on the site.[35]
- In 2014, a woman from County Durham had her left index finger amputated after contracting the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis following a claimed bite from a false widow spider.[36][37]
- In October 2014, an Irish man went into cardiac arrest and spent a day in intensive care after being bitten three times by what was claimed as a false widow, on the hip, side and shoulder.[38]
- In October 2018 four east London schools were closed due to false widow spider infestations.[39]
- In September 2019, it was reported that a man in Southampton was bitten while he slept, and left "barely able to walk"
According to that list of alleged incidents, in 13 years in a country with a population of over 60 million there were 3 reported cases of serious probable poisoning from probable spider bites claimed to be from a false widow. Pretty good odds there.
