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False widow spiders

Borncafc
Borncafc Posts: 10
in Not Sports Related
Has anyone else noticed the huge amount of false widow spiders around here lately ??
I live next to blackheath rugby club and have found them nesting outside my kids bedroom window and even in my car wing mirrors.
image
That's one I got the other day.
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Comments

  • Essex_Al
    Essex_Al Posts: 3,587
    My son lives in a cul-de-sac in South Ockendon and all the houses are running alive with them. They have spent the weekend jet washing all the exterior walls to try and kill them off. Give a nasty bite apparently.
  • Borncafc
    Borncafc Posts: 10
    Great! We've got a plague of them coming, I hate spiders!
  • Bournemouth Addick
    Bournemouth Addick Posts: 16,288
    Welcome to the board Borncafc. That was a long wait for your first post about...er...spiders.
  • SilentAddick
    SilentAddick Posts: 1,603
    edited July 2014
    Get horse chestnuts (conkers) as spiders cannot stand them! Worked in my Garage!
  • Bournemouth Addick
    Bournemouth Addick Posts: 16,288
    edited July 2014
    @Stig‌ is our in house bug expert but I'm pretty sure they are both non aggressive and their bite's fairly harmless. Just got a bad press.
  • stackitsteve
    stackitsteve Posts: 12,111
    I think their bite is similar to that of a bee or wasp.
    Only dangerous if you are allergic.

    Probably wrong now I've said that so hope someone can confirm or deny
  • C_Jensens_Love_Child
    C_Jensens_Love_Child Posts: 1,598
    Borncafc said:

    Yeah I know, normally just read the stuff on here but I haven't been this worried about something since we got Dowie in!

    and you're LOL count is already higher than mine......
  • SantaClaus
    SantaClaus Posts: 7,685
    I found a couple just like that in Crystal Palace last week. They were hiding in the conservatory.
  • Borncafc
    Borncafc Posts: 10
    Get in your sleigh and dump them on selhurst then!

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  • Oakster
    Oakster Posts: 6,812
    Borncafc said:

    Get in your sleigh and dump them on selhurst then!

    False Widows & False Atmosphere - they're made for each other!
  • Halix
    Halix Posts: 2,237
    The Valley is full of them! remember to take your bicycle clips to stop them running up your trouser leg.
  • The_President
    The_President Posts: 14,280
    Not a problem unless you are Bear Grylls.
  • Dazzler21
    Dazzler21 Posts: 51,460
    That's not a false widow... That's one of these:

    http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/false-widow/false-widow-mistaken/index.html
  • Dazzler21
    Dazzler21 Posts: 51,460
    Saying that... I could be wrong they all look so similar!!

    http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/false-widow/false-widow-species/index.html
  • Huskaris
    Huskaris Posts: 9,862
    Dazzler21 said:

    Saying that... I could be wrong they all look so similar!!

    http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/false-widow/false-widow-species/index.html

    Dazzler21 said:

    That's not a false widow... That's one of these:

    http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/false-widow/false-widow-mistaken/index.html

    Kill them all
  • shine166
    shine166 Posts: 13,938
    This was all over the news 6 months ago, must admit I thought the spider appocolypse had past.
  • RedMist
    RedMist Posts: 1,404
    Dazzler21 said:

    That's not a false widow... That's one of these:

    http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/false-widow/false-widow-mistaken/index.html

    so it's a false false widow?
  • thenewbie
    thenewbie Posts: 11,032
    shine166 said:

    This was all over the news 6 months ago, must admit I thought the spider appocolypse had past.

    That's what they wanted us to think... but they can't fool me. I'm onto you, you many-legged monsters - I will not let the arachnid conspiracy triumph.
  • paulbaconsarnie
    paulbaconsarnie Posts: 9,428
    Bournemouth Addick said:

    @Stig‌ is our in house bug expert but I'm pretty sure they are both non aggressive and their bite's fairly harmless. Just got a bad press.

    So they are the millwall of the arachnid world!

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  • Dave2l
    Dave2l Posts: 8,880
    Yes there are look-alikes. The bites can cause major stress though, my mate had to go hospital as the bite eventually took a chunk out of his flesh.

    I'm fine with spiders part from those f*ckers.
  • Absurdistan
    Absurdistan Posts: 8,024
    Yum dinner

    image
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,138
    edited July 2014
    It's a little difficult to say with any certainty exactly how potent the bite of the "False Widow" is. There are several reasons for this. First, there are several species of spider that have been given this unfortunate nom de plume (though mainly from the genus Steotoda), so it's not always certain what we are talking about when we say "False Widow". Secondly, it's not always easy to identify spiders even with photographic evidence; even people with some experience can (and do) get it wrong. Thirdly, it's not the bite per se that does the damage but the venom within it - and that can have very different effects depending upon who is being bitten. What we do know is that those spiders commonly likened to the black widow tend to be non-aggressive and will only bite when they perceive a threat.

    I was lucky enough to have this encounter on Tuesday in a Sussex pub. I think it's a Steatoda grossa (and if I'm right it's an older female). I rescued her from the sink in the gents, worried that some arse would try to wash her down the plughole. She ran up my arm and onto my back and then off into the garden. From my experience if you treat them with love and care, you'll have no problems.

    Sadly I only had my compact camera on me so I could't get any decent shots.

    Steatoda Grossa 2

    Steatoda Grossa
  • Absurdistan
    Absurdistan Posts: 8,024
    Top stuff Stig, spiders are great.
  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,669
    @Stig‌

    Why are we seeing this species in this country now. I don't remember hearing about them before ?
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,138
    edited July 2014
    I don't know, it maybe a climate change thing or perhaps we've got stowaways in overseas cargo. They have been recorded here for 100 years though, so they're not entirely new. Interestingly though, Steatoda nobilis which is the main spider named as a "False Widow" is known as the European Spider in the US and they are questioning how they have more of them recently.
  • buckshee
    buckshee Posts: 7,869
    This is the one I encountered last year


    image
  • Baldybonce
    Baldybonce Posts: 9,680
    Absurdistan said:

    Yum dinner

    image


    You've ruined my whole weekend.
  • Derek1952
    Derek1952 Posts: 779
    I was told by my Grandmother so probably an old wives tail,that if one heard a Ticking Spider in the house it meant some one was going to die soon.
  • Charltonparklane
    Charltonparklane Posts: 5,786
    Sure it wasn't a rucksack?

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