This little darling has taken residence in our bathroom although I have just 'persuaded' it to move to the allotment as I don't want any of us to get bitten while we are in the bath !!......
bit of info
False widow spider, Steatoda nobilis
Body size
Female to 15mm; male to 10mm.
Appearance
Rotund, brown with pale markings. Apart from colour, differs from Latrodectus (black widow spiders) in having teeth on the chelicerae. Only female (photo) bites.
Habitat, range and season
Buildings and fences. Originally a native of the Canary Islands and Madeira; now established in the southern and eastern coastal region of England and inland in Surrey.
First recorded in the UK
1879. Not considered to be established until the 1980's (Jones, 1987).
Bite reports
The bite itself is not usually felt but, within a short space of time, a local burning sensation is followed by radiating pain ('far more severe than a bee or wasp sting', Warrell et al., 1991).
Now a cute pic of the doggies ....plum tuckered out after a romp in the woods ....awww......
Eeeeeek.... I would move it farther than the allotment. Cute picture of the doggies:)
ReplyDeleteyes Mary Ann i hope it's not a homing spider ....yikes ........xx
DeleteCool! Okay, I say that, and I love the photos...but if it were in my bathroom I would scream like a little girl! ha!
ReplyDeleteI like spiders but not one that bites I draw the line there ......xx
DeleteYukky does the bit heal. I do not like spiders in any shape or form.
ReplyDeleteShirley i think it injects poison with the bite which can be nasty ..........xx
DeleteWhere spiders are concerned size doesn't count. We have a spider similar to that one in size with a red stripe down it's back. If it bites it can make you VERY sick and in rare cases deaths have occurred. We have another spider which is very common (we've had five in the house in the last four weeks), called a huntsman and they average 100mm across including the legs, but they don't bite very often and if they do they don't usually make you sick unless you're allergic to them. They just scare a lot of people to death by their size.
ReplyDeleteyes I must admit we shouldn't complain as we have very few horrible creepy crawlies here in the UK ........xx
DeleteI love them. Sooooo adorable. Your home is so appealing too. Can see me curled up with my foot on a dog right now. I would let them curl up on me too in return. :)
ReplyDeleteLisa you are welcome to come and curl up with them anytime ......xx
DeleteI much prefer the doggies :)
ReplyDeleteKaren
Yes me too Karen...I don't mind spiders normally and I have a live and let live attitude to then sharing my house ...but a biting venomous spider...no thanks ...xx
DeleteYou may keep your spiders, but I'll take Gracie and Stitch! xox
ReplyDeleteOh nasty..there was a piece in the paper about someone who was quite ill from one of these spiders!!!!!hope you are all ok!!x
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved to Maryland, a black widow spider stowed away in the moving van (they are common in CA). When the mowers found it, they refused to unload the van and we had to get it out for them. I kept laughing, even though I know they bite and are poisonous. I think I was laughing because these were huge guys, all wearing boots (seriously they could just STEP on it!). Love the picture of your doggies! xox
ReplyDeleteOh wow--the spider is creepy! LOL But the dogs are so very sweet. :)
ReplyDelete