Jump to content

False widdow


ShootingEgg
 Share

Recommended Posts

Aye we have a few living in our garage. This is Gertrude, a Noble False Widow. sadly the colours didn't come out well on my phone's camera because she was skulking in the shadows, as usual. We also have Ophelia (somewhat smaller) and at least two males, Hamlet and Polonius, although Polonius was last seen perilously close to where Gertrude hangs out, so she may have eaten him.

Capture.JPG.ae7de288a472753abfe42183ba1cc894.JPG

Fortunately my other half is entirely tolerant of them, although what her mother would say if she knew that not only did we have venomous spiders, but we'd named them, I dread to think. She'd probably want to disinfect the whole house. Then burn it down, just to make sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Remimax said:

never seen one before in all my years as a sparky but came across two on me last job a week ago.

some of the pics of wounds after one of these has a chomp are not pretty.

The jury's well and truly out on this. It's a neurotoxic venom, so it works on the nervous system. It's not necrotic (flesh rotting). Whilst there are plenty of lurid stories and pictures of limbs almost being amputated and what have you, very, VERY few are actually reliable. There will of course be people who have allergic reactions to the bite, but then bees and wasps kill a few people a year and we don't go nuts about them. What you're seeing in those photos is almost exclusively bacterial infection setting in either from the fangs of the spider or more likely, sneaking in in the days after the bite. They're sore bites and it last for a few days, leading to people to rub them and scratch them and reopen the wound and that lets in infection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, chrisjpainter said:

The jury's well and truly out on this. It's a neurotoxic venom, so it works on the nervous system. It's not necrotic (flesh rotting). Whilst there are plenty of lurid stories and pictures of limbs almost being amputated and what have you, very, VERY few are actually reliable. There will of course be people who have allergic reactions to the bite, but then bees and wasps kill a few people a year and we don't go nuts about them. What you're seeing in those photos is almost exclusively bacterial infection setting in either from the fangs of the spider or more likely, sneaking in in the days after the bite. They're sore bites and it last for a few days, leading to people to rub them and scratch them and reopen the wound and that lets in infection.

Yeah it is a bee / wasp sting and anything worse is infection in the wound

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got had by one of these several years ago. Felt like a really good nettle sting that just would not go away all day. Brushed it off and thought no more of it. 10 days later the itching in my arm woke me at just gone 3am. Put some anthisan on it and went back to sleep. Got up usual time and arm was red from elbow to wrist. By the time I'd got to work my forearm was the same size as my bicep. Bypassed work and went straight to A+E, told the triage nurse I'd been had by a spider 10 days previous expecting to be mocked but she turned on her heels and stormed off returning seconds later with an ID chart. Pointed out the offender to her and got the "Are you certain?". Yup says I,  job I was doing was plastered with them. Storms off again, returns with permanent pen to mark infection and 4 separate syringes. Whacked the arm full of God knows what and a box of pills to boot. Felt rough for 3-4 days then it all settled down. But I still have lump where it got me. Since then they all get treated with the same distain. Spiders that is not nurses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 We definitely have a few of the Gertrude size females in our 'conservatory' 

9 hours ago, chrisjpainter said:

Aye we have a few living in our garage. This is Gertrude, a Noble False Widow. sadly the colours didn't come out well on my phone's camera because she was skulking in the shadows, as usual. We also have Ophelia (somewhat smaller) and at least two males, Hamlet and Polonius, although Polonius was last seen perilously close to where Gertrude hangs out, so she may have eaten him.

Capture.JPG.ae7de288a472753abfe42183ba1cc894.JPG

Fortunately my other half is entirely tolerant of them, although what her mother would say if she knew that not only did we have venomous spiders, but we'd named them, I dread to think. She'd probably want to disinfect the whole house. Then burn it down, just to make sure.

But have seen some smaller in the house and outside, the other half freeks right out at the sight of anything bug like let alone venomous. Bright red legs and white skull like marking on body. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About this time last year I got a bite on my elbow which really came up. Being wary of tick bites I went to the doctor which is unusual for me but I was overdue for my annual blood pressure review anyway and getting pestered by texts to make an appointment. She said no its a spider bite and they are seeing quite a few  

Having lived in US I knew all about spider bites but had never heard of it over here. Are these false widows an American import?

Funny that I'm not getting messages about getting my blood pressure review done this year, a small but real reminder that a lot of things are getting left behind in the present situation.

Edited by Vince Green
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Vince Green said:

About this time last year I got a bite on my elbow which really came up. Being wary of tick bites I went to the doctor which is unusual for me but I was overdue for my annual blood pressure review anyway and getting pestered by texts to make an appointment. She said no its a spider bite and they are seeing quite a few  

Having lived in US I knew all about spider bites but had never heard of it over here. Are these false widows an American import?

Funny that I'm not getting messages about getting my blood pressure review done this year, a small but real reminder that a lot of things are getting left behind in the present situation.

No. Weirdly, It's native to Madeira and the Canaries, but has spread all across North Africa and Europe, and is now in parts of North and Central America. It expands well, so long as temperatures aren't too low. They have a wide prey list and, being nocturnal, fewer predators and have less human interaction. All good criteria for population expansion!

Edited by chrisjpainter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, mossy835 said:

not seen any here yet.

I'd bet you a case of cider they're there, but just unseen! They like warm, dry places and are partial to a south facing wall. Big enclosed barns and garages are ideal, especially ones that are used regularly and allowing prey to fly in for a night time sleep.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  

On 13/07/2020 at 12:14, chrisjpainter said:

Aye we have a few living in our garage. This is Gertrude, a Noble False Widow. sadly the colours didn't come out well on my phone's camera because she was skulking in the shadows, as usual. We also have Ophelia (somewhat smaller) and at least two males, Hamlet and Polonius, although Polonius was last seen perilously close to where Gertrude hangs out, so she may have eaten him.

Capture.JPG.ae7de288a472753abfe42183ba1cc894.JPG

Fortunately my other half is entirely tolerant of them, although what her mother would say if she knew that not only did we have venomous spiders, but we'd named them, I dread to think. She'd probably want to disinfect the whole house. Then burn it down, just to make sure.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_nobilis

Doesn't look like the same spider to me?  Still looks nasty though 😲

Edited by Jim Neal
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

  

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_nobilis

Doesn't look like the same spider to me?  Still looks nasty though 😲

It is, it's just the background got over exposed and drained the colours in the foreground. There's also a fair amount of colour difference possible in them. Jason Steel is a wildlife photographer who's taken a photo of what feels like every animal in the UK, whether it scurries, runs, jumps, flies, slithers of creeps and crawls. His website is a treasure trove of specimen photos and has some great shots of several S.nobilis that are various colours.

http://www.jasonsteelwildlifephotography.yolasite.com/spiders-4.php 

The males are often much lighter in colour and significantly smaller. The females can be pretty dark, but always shiny (hence the light reflecting on her abdomen!). If you zoom in you can just make out the pale band around the bottom of the abdomen. I'm up in Reading for a few days, but when I'm back in Dorset, I'll see if I can find her again - or failing her, either Hamlet or Polonius. The Natural History Museum species page is worth a read too and has more on the colour irregularities too. Here's a good image...

image.png.763bc068a6ae0c8fe898bc382febdca0.png

Photo credit: Natural History Museum

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/identify-nature/spiders-in-your-home/false-widow-spiders.html

 

I get carried  away with these little critters (hence why they're named in our house!) I think they're pretty cool. Interestingly there's evidence to suggest they predate on real black widows, which is a nice twist.

Edited by chrisjpainter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not a fan of spiders - although I don't go running - I would ask the wife to put one out (or stamp on it if she isn't around to see it :) ). There was one time a number of years ago, our eldest was lying on the rug moving his legs about and there was a big spider near his feet that actually reared at his feet. I didn't care my wife was there and turned it into an arachnid pancake double quick - and got an absolute earful for it!!

A couple of days later there was a spider in the hallway - she went to catch it - it reared at her - she stamped on it!!!🤣

No idea what type they were

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...