Unknown Big Spider

[christina]

Hi all, I found this spider in our conservatory this evening and wondered if anyone could identify it. I apologise in advance for the poor quality photos but I really didn't want to get too close to it especially when I saw its "fangs" or are they "pincers" (second photo). It was too large for my liking lol

[aeshna5]

Looks like a Tegenaria species!

[mrs fish]

Male House-Spider ?

[christina]

Thank you aeshna5 and Mrs Fish for your swift response. No chance of him/her biting me with those fangs then?

[No.9 Spider]

It's a female Tegenaria species, I've not heard of any bites from one in this country and I handle them frequently .


No.9 Spider

[naturegirl]

It's 'fangs' are probably 'palps' which help with senses and I believe? are males? and so are not able to bite with.

There are Tegenarias that are capable of biting so if in doubt, do not handle!! I use the large empty cotton bud pots to capture anything I want to identify or evict harmlessly to both parties!

Naturegirl

[Venger]

No NG, this one is definitely female.
Both male and female have palps, the males have a modified tarsus (the end bit, looks kind of like a boxing glove or swollen in juveniles) used for sensing and to guide things to the mouth.

[No.9 Spider]

Tegenaria agrestis is the usual named culprit of Tegenaria bites, though all the these have been reported in USA, where its common name is the Hobo spider. In America it is, (and I quote) "one of a small number of spiders in North America whose bites are generally considered to be medically significant".
It is an outdoor species and not referred to as a House spider in America.
There are records of Tegenaria agrestis in the UK (1949 first recorded) but it quite sparse and widespread. As with most spider bite records, the bite occurs when the spider is being crushed inside the victims clothing.

The tarsi or end section of spiders legs and their palps have chemotactic sensory hairs which allow the spider to 'touch taste', and so they can tell in an instant whether something is potential prey or not.
For most species the male 'fangs' remain unaltered in reaching maturity, only the 'palps' become modified for mating.
However there are some species, that upon reaching maturity, the 'fangs' become heavily modified (again for mating purposes) and pose more of a threat in being able to penetrate human skin (Salticidae being one example). The 'fangs' in Tegenaria remain unaltered in maturity.


No.9 Spider

[naturegirl]

Oops, sorry Venger! I am trying to learn about spiders but big ones like the Teg's scare me half to death when I see them indoors.

Thanks for that No.9 spider! I have heard of the American Hobo spider but didn't realise we had it here too.

A guy I know was doing some renervation work on an old house and put his hand up inside some panelling (silly boy!) and got bitten by 'something'. He didn't wait to id the culprit as his hand was bleeding. The fang marks were a good quarter/third of an inch apart. His hand swelled alarmingly and he had to seek medical attention. I saw the marks on the palm of his hand (ouch!) a month after the bite and it still looked red and slightly swollen. The only spider that I can think of for this offence would be Tegeneria agrestis
I believe the old house was near to Pluckly in Kent.

Strangely, this guy is from Australia and he has never been bitten by any spiders over there

Naturegirl

[Meta menardi]

If you look in photo 2 you can see the palps quite easily, but you can also quite clearly see the fangs.

It does have, as you would expect, both and like any large spider the fangs are quite large, as it uses them to inject venom into it's prey (which we are NOT).