UK Spider Bites

[No.9 Spider]

Originally Posted by Tallus

sorry it's a totally xexexexe phone pic, but somebody might recognise it

Having been sent the specimen by Tallus, and despite the spider becoming lost in the post for TWO WEEKS! and not being in very good condition either, I can confirm that it is a male Steatoda grossa (confirmation by palpal detail under the microscope).


No.9 Spider

[Tallus]

No 9 Spider - you beat me to it! I was going to sing your praises, but you were far quicker than me!

No 9 Spider has cleared up the mystery, and many thanks to him for his arachnid expertise. I am amazed that the spider was still identifiable after two weeks at the hands of the Royal Mail and wrapped up in a wet tissue!!

'Steatoda Grossa' will remain etched in my wife's memory for all time. I Googled it and that was certainly the culprit, little orange legs and everything. I actually registered with WAB to get this little fella identified, as I thought that UK spiders were harmless too.

This is a great place to be, and I never knew such a site existed with so many nice people and so much knowledge. I can't imagine not being a part of this site now. I have already made a few new friends, and you are all lovely and genuine people.

I also heard from an old gamekeeper friend I lost touch with many years ago. We used to work together on Gamblesby (and other moors - or 'fells' if you come from there) in Cumbria, so it was a real joy to make contact after 30 years as you can well imagine!

[thes3raph1m]

just a quick post, best way to send a spider is in a container of some kind with bubble wrap around (ok no, best way is in 70% ethyl solution, but try getting royal mail to carry that!) and for the record... i hate spider bites... im starting a list of what hurts and what dont...

dikranpalpus, you can feel it munching but no envenomation
araneus diadematus, yes it can bite, yes it swells, yes it hurts.
harvestmen, can bite, but unlikely to hurt
tegenaria... OW! hurts but little to no swelling (mostly fear from their size)
steatoda grossa bites, hurts swells, some discomfort but not much.
dysdera crocata. bites, hurts sweet jesus does it hurt, swells, some discomfort.
those spiders hiding in your bananas, bites, hurts, swells, causes some flu like symptoms (fever and nausea)


all from personal experience and most from the last few weeks since venger told me it was unlikely to bite me except the banana spider which is from a friend who works in a fresh veg department, said its rare to see them alive, which is why he picked it up... lol woops

[Venger]

To be clear - we were talking about Tegeneria - big jaws but not known for biting.

[jopeekers]

Originally Posted by Entorien_Scriber

My Mother handed me a copy of the Guardian today with a bit of a wince. She hates spiders and there was a huge picture of a False Widow on one page! What interested me was the list of 14 spiders in the UK said to bite.

Tube web spider
False widow spider
Woodlouse spider
Walnut orb-weaver spider
False widow or cellar spider
Lace weaver spider
Black lace weaver spider
Mouse spider
Rustic wolf spider
Bark sac spider
Stone spider
Cross or garden spider
Bruennichi's Argiope
Money spider


Some of these I already knew about, but I've never heard of a Money Spider being able to bite someone! Anyone know if this is true? What classifies as a biting spider? I mean, does it need to be venomous, or just be able to go through human skin?

Plus there are two on here that definately are not native, the False Widow and the Argiope. My Mother's response was to state that now she would squash any spider she sees, which she does already no matter how many times I ask her not to. I just hope this doesn't lead to even more people being far too paranoid about spiders.

I can confirm that i have just been bitten by a Money Spider. It is itchy as hell. Hoping no other effects!

[Tristan Ranford]

I got my first spider bite or rather a collection of said a couple of days ago from a garden spider. I did not notice it was bitting until I looked down at my hand and the only effect was a red itchy area on my finger which has lots of little fang marks in. Quite amusing

[suziek30]

I have 4 bites marks on my body from a spider that make up what look like 4 corners of a square. This happened whilst I was asleep. The bites are incredibly painful and swollen. From my experience, house spiders do bite. Also not the first time this has happened but never this many and never this painful. Worse than any mosquito bite I've had.

[John_M]

Originally Posted by suziek30

I have 4 bites marks on my body from a spider that make up what look like 4 corners of a square. This happened whilst I was asleep. The bites are incredibly painful and swollen. From my experience, house spiders do bite. Also not the first time this has happened but never this many and never this painful. Worse than any mosquito bite I've had.

If you were asleep, how do you know it was a spider that bit you?