Huge British spider

[evilgrayson]

What's the biggest British spider?

I ask because several years ago I encountered something similar to a large house spider (3" inc. legs), but rather larger at approx. 6" including legs. I've never managed to find out what on earth it was sitting over a bathroom tile that day with two feet on the grout on each side, but it watched me and I watched it, and I left it in peace as soon as I'd brushed my teeth. When I came back, it had vanished back whence it came.

2" inc. legs versions of it were a daily sight. 3" versions were common in that house on the edge of the Cambridgeshire fens, there was often one somewhere on the ceiling in the bedroom at night. 4" spiders weren't unheard of. 6", though - well, let's just say that I hope never to see a spider that size again. Still, it does make me chuckle when someone claims that something barely an inch across is massive.

No markings as such, just blackish-brown colour. Long legs for the size of the body, but the body was still over an inch and a half long. I didn't get close enough to observe much more, just enough to work out how long it was against my hand (it was approximately my hand long, which made that easy).

[Action_Man]

Hi and welcome to the WAB forums.

What you probably saw was a Tegenaria duellica, i have seen them close to five inches, but six inches i suppose is a possibility ...

[No.9 Spider]

Dependant upon where you live/lived it may well be a specimen of Tegenaria parietina. These are the longest legged of the Tegenaria, particularly males. They are found in the southern counties and generally in old houses.
I have seen preserved specimens in spider collections at the Nat. Hist. Museum in Manchester having legspans of around five and a half inches. The bodies remain not much larger than the usual Tegenaria.



No.9 Spider

[evilgrayson]

Thanks for the help, chaps!

It was indeed a tegenaria, albeit a bloomin' huge specimen. More than seventeen years later I have an ID, and can live comforted by the knowledge he's native, reasonably friendly and doesn't have any bigger brothers.

While I'll admit that I'm rather more comforted by the knowledge that I don't live there any more, I'm also delighted that I got to see him at all. He only ever came out the once, and only two of us were at home when he did.

[Scaredycat]

I have had one of these tonight in my house, in my bedroom!

I suffer with arachnophobia, the first time I saw it, it was right by my bed on the floor, I screamed but did nothing other than somehow leap to my feet on the bed & frighten both spider & cat.

The second time I saw it, it ran from under my pouffe thing (still in the bedroom) to my chest of drawers, again I was screaming hysterically but this time my neighbours decided to pop down to check I wasn't being murdered.

On seeing my face & hearing my voice, they decided, even though they're not fans of spiders either, that they'd better investigate the spider, but when they looked it was gone.

A few hours later I saw it run from the wardrobe, towards the chest of drawers again, although I didn't scream that time, my heart was racing & I started shaking violently.

About an hour after this, I saw it just starting to creep onto my bed at the pillow end! I've never moved so quick & am still not certain how I got half way across the room, this was also accompanied by hysterical screaming.

Finally about 30 mins later, I saw it come out from behind the wardrobe again, rush towards the chest of drawers, but this time instead of going behind it, it decided to come round the front, I was ready with my plastic container.

I placed the plastic cd spindel cover over the critter, & with some serious trepidation, shaking, sweating & feeling very ill, slid a piece of paper under it. However not satisfied with this, I then destroyed an old box file for it's stiff board lid which I ripped off, then very very carefully trying not to shake the spider loose, slid under the paper, under the plastic where the spider was contained.

The spider is now outside, (still in the container I'm not that brave) with all the windows, doors & vents tightly shut.

I shall get someone to take it far away in daylight hours & release it, because I'm not risking it coming back in here.

I've had far too close a close up image of it, & am still awake more than 2 hours later, because I cannot get over that there may be more than one, well that's what I'm worried about anyway. Everything from dust bunnies to the cat is now making me jump with unexpected movement.

I understand these critters can & do bite, are they venomous too?

I honestly hope never to see him or any of his brothers again, as they scare me silly!

[Venger]

Originally Posted by Scaredycat

I understand these critters can & do bite, are they venomous too?

Not here they don't, you're perfectly fine - relax, they aren't interested in you at all!

Most likely a male looking for some lovin'...

[evilgrayson]

They're harmless, just huge. If I suffered arachnophobia I'd have had nightmares ever after - but as it is, Scaredycat, when you meet other arachnophobes, you can justly claim that you've met one

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this big!

And you were braver than me, too. You actually faced your fear and did something about it without killing the poor guy. I left mine where he was, hoping he'd go away again (which he did). Most arachnophobes couldn't have done what you did, and if you want to cure your phobia you just took a massive step towards it.

[thes3raph1m]

heh, found one in my kitchen yesterday. right up on the ceiling, knocked it off with a broom cause i couldnt reach it.

fell into a box i keep my crisps in... had to go in one by one until i found it and released it outside..

it was hugey hugey big big. i think around 3"

which is big enough when youve gotta put your hands into a box blind!!!

[Scaredycat]

Originally Posted by evilgrayson

They're harmless, just huge. If I suffered arachnophobia I'd have had nightmares ever after - but as it is, Scaredycat, when you meet other arachnophobes, you can justly claim that you've met one

<--------------------------------------------------------------------->

this big!

And you were braver than me, too. You actually faced your fear and did something about it without killing the poor guy. I left mine where he was, hoping he'd go away again (which he did). Most arachnophobes couldn't have done what you did, and if you want to cure your phobia you just took a massive step towards it.

Although I put him outside....I wasn't brave enough to release him, I ran back inside locked the doors & windows, closed the vents & waited (not long) for the wind to blow the container off of him.

I am STILL on red alert & at any unexpected movement I jump & squeak! I really don't think I'll EVER get over my stupid fear of spiders....& I'll be honest, once I was back inside safe, I did burst into tears over said spider. Like I said I'm now constantly on the lookout for him or any of his mates! Although I was dead on my feet last night, I couldn't sleep until gone 4am, because I was panicking about if he came back, or had friends!

I couldn't kill him, because no way did I want to get close enough to, & I HAD to take him outside once caught (although I considered taping the container to the carpet) because my cat would have no doubt knocked it over & set him free. So really I didn't have a whole bunch of options, I couldn't allow him to continue running around & frightening me stupid (As I mentioned, he would not just disappear, he kept REAPPEARING

When I was younger I did once almost cure myself....but then another massive one appeared & someone informed me that daddy long legs were just flying spiders & that all went to hell in a hand basket!

I can manage to leave cellar spiders alone, mainly cause they don't rush around the floor threatening to "get me" & most stay in their little corners, or just plain disappear (except the odd one that climbs in & drowns in the cats water bowl ) But House spiders, even the tiniest ones are just a biiiiiiiig NO!

Whilst I'm kinda proud of myself for letting Mr. Spider out the other night, the whole experience has done my nerves in! I now refuse to sit with my feet on the floor especially late at night, for a start & like I mentioned, I'm "seeing" spiders, or spidery activity everywhere!!! Mr. Spider's visit was certainly not good for my health.

At least I know know that even if he bit me, he couldn't actually harm me...well not with venom anyway...although...I'm sure I saw this on tv but not sure whether it was a film or documentary I saw (I saw this bit & turned it off by remote, screaming! ) but this spider's bitten this person & somehow implanted spider babies under their skin!!! Is it true? Can they actually DO that??? The thought of this keeps me awake a lot! especially just now!

Nightmares are the least of my worries atm, I don't sleep long enough to dream!

Oh & BTW I'm frightened of hoovering them up, in case the crawl back out again when I'm not looking.

I guess it's the movement, the appearance & the fact they don't seem to breathe, & so appear indestructible, (well that & they survive trips out of windows) that bother me the most about them. I don't care about the eyes, cause I guess I've never looked close enough to see the eyes, I see the fangs first & start bawling!

Gah, they scare me!!! In fact, scare does not seem to portray well enough the absolute fear they inspire in me. I don't even like pictures, on the computer / tv screen is one thing, but under normal circumstances I refuse to touch a piece of paper or magazine with a picture of a spider, even if the page isn't visible, ie, so it's turned, or the magazine is shut. I find that even though Arachnophobia is quite common, many people have great difficulty in understanding exactly how stupidly scared of them I am. Whilst I'm scared silly of them though, unless they're having a direct impact on me, I'm happy to leave them be; ie, I wouldn't go to the garden to exterminate them. I consider OUTSIDE to be THEIR home, but inside is mine, so if they cross the boundry, I tend to have a problem, & if they're small enough, I pray & ask them to vacate, if they're tiny (like no bigger than my finger tip) I squish them, if they don't vacate, & if they are house spiders of any kind I run around screaming & see which option I'm forced to take. I don't take any course of action lightly with regards to spiders...they terrify me, I don't know how to cure myself of it, to me, it's as bad as seeing a severed hand moving it's fingers & crawling across the floor, strange, unnatural & very VERY wrong! I know stupid thing to think, & not in the slightest correct, but I just can't shake it, even if I tell myself "But they're getting rid of the mosquitos so they don't bite me" I'd prefer the mosquito. My friend admitted he was scared how I was about spiders, but by frogs, I'd take a thousand frogs to be rid of 1 spider. I honestly cannot compare the fear I feel for them to anything else.

[evilgrayson]

You're that scared of 'em, and yet you took a huge one outside? That takes some courage. I know plenty of people who can happily cope with small spiders but would have been sleeping somewhere else if they ever encountered one that big. People usually aren't quite as blase as they think they are when faced with something that far outside their experience. I'm often told that someone has met a huge spider - they go on to tell me that it was an inch and a half across, including legs; I just smile, secure in the knowledge that I've met one four times that long and their perception of 'massive' is just plain wrong.

The urban legend about a spider bite leaving eggs under the skin is just that, an urban legend. snopes.com: Spiders in Cheek

Daddy Long Legs are huge flies, and mostly harmless (apparently they can bite, though I've never been bitten by one and I've no idea how much you'd have to wind 'em up to make 'em bite you).

Either way, gibbering with panic after you've dealt with it is a perfectly reasonable reaction - but you dealt with it, and you can draw strength from that knowledge, because you've dealt with the worst spider of the lot. After this one, they're all small. Maybe even laughably so. And they honestly don't care about you, either. You're too big to be anything other than a part of the scenery, or perhaps some sort of deity.