Spider ID & General Info

Ramsay · #1 (**permalink**) 12-09-2009, 08:07 PM

I have just joined this site tonight becouse a friend brought in a big spider caught at the back door of there house. It was seen sitting on a very large web waiting to pounce on anything that got caught in the web. The body is shaped like and egg shape with hairy coloured feet i have not got a good photo yet i will upload one tom. These are breeding now as litttle spiders with the same markings have been seen aswell.
The question i have just now is iam not a spider expert from looking through the forums i have seen loads of differnt kinds of house spiders very large i didnt imagine you could get so many different kinds.
Are there any house spiders that can harm you or are they all safe /
Does the description of the spider that i gave sound like type of house spider ?

Thanks in advance

loripo · #2 (**permalink**) 12-09-2009, 08:35 PM

I dont believe we have any native spiders that can give a fatal bite, but many do have an unpleasant bite only if touched I should think - this is on the Nat Hsit Museum site - see if any ofthese look like yours!

UK spider bites | Natural History Museum

Ramsay · #3 (**permalink**) 12-09-2009, 08:50 PM

Had a look at that website the body looks like the body of a fake widow spider but the legs were long hairy and with yellow strips iam going to try to get a good picture of it and upload tom iam very intersted to find out what kind it is.

Geoff F · #4 (**permalink**) 12-09-2009, 11:23 PM

A big spider in a big web at this time of the year makes me think about Araneus diadematus (the Garden Spider) which can vary a bit in colouration but should have a white cross like markings on it's back and stripey legs. Can be quite large, around 15 mm overall body size.

They have 'traditional' spider webs of a roughly circular shape with cross stays.

The young spiders hatch during the spring and early summer but you do get a mixture of sizes now.

But that is just a starting guess.

Tegenaria species which live inside houses are also possible but the web is a bit different and not a 'traditional spider web design'.

Give any sizes as head to tail measurements excluding leg lengths.

There are a few UK spiders which can give you 'a bit of a nip' but you really have to annoy them first and aren't a serious problem.