The sad death of a Tegenaria male

[wilippa]

I tell a sad story, but there is a question, so please read on. A couple of days ago, I found a large male Tegenaria sp in my stainless steel kitchen sink. After joking to my boyfriend that it was the same one that had frightened him a week earlier by appearing from under his armchair and running across the living room floor (how many large Tegenaria males can one Oxford semi hold? No really, that's a secondary question.) I attempted to remove said specimen from the sink, only to find it was unfortunately deceased. Perhaps I should mention at this point that the sink also contained a residue of Fairy liquid bubbles from earlier in the evening, which the spider was half covered by. The question is this, could the bubbles have caused his death? Can a spider "drown" in washing up liquid bubbles? Or might he have somehow been poisoned by the bubbles?
I appreciate this is "we will never know" situation but the question was bothering me nevertheless. Of course, his death may have been natural but still, I wonder.
Any ideas anyone?

[Mele]

Yeah. Some HUGE males wandering round my house at the moment. Keep giving me the willies [Just re-read those 2 sentences and feel the need to say that no innuendo was intended ]. Males die after mating in autumn, so maybe he had sex and died...in your sink?
Or maybe the bubbles?
Mel

[Kayleigh]

YES the bubbles of washing up liquid will kill wasps, spiders, ants and most other insects it comes in contact with.
The males do die after mating but I think the bubbles in the sink killed yours.

[wilippa]

Thank you Kayleigh. That answers that one.