Overcoming arachnophobia - Which UK spiders can bite?

[dazultra2000]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I wonder if the tube spider they mention is Segestria florentina?
Segestria florentina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They do. If you click the link it says and shows it.

Many thanks for your replies guys. I guess the general idea is that I'm not really safe from any of them, but I'm better off using a glass and card anyway, so no bother. Dysdera Crocata looks pretty menacing!

Incidentally, I'm pretty certain I was bitten by an araneus diademetus on Sunday (I was in the garden filling up buckets to do water changes on my fish and turtle tanks and disturbed several of them in the process).

Did a bit of late-night reconnaissance last night in the garden and aside from seeing my resident meaty S. Nobilis, I have taken some shots of some other spiders that I will need IDing, so look out for that thread soon!

[Wild-Woman]

Good thread. They definitely become less fearsome with knowledge and understanding.
I would always pick them up in a glass, not because of fear of getting bitten but because I'd worry about crushing them accidentally but also because it gives you a good chance to have a look at them. It's easy to have a look at all sides.

[Billabong Karen]

I think humans generally seem to have a built-in, atavistic fear of spiders - sensible enough when we lived in jungles. But now we dont really require a fear of spiders and snakes - and it can be unlearned, though it takes time and some effort. Worth it though. I used to be very afraid of spiders, but I can (and do) live with them now... I'm ok with small ones, but just use the old glass and postcard trick for large spiders - or ask the other half to put them outside carefully.

[wilippa]

Originally Posted by Billabong Karen

I used to be very afraid of spiders, but I can (and do) live with them now... I'm ok with small ones, but just use the old glass and postcard trick for large spiders - or ask the other half to put them outside carefully.

I live with them too, perfectly harmoniously... until they crawl all over me! I tend to leave them be. They're only being spiders; and they eat the bugs and flies and moths.

[sebastianbawn]

Apparently Segestria florentina (another non-native UK spider, that arrived from the Mediterranean around the 1840s), can give a nasty bite. It can also bring upon malaise, so I read somewhere (maybe another thread?).

I also read that Pholcus phalangioides can puncture human skin, but the bite is not very painful. Apparently their fangs are long enough to penetrate our skin. Whether this has happened or is just theorised I don't know.

And don't forget Scotophaeus blackwalli, got bit by one of these when I was younger. Not a painful bite though, and it was my own fault so can't blame the little critter

P.S apparently Tegenaria agrestris can bite, in the USA it lives closer to humans where many of the cases are reported, but luckily the UK specimens are a little more docile and don't live as close to humans so it would be very unlucky to get bitten. The one that appeared in my house (a female) raised her front legs at me in a threatening posture (not dissimlar to the Australian Funnel-Webs) when I tried to glass and card her!

[faz]

Originally Posted by wilippa

Technically, I don't think S. nobilis is a UK spider. I think it is an European species which has "invaded" though I'm happy to be corrected if anyone knows different. Also there is an ongoing thread in this forum about T. duellica. See Izzy's thread "Identify Spider" - it's an old thread but has been reopened recently and is still being updated. However, it is fair to say that spider bites in the UK are very rare. And the Daily Mail's recent article on spiders named two supposedly able to bite humans - S. nobilis and another. I forget which. Wait out, I may find out.

Edit: the walnut orb weaver but I stand corrected, they were referring to strength of venom, not ability to puncture human skin!

[quote=wilippa;825082]Technically, I don't think S. nobilis is a UK spider. I think it is an European species which has "invaded" though I'm happy to be corrected if anyone knows different.

The false widow spider (Steatoda nobilis) probably arrived in the UK from the Canary Islands. It was first recorded in Torquay, Devon, back in 1879. Since then it has adapted well to our colder climate.

[wilippa]

Originally Posted by sebastianbawn

P.S apparently Tegenaria agrestris can bite, in the USA it lives closer to humans where many of the cases are reported, but luckily the UK specimens are a little more docile and don't live as close to humans so it would be very unlucky to get bitten. The one that appeared in my house (a female) raised her front legs at me in a threatening posture (not dissimlar to the Australian Funnel-Webs) when I tried to glass and card her!

I think that might be the Tegenaria species I meant in my previous post in this thread. Also, the threatening posture you mention sounds like the same response as I've got from A. diadematus.