It's been a while since I last blogged. Somewhat of a fail for a site that self acclaims itself as Britain's most frequently updated spider blog!
But I hope the following covers all bases. Click on highlighted words for more/previous posts within this article.
From time to time, people do actually visit this site [I KNOW - it surprises me too] and send me emails asking for identification of spiders. Many are simply common housespiders and (I admit) some are too obscure or small and I struggle to put a name to a fang, with my knowledge.
But of all the spider photos I've received while this site has been online, I received a photo of one of my personal holy grails recently, and probably of many amateur arachnologist in the UK.
The photo above is of a False Widow Spider (Steatoda Nobilis). One of a number of spiders in the UK related to the Redbacks of Australia and the much maligned Black Widow (Lactrodectus)
The contributor who sent the photo merely asked for identification of a spider she and her husband found in their kitchen in the South East of England. This immediately rang true, as their British hotbed is in the South East.
It's not a particularly dangerous spider, compared to its neurotoxin-laden cousins elsewhere on earth, but it has a bit of a tabloid reputation for being Britain's most venomous spider. If the links I've placed on the words above work, you can read more about Steatoda Nobilis elsewhere on my blog.
This BBC One Show video explains the Steatoda genus. It initially reports on Steatoda Grossa, which is an obvious twin of the black widow. The later part of the report features the Nobilis. CLICK HERE
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THE GOOD OLD BBC ONE Show did itself proud again on Thursday (21/10/10) {BST}
Dr George McGavin, fresh from his jaunts in The Land of the Lost Tiger (BBC TV), went on the hunt for the Tube Web Spider (segestria) in the UK to demonstrate this arachnid's amazing ability to sense prey at the entrance to its silken tube.
A few months back, Dr George did a similar report about the woodlouse hunting spider (dysdera crocata) and actually let the female hunter sink its fangs into his finger as an example of how SOME British spiders give a significant bite. I, of course went a bit naughty with a woodlouse spider and watched it eat another spider. WATCH HERE!
I noticed he didn't do the same with the tube web, which One Show presenter Alex Jones incorrectly described in George's intro as 'funnel web'.
The tube web is another Mediterranean export, like the False Widow. And it too gives a painful bite. Has nice irridescant green fang casings though! BBC Devon recently made this report
Interestingly, I read that the tube web is one of the three largest spiders found in the UK. To my knowledge, the top three were raft spiders (dolomedes), cave spiders (meta menardi) and the Giant Housespider (Tegenaria Duellica).
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Have I got screws for you.
The BBC TV show Have I got News for You, in its 'missing words round', treated anyone who wasn't previously afraid of spiders, but might possibly be now, to a pun about 'giant sex-mad spiders in your home'.
This was a reference to the giant housespider (Tegenaria Duellica (formerly gigantea)
which is one of three types of large housespider common in UK homes from August to late October.
To be fair, the tabloids must have had a few slow news days with this story making page three in some papers........
"An army of sex mad giant spiders is invading the UK".
Once again, read elsewhere on my blog! The Tegenaria genus, as is similar with other spiders, lurks in your skirting board all year and then the males wander in autumn to look for a mate. That's why you see them scuttling around. They're not after your toes.
Males actually mate (if they find a girlfriend) and then die in front of her through exhaustion. But then the female DOES eat him to build herself up for birth! Not like the black widow, where canabilism takes place immediately after mating!
When you find a big housespider in your bath, the 'sex-mad giant spider' is merely attracted by water droplets on his knackering, thirst inducing quest for a female!
Once again, as I always say, killing spiders does you no favours. They are the ultimate at killing flies, wasps, moths, beetles.
And if you MUST get rid of them, just trap them and put them outside.
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