False ALARM!!!! ?
Would YOU know what a false widow spider was if it bit you on the bum?
Well, on the arm, or any other extremity.
Since I began this blog (and I know many people have a fear of spiders) there is one spider that's always piqued my interest. And probably equally, even as a fan of our eight-legged friends, freaked me a teeny bit.
I've never seen it in the flesh, but the False Widow Spider (Steatoda Nobilis) is always ready to crawl into the headlines.
It's a member of the theridiidae genus of arachnida. Its close cousin is the genus Latrodectus, which includes such notorious members as the Black Widow and Australian Redback.
Both notorious for their potentially lethal bite.
In the UK, there are several 'sisters' to the Nobilis, perhaps most notibly Steatoda Grossa and Steatoda Bipunctata.
The similarities (to the common or garden observer) between these spiders aren't always clear.
The UK press has gone a bit wild this week with the story of former medical photographer Catherine Coombs, of Dorset. As daily tabloids would have us have it, she 'almost lost her hand' after being bitten by a False Widow. This may very well be the case. Both Steatoda Grossa and Nobilis pack a punch that every spider hater's nightmares are made of. BUT this is incredibly rare.
Hence the fact it's even become a news story.
In no way do I even contemplate belittling Ms Coombs' story. The Steatoda Nobilis has a bite, which is, to most people, very similar to a wasp sting. So clearly, incredibly unpleasant.
What I would question though is the odd 'I've been bitten by a spider' mentality that was spawned in the days after the article.
And I do question journalism when THIS is somehow a story!
I sort of think of myself as a British spider expert now. This blog has been floating around on the web since 2007, and I'm not sure I've ever seen such a flurry of 'bites'. It's not really even 'spider season' as UK arachnids go, but each to their own I guess.
Stay webwise folks,
Gav xxx
Would YOU know what a false widow spider was if it bit you on the bum?
Well, on the arm, or any other extremity.
Since I began this blog (and I know many people have a fear of spiders) there is one spider that's always piqued my interest. And probably equally, even as a fan of our eight-legged friends, freaked me a teeny bit.
I've never seen it in the flesh, but the False Widow Spider (Steatoda Nobilis) is always ready to crawl into the headlines.
It's a member of the theridiidae genus of arachnida. Its close cousin is the genus Latrodectus, which includes such notorious members as the Black Widow and Australian Redback.
Both notorious for their potentially lethal bite.
In the UK, there are several 'sisters' to the Nobilis, perhaps most notibly Steatoda Grossa and Steatoda Bipunctata.
The similarities (to the common or garden observer) between these spiders aren't always clear.
Hence the fact it's even become a news story.
In no way do I even contemplate belittling Ms Coombs' story. The Steatoda Nobilis has a bite, which is, to most people, very similar to a wasp sting. So clearly, incredibly unpleasant.
What I would question though is the odd 'I've been bitten by a spider' mentality that was spawned in the days after the article.
And I do question journalism when THIS is somehow a story!
I sort of think of myself as a British spider expert now. This blog has been floating around on the web since 2007, and I'm not sure I've ever seen such a flurry of 'bites'. It's not really even 'spider season' as UK arachnids go, but each to their own I guess.
Stay webwise folks,
Gav xxx
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