Is this a False Widow

[DoubleSix]

[Mr GrimNasty]

jagracer said:

Is this one?

You decide! http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-sp...

Looks most like 'Steatoda grossa' to me (not the main panic).

Edited by Mr GrimNasty on Thursday 11th September 15:29

[jagracer]

Natural History Museum said:

Habitat

This species prefers to make its web low to the ground and can often be found amongst the clutter around the garden and in sheds and garages.

They'd think they've died and gone to heaven at the back of my house then.

As for the bites causing problems I've had some pretty nasty reactions after being bitten by some really tiny midge type things in the garden one such thing caused me a week off work and a course of antibiotics so I'd be no more worried about a spider bite than I would a mosquito or wasp sting, it just depends on what sort of reaction you have to these things.

Edited by jagracer on Thursday 11th September 15:40

[Yertis]

Mr GrimNasty said:

They won't bite if you just pick them up, they are not aggressive, it's a last ditch defence from usually just the females. They don't want to bite you as Darwin let's them know if they do, you will probably immediately squash them. I think bee sting is probably an exaggeration too. Bites are very very very very rare.

The really big furry house spiders you often find in the bath are far more likely to bite, and despite no real venom, quite a nip.

Well, it looked like a False Widow, was the same size as a False Widow, and my finger swelled up and went blue. And it hurt like blazes. I'm perfectly prepared to learn I might be wrong, but I'll continue to treat them with the respect they, and all our arachnid friends, deserve.

(I have to admit I was pretty angry with the one that bit me and took no further chances, feel a bit bad about that now but had young children around at the time and didn't know what it was.)

[boobles]

The one I found at work was the first time I had seen a spider like that in the flesh.
Didn't pose me any harm so I left it alone.

[Nightmare]

The thing that hurt the most that I've been bitten by in the UK was, don't laugh too much, a sodding ladybird! They have really really strong jaws and it hurt for days.

Never been bitten by a spider, despite annoying a lot of them over the years.

[digger the goat]

boobles said:

This is the little bugger I had at work... Not sure if it's a false widow though.

Looks a bit like a wasp spider but rather 'unstripey'.!! Maybe a juvenile ?

[boobles]

digger the goat said:

Looks a bit like a wasp spider but rather 'unstripey'.!! Maybe a juvenile ?

A wasp spider? Never heard of therm......

[Mr GrimNasty]

digger the goat said:

boobles said:

This is the little bugger I had at work... Not sure if it's a false widow though.

Looks a bit like a wasp spider but rather 'unstripey'.!! Maybe a juvenile ?

So you think it is a spider that happens to be in the wrong habitat, wrong size, wrong shape, and with the wrong markings. Ermmmm.....

[digger the goat]

Mr GrimNasty said:

So you think it is a spider that happens to be in the wrong habitat, wrong size, wrong shape, and with the wrong markings. Ermmmm.....

Wasp spiders can now be found throughout the UK and in all types of habitat including docklands ( where they were first found) through to scrubland , fens, broads, forest and mountainous areas.
The spread has been 'wild' over the past few years.
Colouration ranges from bright green/yellow with little or no marking right through to black with feint yellow stripes.

Females have the larger rotund abdomens with males being smaller and like the one in the posted picture.

So....Erm........... !!

HTH !!

[Mr GrimNasty]

digger the goat said:

Mr GrimNasty said:

So you think it is a spider that happens to be in the wrong habitat, wrong size, wrong shape, and with the wrong markings. Ermmmm.....

Wasp spiders can now be found throughout the UK and in all types of habitat including docklands ( where they were first found) through to scrubland , fens, broads, forest and mountainous areas.
The spread has been 'wild' over the past few years.
Colouration ranges from bright green/yellow with little or no marking right through to black with feint yellow stripes.

Females have the larger rotund abdomens with males being smaller and like the one in the posted picture.

So....Erm........... !!

HTH !!

None of that refutes what I said.
It looks nothing like any wasp spider in existence.
It is almost certainly a male 'Steatoda nobilis' - check the link above with pictures.
errrrrrmmmm ermmmmmm......OMG

[digger the goat]

[boobles]

Didn't realize my spider would cause such a stir!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerm !

[Yertis]

It's amazing isn't it. But it has created a desire to find out more about them, I'd like to be able to tell them apart since there are so many of them.