Big Big Spiders.. Merged

t-ha

Hey, just wondering if anyone else has noticed a huge increase in cellar spiders lately, and/or a decline in tunnel web spiders. My sheds all used to have resident tunnel webs, which was great because I knew where they were and they stopped wasps from building nests. Now I've got these wierd lookin' cellar spiders with their crappy 'all-over-the-place' webs and no sense of personal space. They don't seem to mind having 6 or 7 spiders in a single square foot of ceiling space. No shame them feckers...

Saruman

Tunnel web spiders? We do not have them here, they are from New Zealand according to the internet and look like their cousin the funnel web.

Are you just using that as a description?

kpatrick

Does anyone know if there are any jumping spiders indigineous to Ireland? I came across a fellow recently who teleports from wall to wall, i've seen them before in South America, they are insanely fast when they jump. I have a video of him to show what i am talking about. He was neither big nor harmful but was a lot of fun to watch for about half an hour!

t-ha

Saruman wrote: »

Tunnel web spiders? We do not have them here, they are from New Zealand according to the internet and look like their cousin the funnel web.

Are you just using that as a description?

Sorry, I'm not an expert - got mixed up with my decriptions. Apparently it is sometimes called a funnel weaver, or more specifically, I'm fairly sure (after a google search of images and web types) that I mean Tegenaria duellica?

Saruman

Ah I have a few of them in my shed (I think)

davehey79

heres some pics of spiders recently seen in or around the house the one on the wall with ivy looked scary so i took a pic and backed off remeinds me of a black widow !! the other one was in the bath and is now in S-Bend heaven

Sleipnir

davehey79 wrote: »

heres some pics of spiders recently seen in or around the house the one on the wall with ivy looked scary so i took a pic and backed off remeinds me of a black widow !! the other one was in the bath and is now in S-Bend heaven

Lot's of "Scary spider" about now. Steatoda nobilis. They can give you a nasty bite but it's not fatal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_nobilis
http://www.uksafari.com/falsewidows.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_black_widow

jimmyskank

I have noticed a huge increase in massive brown house spiders in the last few years, and they seem to be definetly getting bigger. I used to notice the odd big one here and there but now I get massive f*uckers around the house all the time, you can actually hear them on the floorboards leggin it around. A piece of fillet steak went missing from my fridge last week, the next day I saw an 8 legged monster in my kitchen....... coincidence I think not! Il put a pic up later.:eek:

Maggie.23

Was just interrupted by this lad propped up on the curtain beside me :eek:.

I hate this thread and yet cant get enough of it. I am now scared of spiders for the rest of the day.

omahonydonnelly

We get loads of these big brown (look black to me) spiders - usually in upstairs bedrooms and freak out the kids and me. Last night I had a terrible itch behind my knee and when I went to bed realised it was a bite. It's just been getting bigger and bigger and more sore since. I was thinking it may be a spider 'bite' as I changed into some sweat bottoms that were on the floor when I got home from work.

I tried using tea tree cream and the homepathic remedy ledum - but still getting worse. There is a small lump in the middle, but doesn't appear to still have a stinger or anything. It's hot to the touch. I have a pic if anyone thinks they can help me

toadfly

Deleted User wrote: »

I hate this thread and yet cant get enough of it. I am now scared of spiders for the rest of the day.

I read thru this for the first time yesterday, woke up last night screaming that there was a spider on my pillow, scared the OH! Rotten rotten spiders!

Amalgam

Amused.. saw a big hairy spider come inside and make its way across the ceiling one evening. I'm in bed watching two.. I think Daddy Long Legs (Pholcus phalangioides), wander aimlessly, close to the big hairy spider. Say to myself.. DSW (dead spiders walking). Woke up the next day to find the large spider neatly wrapped up and being fed on by one of the spindly spiders I had no hope for..

At most a quarter of the body mass of what it attacked.

Amalgam

Interesting thing about the common House Spider (Tegenaria domestica). The female can survive for several years.

Leman_Russ

Hey all, I was just windering if ya'll could help be identify what kind of spider this is. I found it crawling up the side of my PC a few days ago

Amalgam

As far as I can tell, that's a 'House Spider'. Tegenaria domestica. A rather hairy House Spider.

Anyone know how to sex them? can you tell from the palps, would it be a male?

GigaByte

Amalgam wrote: »

Anyone know how to sex them? can you tell from the palps, would it be a male?

If you look closely you can see if he's got little balls!

Here's one they found.

Realtine

Deleted User wrote: »

I hate this thread and yet cant get enough of it. I am now scared of spiders for the rest of the day.

ME TOO! I visted this thread sometime last year also but my interest again was roused when two days ago my partner noticed a shadow blocking out the hall light under the slightly open bedroom door, his first immediate thought was perhaps a mouse as the cat had chased one or two into the house before so he decided to take a look and found a huge black spider making it's way into the bathroom - I didn't see it myself but the screams of my daughter were classic.

He's not one for dramatics my OH but he said it was the biggest blackest spider he has seen in his life.:rolleyes:

Anyway he trapped it in a box and released it immediately out the bathroom window...unfortunately didn't take a picture but I believe the clever fecker possibly climbed upstairs to my son's room in the attic because at 2.30 am he woke me to tell me he saw the biggest spider ever climbing the wall by his window - it wouldn't fit under a pint glass and rather than kill it he went to find something else but of course spidey didn't wait around for that!

Anyway that's what has prompted me to revisit this thread and I've warned them all to take a pic if he reappears...we know it's here somewhere:eek:

rhapsody!

We had a big bastard in our dining room a couple of years back about the size of the palm of my hand (no good with measuerments). Not one of those spindly skinny ones either, one of those fat little brown sh*tbags. Killed it with a broom ...

I'm annoyed cos until I was about ten I could pick up a spider and be completely careless. I don't mind if I can see them and know where they are - it's when they start running up my t-shirt that I jump up screaming. They're very much into the element of surprise...

When I was about eleven I caught three spiders in a jar, just regular smallish spiders. Punched holes in the lid and kept them in there for a day, and all three of them had built interconnecting webs inside the jar. It was fascinating to see it! I released all three out near our garden shed and intended keeping the jar, because then, and even now, it was just amazing to see the inside of the jar webbed, all the webs were relying on each other for support. Was amazing. Except some dumbass in my house decided to wash the jar.

Realtine wrote: »

ME TOO! I visted this thread sometime last year also but my interest again was roused when two days ago my partner noticed a shadow blocking out the hall light under the slightly open bedroom door, his first immediate thought was perhaps a mouse as the cat had chased one or two into the house before so he decided to take a look and found a huge black spider making it's way into the bathroom - I didn't see it myself but the screams of my daughter were classic.

He's not one for dramatics my OH but he said it was the biggest blackest spider he has seen in his life.

Anyway he trapped it in a box and released it immediately out the bathroom window...unfortunately didn't take a picture but I believe the clever fecker possibly climbed upstairs to my son's room in the attic because at 2.30 am he woke me to tell me he saw the biggest spider ever climbing the wall by his window - it wouldn't fit under a pint glass and rather than kill it he went to find something else but of course spidey didn't wait around for that!

Anyway that's what has prompted me to revisit this thread and I've warned them all to take a pic if he reappears...we know it's here somewhere

He's probably waiting for you and your OH to leave and then he's going to eat your children :O

PS: Can't get enough of this thread but can't help but feel like things are crawling on me now..

Elevelyn

I feel ichy all over and have crawling sensations all over me, really scared to go to sleep now, oh is laughing at me shivering all the time, hate this thread!

Amalgam

Elevelyn wrote: »

I feel ichy all over and have crawling sensations all over me, really scared to go to sleep now, oh is laughing at me shivering all the time, hate this thread!

We all have our weakness, I love spiders, but if I get the 'idea' a wasp is in the room, I itch all over and get hive like bumps at the thought of it..

rhapsody!

I have extreme wasp paranoia! Folks always tell me not to bother them and then they wouldn't bother me.. yeah right! Sitting there minding my own business and wasps are flying around me like I'm the f/cking omen.

amy85

OH MY GOD... i swear i jinxed myself by reading this thread. my sister just had the biggest spider in her room there on her curtain. we nearly screamed the house down. had to get boyfriend to kill it. i took photo of it on camera so must upload it.
i was so scared though to get close to it so was trying to zoom in on camera so therefore its not great pic and it doesnt do justice to how big he was. definetly 2 inches or more. was HUGE!!!!!!

am terrified now that am gonna find one in my room now. i think i would die of heart attack if seen one in my room ... goona habe nightmares tonih=ght now!

amy85

amy85 wrote: »

OH MY GOD... i swear i jinxed myself by reading this thread. my sister just had the biggest spider in her room there on her curtain. we nearly screamed the house down. had to get boyfriend to kill it. i took photo of it on camera so must upload it.
i was so scared though to get close to it so was trying to zoom in on camera so therefore its not great pic and it doesnt do justice to how big he was. definetly 2 inches or more. was HUGE!!!!!!

am terrified now that am gonna find one in my room now. i think i would die of heart attack if seen one in my room ... goona habe nightmares tonih=ght now!

just read the end of my post there,obviously was in shock because cant even write properly!! sorry.

dublin_daveyboy

Trotter wrote: »

Here's the lad now.. just before he got a puck of hello magazine.

ive seen a lot of them in my house exactly the same as that big fecker in your photo,i killed them at first but then i just started catching them ina glass and release them in the garden,squishing them is too gruesome,at least they kill flys which are the real enemy.

dublin_daveyboy

Trotter wrote: »

Here's the lad now.. just before he got a puck of hello magazine.

ive seen a lot of them in my house exactly the same as that big fecker in your photo,i killed them at first but then i just started catching them ina glass and release them in the garden,squishing them is gruesome,at least they kill flys which are the real enemy.

Fajitas!

I can't stand the little feicers. Terrified of them so I am. (And apparently, seeing a 6'4 bloke being terrified of a spider is hilarious :rolleyes: )

There's one in our living room at the moment - I've never seen anything like it, it's not a wolf spider, because it's pure black and it's legs are different. It's VERY fast - I've not been able to stun, slap or even hit it, and it f*cking jumps!! And no sort distances either. It's not too big, which is my only consolation... but I wish it'd just feic off.

enrico.foschi

Saw one of these f**ckers in my house yesterday evening. It looks like they come on nights (so door and window closes on nights from now on)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_house_spider

uRbaN

When I turend on morning Ireland today they were interviewing some Aussie sounding bloke regarding a Red back spider nest he thinks he found / destroyed. Literally I only got the last few minutes. Anyone know thew back story here?

scargill

uRbaN wrote: »

When I turend on morning Ireland today they were interviewing some Aussie sounding bloke regarding a Red back spider nest he thinks he found / destroyed. Literally I only got the last few minutes. Anyone know thew back story here?

From the Irish Times:
"Australian 'monster' not so deadly"

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0825/breaking61.htm