Spider ID please ...

found this on the side of my house, its very black and shiny. About the size of a 2 euro coin.

Desmo

False widow again I think,

getting alot of conflicting reports on these spiders, we already have problems with large spiders coming into the house, was only talking about it on Animals and Pets. Should i do something, we have alot of webbing up and down that drain.

Desmo

They are relatively harmless; spiders come into houses in Autumn. There is not much you can do apart from closing up easy entry points.

mrty

Yes its a widow mimic or false widow. They are related to the Black widow or Redback in Australia. Their also known as cave spiders. They are the most venomous spiders in Ireland and the do bite, some people have a terrible reaction to the bite most people are fine. I read about a woman in england who was bitten by one and spent 5 or 6 weeks in hospital or something. I also think their protected at least they are in the uk anyway.

mrty

Oh here have a wee look at that. Not trying to freak you out. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2130975/Woman-loses-hand-bitten-false-widow-spider.html

Desmo

The Daily Mail is not a very accurate guide to spiders; they are being insanely sensationalist. We have had them in our house (4 or 5 webs in kitchen for 10 years) and no one has ever been bitten.
People do get bitten occasionally and a small percentage of them get a bad reaction. You do realise, bees and wasps are much more dangerous, statistically?
This is a more sensible description, including the potential dangers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_nobilis

as is this
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/false-widow/false-widow-worried/index.html

Joeseph Balls

mrty wrote: »

I also think their protected at least they are in the uk anyway.

Having looked, i can't find anything to suggest they are protected in Ireland.

Desmo

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Having looked, i can't find anything to suggest they are protected in Ireland.

Agreed; they are presumably not protected in the UK either.

Joeseph Balls

Desmo wrote: »

Agreed; they are presumably not protected in the UK either.

Desmo, is there any idea as to how long they are here?
I dont believe I've seen one, but then again, i dont pay spiders much heed. Let them do there own thing keeping the flys away:)

mrty

Desmo wrote: »

The Daily Mail is not a very accurate guide to spiders; they are being insanely sensationalist. We have had them in our house (4 or 5 webs in kitchen for 10 years) and no one has ever been bitten.
People do get bitten occasionally and a small percentage of them get a bad reaction. You do realise, bees and wasps are much more dangerous, statistically?
This is a more sensible description, including the potential dangers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_nobilis

as is this
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/false-widow/false-widow-worried/index.html

Never said they were, was just showing the story. If you had read my post this is what i said. People do get bitten occasionally and a small percentage of them get a bad reaction.

I have now counted about 8 of these on the side of my house, living behind the drains and guttering. I i looked harder i am sure i will find alot more. Best time to see them is in the evening.

Joeseph Balls

Did anyone see the Star today? Front headlines where Dublin man bit by 'Killer Spider'. Didnt bother buying it as it looked like the usual hyped up ****e. Checked the website there and nothing on it.

Joeseph Balls

Eliezer Square Bacon wrote: »

Please can we lose the foul language? It is redundant and unnecessary.

Yes Sir.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Yes Sir.

Thanks!

GottaGetGatt

There was some lad in the paper today bitten by the same species of spider.Went into cardiac arrest and all.Had some severe reaction to it.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

GottaGetGatt wrote: »

There was some lad in the paper today bitten by the same species of spider.Went into cardiac arrest and all.Had some severe reaction to it.

As can happen many people with a bee or wasp sting but we don't get nonsense hysteria about that.

Eliezer Square Bacon

Eliezer Square Bacon wrote: »

As can happen many people with a bee or wasp sting but we don't get nonsense hysteria about that.

Which i am allergic too. I have already had 1 near fatal incident. I want to get rid of them off the side of the house but not sure how.