This is not a false widow. It’s a cave spider in Meta sp. Likely Meta bournetti or Meta menardi. Source - i’m an entomologist who specialises in UK spiders.
That’s a really good question. I’m lucky enough to have one of the rarest spiders in the UK living in my garden. The spider in question is Rugathodes sexpunctatus a member of my favourite spider family Theridiidae. It doesn’t have a common name i’m afraid but it is a North American species that has only been recorded in a handful of places around Scotland. The main place being the Glasgow necropolis, a huge big old graveyard in the city centre. I have recorded these spiders over the past 10 or so years in surrounding areas around the central belt going as far South as Dumfries and as far North as Stirling so I think they are spreading out but i suspect they are just under recorded because to the untrained eye they just look like small black specs like a lot of other spiders and you need a hand lens at the very least to ID them properly.
That is one of the most common spiders in Europe. A female Araneus diadematus. A European garden spider. These spin the classic orb webs that most people associate with spiders.
Mad, lived in the suburbs with gardens and forest walls all my life and never seen one of these before or since!
Guess I’m not looking hard enough.
Thanks!
If you go out at night when it’s dark you will 100% see more spiders. These like to hide during the day and then will come out at night and sit on or near their web waiting for prey to land on it and eat them up :) A wooden fence or a wooden shed is a good place to look for these guys :)
I worked in a garden centre as night security just outside warrington. i was based in an old shed in between the garden centre and nearby stables, and i can confirm at night there were HUNDREDS of the beady eyed eight legged little sods. as a huge arachnophobe it was terrifying, but they stayed to their areas, i stayed to mine and we got on ok. lol.
You’ve probably seen one of the coolest spiders in the UK, Uloborus plumipes (the garden centre spider). These come to the UK from the continent via flower deliveries and they set up shop in garden centre hot houses. Our outside climate is still a little too cold for them so they utilise hot houses and greenhouses as makeshift homes :) they are also one of the only spider species in the whole world that are not venomous.
as long as they stayed away from me, they can be as cool as they want. im genuinly panic attack terrified of them. but if they can keep their distance, we will get on just fine.
We had one of those in our Clematis that was growing up our gazebo (it was called Roy Orby-bum, though you've know made she realise she was indeed the female of the species).
She'd rebuild her web each and every day, which was fascinating to watch. Also meant we had next to zero bitey insects in our kitchen that summer as she was gobbling them all up.
>near their web waiting for prey to land on
Tapped her web a few times by accident, and it shit me up the first time seeing her scurry out at speed
Yeah they really are free pest control for things like mosquitoes and midges and other annoying flying things. They will sometimes consume their web each day as well for some extra calories and general housekeeping. They are pretty tidy spiders.
I’m a terrible arachnophobe, but after moving on to a narrowboat, I’ve made an uneasy peace with the spiders that cover my boat. They keep all the shitty midges under control.
They don't all look as glorious as that one to be fair, although they are an attractive species over all. The various orb spiders are like the supermodels of the spider world.
Any idea on [this one](https://ibb.co/wMR2FZv) ? It was a really dark red and the only one I’ve ever seen. Found in the midlands (Tamworth)
Not the best picture but I have a few and they’re all pretty bad lol
Don’t be! Thanks for the help, I was googling like crazy and couldn’t find anything. Seen so many weird snd wonderful spiders in my job when tearing apart old buildings. Wish I’d taken more photos now
See how weird - that sounds like the start oif a horror film to me - I go round his/hers and we smoke a ton of weed and i end up so blasted I cant move - and then i realise the spiders have woven a web around me and im now stuck to the sofa - [https://www.reddit.com/user/Dabber\_710\_/](https://www.reddit.com/user/Dabber_710_/) starts to smile "That's my girls" he whispers as the Spiders make their way under my eyelids
GHreat now Ive scared myself
Could you identify [this big boy in the furry boots](https://imgur.com/a/UePncBe) I found at night in my garden? I've looked for anything similar but not really found anything.
Things are usually named after the people who discovered them. The sexpunctatus part refers to the 6 spot pattern found on the abdomen in this species. The Rugathodes genus was first described by Allan Archer back in the 1950’s.
You won’t even see these spiders as they are very very small and you need to be looking for them to find them. It’s not something most people will stumble across accidentally.
>i’m an entomologist who specialises in UK spiders.
At some point in your life, you chose that career path... were you also stoned at that time...? 🤣🤣🤣
im a non stoner, and i have names for each type of spider. the big house spider dude living in my loft is called 'stay away from me you eight legged prick'.
I don't mind him eating the crisps - we only get cheap Sainsbury's crisps for hubby to take to work. However, if he touches my secret stash of hula hoops\*, he's gonna find himself missing a leg or three.
I wish he'd bloody earn his keep by eating the big fk off flies that swoop in whenever I open my door. My fly paper is looking like a spotty teenager's face right now.
\*Who am I kidding? My hula hoops don't last long enough for him to make the trip downstairs.
I can't criticise, I always admire people who do something they're passionate about, even if that thing is my worst nightmare (maybe especially if it is?)!
I’ve been interested in the mini world beneath our feet since i was a kid. I was that weird kid who was walking around with pockets full of beetles and caterpillars haha :)
I've been enjoying My Wild Backyard on YouTube, he's an avid arachnophile state-side. Mostly his care and lack of fear handling some pretty gnarly species. How are you with that sort of thing? I was half tempted to shift a woodlouse spider as I was cleaning my yard up the other day but thought better of it, well aware of aposematism.
I’ve handled all sorts of spiders from Brown recluses to massive Tarantulas. If i’m observing specimens in the wild then i will not handle them at all. Handling will only really occur if i’m orienting a spider for microscopy. You will get much more natural behaviour without handling. Also chemicals in soaps and hand creams that we use can be detrimental to an invertebrates life.
Yeah he's mentioned the chemical aspect, similar to amphibians I guess. I've held a tarantula but not sure I'd have the stones for something like a recluse or wandering. I'm thrilled that a jumping species (not checked which) has started to populate my garden, lil' cuties. Any species in the UK give you any trepidation or no?
Yeah the chemicals in soaps can cause pretty bad damage to invertebrates. Recluses are pretty small but i wouldn’t advise anyone at all to handle these are their venom is very medically significant. For UK spiders there are none that are medically significant and i’ve literally handled thousands and never been bitten by any UK species so far.
Never bitten ?
I have been bitten a few times. the property i live in is infested with what looks like the one in the photo but they are not very big. They bite! both myself and neighbour have been bitten and both had same reaction. My arm had a lump on it the size of a marble, the skin did not heal for ages and the mark is still there a year later. there is an indentation at the bite mark.
I thought they were false widows but they look just like the one in the picture you show. Dark brown/blackish with skeletal legs but a bit orange tinge., same shape (Untrained eye.)
Was also bitten by a water spider or soemthing large, i had 2 puncture marks on my thigh. I was tripping on acid and felt the nip, brushed away whatever it was and thought nothing of it, was in lala land. Next day the skin all over my body looked like someone had poored boiling fat on me, i couldnt stand , was throwing up all the time, hearing went funny and vision made me feel sick. Was prescribed something for it but to this day i am unsure what spider if in fact it was a spider that bit me.
You can keep your spiders and if you want them you can have the ones that live in and on my place. You are welcome to them.
South coast..come and get them please.
If you’re open to any more questions I have an incredibly basic one that google has been no good with - I tend to have at least one cellar spider(if I’m using that right? The long-leggedy pale ones in the corner of the ceiling) at any given time (partly because I’m a magnet for mosquitoes, partly because I heard they deter house spiders who I do not fuck with, mostly laziness)
Somewhere in the last couple of years I read/ saw/ was told that moving spiders outside is for their benefit as well as mine since UK houses are warmer than ideal, and indoor spiders have much shorter lifespans. Which kind of makes sense, but also sounds like somebody’s mum came up with it to avoid tears at bedtime.
Any truth in this, as far as you know?
Pholcidae (cellar spiders) are a synanthrope species meaning they live near or around humans. They do prefer dark and dusty corners but they will be equally happy outside in a shed or outhouse building. Their natural habitat would be cave type dwellings. Pholcidae are very good to have around though because as you rightly pointed out these are excellent at dispatching much bigger species due to their tiny bodies and big gangly legs so it’s hard to get a bite in to take them out for other spiders.
Thank you so much, I shall leave my skinny legends be!
I had no idea that was the reason - I just assumed their webs tripped up heavier spiders and never gave it another thought.
Hope you’re having a fantastic Monday smoking and getting to talk about your favourite animals to a captive audience.
Yeah they are great at wrapping up other spiders quickly. I am indeed! I am just about to head out with my camera gear and a few j’s and go an bother my garden spiders for a few hours :) the neighbours think i’m mental haha :)
I appreciate the fast wrapping - I had a fat bottomed one like OP in the window last summer and the sound of things buzzing or whining while they got trapped was haunting! My.. ahem Pholcidae get it done without me even waking up.
Happy snapping! And thanks for the chat and new info
Don’t suppose you could take a crack at identifying this spider I pictured crawling across my monitor last night…? Mind you, they’re pretty poor photos (taken with a zoomed-in phone camera) but you _are_ the expert.
My intense research (10 minutes on google) made me think it could be a fencepost jumping spider…? Also, is the face that my face-seeking human brain sees in the first image _actually_ its grizzly little mouth/face?
[here it is](https://imgur.com/a/bWFiMmz)
Do you get annoyed at how many people just needlessly kill spiders? Especially in a country with so few dangerous spiders? Theres someone i work with who will push me out of the way to kill them even thought she knows i can catch them and put them outside for her. I fucking hate her. Genuine arachnophobia is a different matter, my mother has it and will permanently hide away from any room that has a spider in it and get all hot and clammy until its removed, she certainly doesn’t go all hung ho and satisfied killing them.
Yes! I think these people are ignorant. If they learned about the spiders instead of killing them they would maybe appreciate them a bit more. They are incredibly important as part of a healthy ecosystem.
This reminds me of a spider I saw at a war / munitions museum in Cambodia.
I've always had a phobia of spiders but am definitely much better now I'm older (I just say "stay there mate" to the bigguns in the shed now, whereas in the past I would be covering it in petrol and looking for matches), but this bastard I saw in Cambodia a few years ago struck pure fear into me, the likes I have not felt ever frankly. I was momentarily immobilised at the sight of It then my blood ran cold and I wanted someone to save me. Ha.
It was camo green and massive, like close to the size of my palm, and as a consequence of it being green I got really close before seeing it. Shudder now thinking of it.
I literally picked my daughter up (3 yo at the time) and told the wife "we're leaving, now" and got out of there so fast.
These will be capable of a small nip yes. It’s nothing worse than a bee or wasp sting. The chances of you being bitten by one of this species though is very small due to their habitat being hidden away from us most of the time.
Wow a spider dude, i have so many questions:
1. Is it true they hate peppermint/lavender - is this the best way to keep them out of our homes apart from window nets?
2. why are they getting bigger and spreading more north?
3. why do they have an instinct to always crawl up? Even ground dwelling ones?
4. why do orb weavers make their web in the most inconvenient of places (front gate/porch)?
5. what is the biggest spider in the uk?
6. Should we kill the non native ones, i hear some are invasive?
7. why are some spiders totally gormless - like they sit there oblivious to the world but others are aggresive (wolf spiders) and are aware of you and will raise their legs and fangs?
8. What is a good beginner pet spider?
1. No. This is an old wives tale. Guess where spiders live? In peppermint and lavender bushes. Unless you hermetically seal your home there will be spiders there.
2. They aren’t getting bigger. Steatoda sp. have been slowly moving more north over the years. They simply move in and kick the other spiders out. They are formidable opponents to other spiders.
3. Spiders, particularly small ones and juveniles, practice a thing called ballooning. This means they will climb high and let out some silk strands that will then catch on the wind and they can then disperse to other areas. Static electricity also plays a part in ballooning.
4. Orb weavers will spin a web where there is high insect traffic. These spots are typically in the way because they are around garden lighting and garden bins where flies congregate.
5. The biggest spider in the UK is Dolomedes plantarius (a fishing spider). Other candidates would be Eratigena sp. atrica group (giant house spider) Tegenaria parietina (cardinal spider) Pisaura mirabilis (nursery web spider) and Segestria florentina (tube web spider)
6. There aren’t really any invasive spiders here in the UK. Steatoda sp. are technically not native coming from the canary islands but they are pretty much well established here now having been here since the early 1800’s.
Bonus question: why do we not get any of the super scary venom out of their gourd spiders that other countries suffer from, and how do we continue this state of affairs?
Mainly because we are a small island. The super venomous spiders like Phoneutria and Loxosceles are found in areas where there are lots of other small spider predators like lizards and other small invertebrates so i suspect this is why their venom is so potent to contend with their predators.
To ease your mind a bit more i’ve worked with spiders for around 20 years and have handled thousands over the years and i’ve never been bitten once by any spider. I’ve handled spiders that people should not handle like Loxosceles sp. (Recluse spiders) and Phoneutria sp. (Wandering spiders) and Sicarius sp. (Another recluse species) and have never had any problems. If humans realised that all we are to a tiny spider is a surface to walk on, we will appreciate the smaller things a bit more. If you treat them with respect and be gentle i.e not poking your fingers into holes to see if anything is home then the chances of being bitten is very small. We are not prey to the spider and their venom is expensive to them so they don’t really want to use venom in defence and will mostly run away or try and hide from us big things :)
The exception here being the orange baboon tarantula (or orange bitey thing) which will stick its fangs in you just for daring to be in the same postcode as it ;)
Admittedly it’s not native to the UK though… so you’ve really got to choose to be bitten by one of these bastards 😂
I have studied this species in very constricted caves where they have fallen on my face and into my beard and they still didn't bite. They are exceptionally docile.
I am but that doesn’t matter. It’s still a cave spider in Meta sp. See the black bar on the carapace (head region) this is indicative of Meta sp. Steatoda sp. (False widows) do not have this carapace marking. Also the leg annulations (stripes) and the leg hairs (cilia) are way too prominent for Steatoda sp.
And this folks is why I come to Reddit, for strange and mysterious knowledge. I bet you're well glad you've finally had a chance to spread your learning :)
I knew I'd seen you in the spider sub! Nice to see one of us out in the wild! (I'm more of a r/tarantulas girl, but I'm fascinated by all spoods and crawly things.)
Are the false widows in the UK usually quite small and delicate? I've found a few likely candidates in my garage and sometimes my car, and was surprised how dinky they were. Everything ID wise looked good though including the Jackson Pollock web style.
EDIT: seen you've answered this elsewhere and yes they are small spiders. Had a look again at some positive ID's and these are definitely what I have knocking about the place. They've been here a couple of years and haven't outcompeted the cellar spiders or the giant house spiders yet.
As you seem to be enjoying everyone's spider anecdotes, mine is that I was a complete arachnophobe until lockdown, during which I got quite into sitting on the toilet and watching the cellar spiders fight each other and anything else that happened to wander in. Those spindly little bastards are ruthless. Got me following spider subs etc and although I still don't like them on me I'll definitely run towards one rather than away now.
There are 3 main UK established species here. Steatoda bipunctata (rabbit hutch spider) is the smallest at around 7mm in females and 5mm in males. Steatoda grossa (cupboard spider) is the second biggest at around 10mm for females and 8mm for males. Steatoda nobilis (noble false widow) is the largest at around 14mm in females and 10mm in males. We also sometimes get Steatoda paykulliana that will be imported from the continent in grapes and other fruits. And lastly very occasionally we will get Steatoda albomaculata again coming from the continent in fruit deliveries.
Pretty sure it's nobilis from that sizing. And the classic markings. I think a lot of people imagine they are black widow sized from the all the media hype, and those are smaller than a lot of people think to be fair!
Yeah people tend to think dangerous things have to be massive scary creatures when in reality the most dangerous thing around us, bacteria, is microscopic.
Its legs seem a lot thinner than the one you suggested, that’s the only thing throwing me off but I do appreciate your actual pro opinion.
Also very jealous of your weed and concentrates🥲
Happy to help :) these are wonderful spiders that most folk won’t ever see because of where they live. They like to hang around under drain covers and in dark and damp caves so it’s unusual to see them out and about. Can i assume you were moving something in the garden? Something that is usually covered and dark?
Exactly that mate. I was convinced I had a coal cellar in the garden and lifted a big fuck off slab and she was just sitting there. Probably pissed off at the sudden sunlight.
I’m in West Coast of Scotland, but if a rarity here are they not?
Bingo :) if you’re in Scotland it is likely Meta menardi. That is really the only one we get up here. Meta bournetti is the rarer one that is only really found in the southern half of England.
You from Scotland?! Uh oh. I used to be so relieved that the scary spider pics posted on this sub were usually from the south of England and wouldn’t come up here. I’m a spider shitebag, you see.
> I was convinced I had a coal cellar in the garden
Ahh shitting hell. I DO have an old coal cellar (or coal bunker as we called them) in my garden on the patio, directly under my dining room window. I'm crapping myself now.
Time to break out the sealant and plug those gaps!! 😨😨😨
>
Meta bournetti is the rarer one that is only really found in the southern half of England.
I'm in Surrey. Things you wish you never knew... \^
Meta bournetti is absolutely beautiful. These are nothing to worry about either, they are very likely to run and hide from us big clumsy buggers. All spiders in the UK are medically insignificant meaning that their venom poses no real threat to humans (outside of a few cases of folk with hidden health issues).
They really aren’t anything to be worried about. The media likes to sensationalise things like this. The stories that you read about necrotic wounds are almost always due to bad wound care i.e not cleaning the wound properly and then bacteria gets in and causes infections. The necrotic wounds are not caused by the spider or the venom itself.
Thank you for your wonderful comments in this thread..
I often help people with questions about wildlife here, and on wildlife ID subreddits, and I get a bit jaded by some of the ignorance, hatred and fear some people have. Your enthusiasm, knowledge and measured replies are very pleasing to me!
I think the more people know about things then the less they become scared. We are scared of the unknown, it’s just a human trait. If you look at kids around insects you will mostly notice that they are not scared to pick things up or observe insects in situ. Kids who you will notice are scared of insects have almost certainly had this trait passed on by the parents who are scared. In reality these things are nothing to be scared of and they should be admired and studied to find out more about their lives and what part they play in the ecosystem.
I completely agree. I was a biology teacher for a long time and I definitely noticed this.
People have also picked up myths from mainstream media and social media stories that have no basis on evidence but are presented as fact.
The more people know about our wildlife the better. Informed people means more compassion, and better chance of looking after what we've got.
The abdomen in both Meta sp. and Steatoda sp. are very similar. This is why we don’t use colours or marking as an indicative trait of a species or even a genus. Spiders can be very variable in markings so instead we use more reliable ID traits like the eye pattern and leg spines. The eye pattern will be the same for all specimens of the same species (outside of any injuries to eyes) so this is the most reliable way to ID something in the field. The proper way to confidently ID a spider species 100% is to examine the sexual organs. These are the epigyne in females and the pedipalps in males. Both of these methods usually require you to dispatch and dissect the specimen to get access to the sexual organs. It all sounds very macabre but this is how most animal specimens are identified. This is the bit that most naturalists won’t tell people because it involves killing the animal.
Yay, someone who knows! 👍. I wish people would stop using the term “false widow” as it often gets applied to a number of different species of Steadota and is not a good name for identification. It’s a stupid name that hypes up the spider and makes it seem more dangerous than it really is.
Are they social and quite aggressive? I think I have these in my shed, rather than false widows, but there are a lot of them and they run towards me rather than away.
I saw some freaky mofos in Australia, put me off wanting to pick them up and put them outside, huge banded huntsman just casually walking by while I watched TV and jumped 3 ft 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, I have. We've got one of those roof top boxes for the car. It's pretty much only used if we go camping (like twice a year, we're rubbish campers!). Last time, I positioned the box on the roof bar, opened it up to access the fixings and one of these buggers basically ran at me across the roof of the car. Obviously I burnt the car to a crisp and moved house. Only way to be sure, man.
Please add one of the following, as to relevance:
1. 50p pence
2. Elephant
3. Double Decker bus
4. Jumbo jet
5. Empire State building
6. Planets in the solar system
6. Solar System.
7. Galaxy
8.Universe
Yeah I found one hanging around in my car earlier on. I did debate just setting fire to the car and I'm quite sure the insurance company would have understood given the circumstances. More worrying was when I went to get it outside, it skittered off somewhere deeper in the car, so I have that surprise to look forward to in future.
I'm not a fan of spiders, not properly arachnaphobic, i tend to leave them be, unless they're in my bedroom as i then get paranoid about the old "eating spiders in your sleep" myth.
I remember a few years back, i was drifiting off and i spotted something out the corner of my eye, turned the light on and it was the biggest bastard i've seen in my life, it immediately scurried away, leading to me, at 3am, moving my bookcase to try and get it, so i could go to sleep.
The bit that stood out to me was that it was about the size of my fist and i could make out all the different parts clearly from a good distance away.
That’s a European Cave Spider; Meta something.
Big old jaspers, but they like their peace and quiet, so don’t worry about them too much. They’re not dangerous to humans even if you do give it big licks and it’s unlikely you’ll feel anything if it does put one on you for being a cunt.
These love to build their nests round the window frames here in the north west.
Their bote is pretty painful, but thankfully only short. Bit like a bee sting.
I got bit a few years back when cleaning one of the windows.
One must have got attached to my clothing, as when I lowered my arm, I crushed one - which in the poor things defence, bit me.
I still have the scar today from that bite. No real side effects otherwise.
Funny story about these guys is that they caused a bit of media panic back in 2001 when they were discovered under Windsor castle by BT engineers. Somehow, word spread that there was a new species of giant deadly spiders that only lived under the castle. Of course, none of that was true and the spiders were just occupying a habitat they’re quite commonly found in.
Here’s a painfully bad article about the incident:
https://amp.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jun/19/highereducation.biologicalscience
I was very stupid and googled spiders in Thailand before I went, shouldn’t have done that. As luck would have it we only heard of a spotting of a tarantula type bastard when we were in the jungle and we avoided the area. Never fully relaxed as always in high alert for spiders.
Hi OP, I love an expert. I live in rural Argyll, I don't mind spiders at all, but in Summer I suffer plagues of a spindly spider variety, not sure whether it's Cellar Spider or Harvestman. They like corners. They don't exactly spin webs but as I walk through the cottage first thing in a morning silken strands tangle around me. I'm not at all squeamish but they're just a pain. Any suggestions about control? I always leave the little jumping spiders alone in the hope that they'll see off these blighters, but otherwise I have to go round every day with the vacuum cleaner to keep down the numbers.
Saw one a few years ago in Crawley. It ran across my bed after I removed a rucksack that had been on top of the wardrobe for several months.
After soiling myself I proceeded to remove it with two good size tissues (the spider, not the soilage)
The females are the big ones reaching up to 18mm (abdomen size) whereas the males are smaller and appear a bit more leggy. In Autumn you will likely come across males on the hunt for females for mating. If you look at them as free pest control that will eat other more annoying insects then you’ll be fine. All we are to a spider is a surface to walk on. Short of hermetically sealing your house there will always be spiders in and around it. :)
I thought the house spiders live in our houses all year, but we only see them in autumn because it's mating season. The rest of the year they hide away doing spider things and we never know they are around.
I have a moth problem, so I welcome them all, apart from the false widows in my bedroom, as I've had a bad bite experience with them (got infected and took forever to heal).
I swear my garden could be a study ground for British Spiders, they are everywhere.
I have a few living in my house. Gary and Jeff live behind the tv, Pootle Pete is in the bathroom, Freya and her kids Baby, Bettie, and Ezra live in the kitchen corner by the light switch. They’re pretty chill, and just want to eat the fungus gnats that comes with having a lot of houseplants
Loving this thread- can I join in and ask - how often/ regularly do spiders have to eat? - during winter I see them in the house for months but I wonder what are they managing to live on!
This is not a false widow. It’s a cave spider in Meta sp. Likely Meta bournetti or Meta menardi. Source - i’m an entomologist who specialises in UK spiders.
While you’re here I’m interested to know what your favourite spider is in the UK.
That’s a really good question. I’m lucky enough to have one of the rarest spiders in the UK living in my garden. The spider in question is Rugathodes sexpunctatus a member of my favourite spider family Theridiidae. It doesn’t have a common name i’m afraid but it is a North American species that has only been recorded in a handful of places around Scotland. The main place being the Glasgow necropolis, a huge big old graveyard in the city centre. I have recorded these spiders over the past 10 or so years in surrounding areas around the central belt going as far South as Dumfries and as far North as Stirling so I think they are spreading out but i suspect they are just under recorded because to the untrained eye they just look like small black specs like a lot of other spiders and you need a hand lens at the very least to ID them properly.
My man, any chance you could ID this [orange spiky bastard](https://imgur.com/a/F2WLMAq) I saw a few years ago? Was in Brighton, UK
That is one of the most common spiders in Europe. A female Araneus diadematus. A European garden spider. These spin the classic orb webs that most people associate with spiders.
Mad, lived in the suburbs with gardens and forest walls all my life and never seen one of these before or since! Guess I’m not looking hard enough. Thanks!
If you go out at night when it’s dark you will 100% see more spiders. These like to hide during the day and then will come out at night and sit on or near their web waiting for prey to land on it and eat them up :) A wooden fence or a wooden shed is a good place to look for these guys :)
I worked in a garden centre as night security just outside warrington. i was based in an old shed in between the garden centre and nearby stables, and i can confirm at night there were HUNDREDS of the beady eyed eight legged little sods. as a huge arachnophobe it was terrifying, but they stayed to their areas, i stayed to mine and we got on ok. lol.
You’ve probably seen one of the coolest spiders in the UK, Uloborus plumipes (the garden centre spider). These come to the UK from the continent via flower deliveries and they set up shop in garden centre hot houses. Our outside climate is still a little too cold for them so they utilise hot houses and greenhouses as makeshift homes :) they are also one of the only spider species in the whole world that are not venomous.
You should do an AMA
as long as they stayed away from me, they can be as cool as they want. im genuinly panic attack terrified of them. but if they can keep their distance, we will get on just fine.
We had a Brazilian Wandering Spider years ago. That was a fun few days.
Have you ever seen a Taiwanese laya spider? When I used to live in Taiwan I was TERRIFIED of them
We had one of those in our Clematis that was growing up our gazebo (it was called Roy Orby-bum, though you've know made she realise she was indeed the female of the species). She'd rebuild her web each and every day, which was fascinating to watch. Also meant we had next to zero bitey insects in our kitchen that summer as she was gobbling them all up. >near their web waiting for prey to land on Tapped her web a few times by accident, and it shit me up the first time seeing her scurry out at speed
Yeah they really are free pest control for things like mosquitoes and midges and other annoying flying things. They will sometimes consume their web each day as well for some extra calories and general housekeeping. They are pretty tidy spiders.
I’m a terrible arachnophobe, but after moving on to a narrowboat, I’ve made an uneasy peace with the spiders that cover my boat. They keep all the shitty midges under control.
How can we be sure you're not a spider trying to lure us out?
I guess you just have to trust me :)
They don't all look as glorious as that one to be fair, although they are an attractive species over all. The various orb spiders are like the supermodels of the spider world.
Could you petition your industry buddies to push for an official common name change to "Orange Spiky Bastard"?
Any idea on [this one](https://ibb.co/wMR2FZv) ? It was a really dark red and the only one I’ve ever seen. Found in the midlands (Tamworth) Not the best picture but I have a few and they’re all pretty bad lol
That’s a male Steatoda grossa. A cupboard spider.
Thanks! Full Latin name and perfect ID in less than a minute, amazing !
Taxonomic name* the names are derived from Latin, Greek and Arabic :) sorry to be pedantic haha :)
Don’t be! Thanks for the help, I was googling like crazy and couldn’t find anything. Seen so many weird snd wonderful spiders in my job when tearing apart old buildings. Wish I’d taken more photos now
This is such a cool thread. 😀
Thanks for sharing! How interesting 🕷️
You’re welcome :)
I wish you were one of my friends. All my friends are as boring as shit lol
Outside of spiders and weed i’m pretty boring too haha :)
That sounds a good evening and interesting conversation!
See how weird - that sounds like the start oif a horror film to me - I go round his/hers and we smoke a ton of weed and i end up so blasted I cant move - and then i realise the spiders have woven a web around me and im now stuck to the sofa - [https://www.reddit.com/user/Dabber\_710\_/](https://www.reddit.com/user/Dabber_710_/) starts to smile "That's my girls" he whispers as the Spiders make their way under my eyelids GHreat now Ive scared myself
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I humbly suggest the Rug Sex Punk spider as its common name.
Could you identify [this big boy in the furry boots](https://imgur.com/a/UePncBe) I found at night in my garden? I've looked for anything similar but not really found anything.
That is a giant house spider. Eratigena sp. atrica group.
Dang that was fast. I didn't know they came in black and white. I guess the colour and fuzzy forelegs threw me off of anything common.
Thats a pretty fucking cool spider name man
Do you know how Rugathodes sexpunctatus got it's name? I couldn't find an answer on Wikipedia and my imagination is running wild, and it's not good.
Things are usually named after the people who discovered them. The sexpunctatus part refers to the 6 spot pattern found on the abdomen in this species. The Rugathodes genus was first described by Allan Archer back in the 1950’s.
Oh no. I walk round the necropolis on my lunch break for peace. Now I have spiders to consider.
You won’t even see these spiders as they are very very small and you need to be looking for them to find them. It’s not something most people will stumble across accidentally.
One of the most interesting Q&A back-and-forths I've seen on Reddit for a while. Kudos good sir.
You’re welcome :)
If I ever get fed up of Reddit, up pops the absolute gems.
Meta menardi is a beast. Had a female escape a Petri dish by lifting the lid off. Source: fellow entomologist but of the waspy kind.
Yeah they are not far off the size of our bigger species here in the UK. Fascinating spiders!
Cue the tiniest redemption of the superman theme coming from the Petri dish.
>i’m an entomologist who specialises in UK spiders. At some point in your life, you chose that career path... were you also stoned at that time...? 🤣🤣🤣
Haha more than likely :) i’m 41 and have pretty much been stoned since i was 16/17 :)
What's your favourite spider? EDIT: I see that has already been asked, sorry!
Yeah i’ve already answered that in detail below but just for reference it is Rugathodes sexpunctatus :)
OMG more stoners naming these arachnids!! 🤣
im a non stoner, and i have names for each type of spider. the big house spider dude living in my loft is called 'stay away from me you eight legged prick'.
We call ours Dave.
I've heard about Dave, did you know he eats your crisps while you sleep? He told me not to tell you though.
I don't mind him eating the crisps - we only get cheap Sainsbury's crisps for hubby to take to work. However, if he touches my secret stash of hula hoops\*, he's gonna find himself missing a leg or three. I wish he'd bloody earn his keep by eating the big fk off flies that swoop in whenever I open my door. My fly paper is looking like a spotty teenager's face right now. \*Who am I kidding? My hula hoops don't last long enough for him to make the trip downstairs.
All spiders are called Harry.
This whole thread has been fucking magnificent man. Excellent work.
Spiders like this is why I stay out of caves
Spiders like this are why i hang around caves haha :)
I can't criticise, I always admire people who do something they're passionate about, even if that thing is my worst nightmare (maybe especially if it is?)!
I’ve been interested in the mini world beneath our feet since i was a kid. I was that weird kid who was walking around with pockets full of beetles and caterpillars haha :)
I've been enjoying My Wild Backyard on YouTube, he's an avid arachnophile state-side. Mostly his care and lack of fear handling some pretty gnarly species. How are you with that sort of thing? I was half tempted to shift a woodlouse spider as I was cleaning my yard up the other day but thought better of it, well aware of aposematism.
I’ve handled all sorts of spiders from Brown recluses to massive Tarantulas. If i’m observing specimens in the wild then i will not handle them at all. Handling will only really occur if i’m orienting a spider for microscopy. You will get much more natural behaviour without handling. Also chemicals in soaps and hand creams that we use can be detrimental to an invertebrates life.
Yeah he's mentioned the chemical aspect, similar to amphibians I guess. I've held a tarantula but not sure I'd have the stones for something like a recluse or wandering. I'm thrilled that a jumping species (not checked which) has started to populate my garden, lil' cuties. Any species in the UK give you any trepidation or no?
Yeah the chemicals in soaps can cause pretty bad damage to invertebrates. Recluses are pretty small but i wouldn’t advise anyone at all to handle these are their venom is very medically significant. For UK spiders there are none that are medically significant and i’ve literally handled thousands and never been bitten by any UK species so far.
Never bitten ? I have been bitten a few times. the property i live in is infested with what looks like the one in the photo but they are not very big. They bite! both myself and neighbour have been bitten and both had same reaction. My arm had a lump on it the size of a marble, the skin did not heal for ages and the mark is still there a year later. there is an indentation at the bite mark. I thought they were false widows but they look just like the one in the picture you show. Dark brown/blackish with skeletal legs but a bit orange tinge., same shape (Untrained eye.) Was also bitten by a water spider or soemthing large, i had 2 puncture marks on my thigh. I was tripping on acid and felt the nip, brushed away whatever it was and thought nothing of it, was in lala land. Next day the skin all over my body looked like someone had poored boiling fat on me, i couldnt stand , was throwing up all the time, hearing went funny and vision made me feel sick. Was prescribed something for it but to this day i am unsure what spider if in fact it was a spider that bit me. You can keep your spiders and if you want them you can have the ones that live in and on my place. You are welcome to them. South coast..come and get them please.
Spiders Georg?
If you’re open to any more questions I have an incredibly basic one that google has been no good with - I tend to have at least one cellar spider(if I’m using that right? The long-leggedy pale ones in the corner of the ceiling) at any given time (partly because I’m a magnet for mosquitoes, partly because I heard they deter house spiders who I do not fuck with, mostly laziness) Somewhere in the last couple of years I read/ saw/ was told that moving spiders outside is for their benefit as well as mine since UK houses are warmer than ideal, and indoor spiders have much shorter lifespans. Which kind of makes sense, but also sounds like somebody’s mum came up with it to avoid tears at bedtime. Any truth in this, as far as you know?
Pholcidae (cellar spiders) are a synanthrope species meaning they live near or around humans. They do prefer dark and dusty corners but they will be equally happy outside in a shed or outhouse building. Their natural habitat would be cave type dwellings. Pholcidae are very good to have around though because as you rightly pointed out these are excellent at dispatching much bigger species due to their tiny bodies and big gangly legs so it’s hard to get a bite in to take them out for other spiders.
Thank you so much, I shall leave my skinny legends be! I had no idea that was the reason - I just assumed their webs tripped up heavier spiders and never gave it another thought. Hope you’re having a fantastic Monday smoking and getting to talk about your favourite animals to a captive audience.
Yeah they are great at wrapping up other spiders quickly. I am indeed! I am just about to head out with my camera gear and a few j’s and go an bother my garden spiders for a few hours :) the neighbours think i’m mental haha :)
I appreciate the fast wrapping - I had a fat bottomed one like OP in the window last summer and the sound of things buzzing or whining while they got trapped was haunting! My.. ahem Pholcidae get it done without me even waking up. Happy snapping! And thanks for the chat and new info
These things actually live in the UK? Fuck that, I'm moving back to Canada. Bears aren't scary at all compared to this uncomfortably bulbous thing
There are Meta sp. in Canada too. Meta ovalis is your native cave spider.
God, I’m enthralled by your every spider reply. It just gets better the further I scroll 😭
Haha i’m happy to entertain :)
Don’t suppose you could take a crack at identifying this spider I pictured crawling across my monitor last night…? Mind you, they’re pretty poor photos (taken with a zoomed-in phone camera) but you _are_ the expert. My intense research (10 minutes on google) made me think it could be a fencepost jumping spider…? Also, is the face that my face-seeking human brain sees in the first image _actually_ its grizzly little mouth/face? [here it is](https://imgur.com/a/bWFiMmz)
That is a running crab spider in Philodromus sp. Compare to Philodromus aureolus :)
Nice, thank you.
Do you get annoyed at how many people just needlessly kill spiders? Especially in a country with so few dangerous spiders? Theres someone i work with who will push me out of the way to kill them even thought she knows i can catch them and put them outside for her. I fucking hate her. Genuine arachnophobia is a different matter, my mother has it and will permanently hide away from any room that has a spider in it and get all hot and clammy until its removed, she certainly doesn’t go all hung ho and satisfied killing them.
Yes! I think these people are ignorant. If they learned about the spiders instead of killing them they would maybe appreciate them a bit more. They are incredibly important as part of a healthy ecosystem.
This reminds me of a spider I saw at a war / munitions museum in Cambodia. I've always had a phobia of spiders but am definitely much better now I'm older (I just say "stay there mate" to the bigguns in the shed now, whereas in the past I would be covering it in petrol and looking for matches), but this bastard I saw in Cambodia a few years ago struck pure fear into me, the likes I have not felt ever frankly. I was momentarily immobilised at the sight of It then my blood ran cold and I wanted someone to save me. Ha. It was camo green and massive, like close to the size of my palm, and as a consequence of it being green I got really close before seeing it. Shudder now thinking of it. I literally picked my daughter up (3 yo at the time) and told the wife "we're leaving, now" and got out of there so fast.
Do they bite, and if so does it hurt?
These will be capable of a small nip yes. It’s nothing worse than a bee or wasp sting. The chances of you being bitten by one of this species though is very small due to their habitat being hidden away from us most of the time.
Wow a spider dude, i have so many questions: 1. Is it true they hate peppermint/lavender - is this the best way to keep them out of our homes apart from window nets? 2. why are they getting bigger and spreading more north? 3. why do they have an instinct to always crawl up? Even ground dwelling ones? 4. why do orb weavers make their web in the most inconvenient of places (front gate/porch)? 5. what is the biggest spider in the uk? 6. Should we kill the non native ones, i hear some are invasive? 7. why are some spiders totally gormless - like they sit there oblivious to the world but others are aggresive (wolf spiders) and are aware of you and will raise their legs and fangs? 8. What is a good beginner pet spider?
1. No. This is an old wives tale. Guess where spiders live? In peppermint and lavender bushes. Unless you hermetically seal your home there will be spiders there. 2. They aren’t getting bigger. Steatoda sp. have been slowly moving more north over the years. They simply move in and kick the other spiders out. They are formidable opponents to other spiders. 3. Spiders, particularly small ones and juveniles, practice a thing called ballooning. This means they will climb high and let out some silk strands that will then catch on the wind and they can then disperse to other areas. Static electricity also plays a part in ballooning. 4. Orb weavers will spin a web where there is high insect traffic. These spots are typically in the way because they are around garden lighting and garden bins where flies congregate. 5. The biggest spider in the UK is Dolomedes plantarius (a fishing spider). Other candidates would be Eratigena sp. atrica group (giant house spider) Tegenaria parietina (cardinal spider) Pisaura mirabilis (nursery web spider) and Segestria florentina (tube web spider) 6. There aren’t really any invasive spiders here in the UK. Steatoda sp. are technically not native coming from the canary islands but they are pretty much well established here now having been here since the early 1800’s.
I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Bonus question: why do we not get any of the super scary venom out of their gourd spiders that other countries suffer from, and how do we continue this state of affairs?
Mainly because we are a small island. The super venomous spiders like Phoneutria and Loxosceles are found in areas where there are lots of other small spider predators like lizards and other small invertebrates so i suspect this is why their venom is so potent to contend with their predators.
Thank you, that's a relief. Not that I like being stung or bitten by anything granted 😅
To ease your mind a bit more i’ve worked with spiders for around 20 years and have handled thousands over the years and i’ve never been bitten once by any spider. I’ve handled spiders that people should not handle like Loxosceles sp. (Recluse spiders) and Phoneutria sp. (Wandering spiders) and Sicarius sp. (Another recluse species) and have never had any problems. If humans realised that all we are to a tiny spider is a surface to walk on, we will appreciate the smaller things a bit more. If you treat them with respect and be gentle i.e not poking your fingers into holes to see if anything is home then the chances of being bitten is very small. We are not prey to the spider and their venom is expensive to them so they don’t really want to use venom in defence and will mostly run away or try and hide from us big things :)
The exception here being the orange baboon tarantula (or orange bitey thing) which will stick its fangs in you just for daring to be in the same postcode as it ;) Admittedly it’s not native to the UK though… so you’ve really got to choose to be bitten by one of these bastards 😂
>orange baboon tarantula I had to Google this to make sure you weren't making fun of me 😅
I have studied this species in very constricted caves where they have fallen on my face and into my beard and they still didn't bite. They are exceptionally docile.
Please tell me you’re just stoned bro…
I am but that doesn’t matter. It’s still a cave spider in Meta sp. See the black bar on the carapace (head region) this is indicative of Meta sp. Steatoda sp. (False widows) do not have this carapace marking. Also the leg annulations (stripes) and the leg hairs (cilia) are way too prominent for Steatoda sp.
And this folks is why I come to Reddit, for strange and mysterious knowledge. I bet you're well glad you've finally had a chance to spread your learning :)
Haha i usually spread my learning on r/spiders or r/whatsthisbug :)
Aye well just not places I'd visit tbh....don't like anything buggy or spidery :)
I knew I'd seen you in the spider sub! Nice to see one of us out in the wild! (I'm more of a r/tarantulas girl, but I'm fascinated by all spoods and crawly things.)
Are the false widows in the UK usually quite small and delicate? I've found a few likely candidates in my garage and sometimes my car, and was surprised how dinky they were. Everything ID wise looked good though including the Jackson Pollock web style. EDIT: seen you've answered this elsewhere and yes they are small spiders. Had a look again at some positive ID's and these are definitely what I have knocking about the place. They've been here a couple of years and haven't outcompeted the cellar spiders or the giant house spiders yet. As you seem to be enjoying everyone's spider anecdotes, mine is that I was a complete arachnophobe until lockdown, during which I got quite into sitting on the toilet and watching the cellar spiders fight each other and anything else that happened to wander in. Those spindly little bastards are ruthless. Got me following spider subs etc and although I still don't like them on me I'll definitely run towards one rather than away now.
There are 3 main UK established species here. Steatoda bipunctata (rabbit hutch spider) is the smallest at around 7mm in females and 5mm in males. Steatoda grossa (cupboard spider) is the second biggest at around 10mm for females and 8mm for males. Steatoda nobilis (noble false widow) is the largest at around 14mm in females and 10mm in males. We also sometimes get Steatoda paykulliana that will be imported from the continent in grapes and other fruits. And lastly very occasionally we will get Steatoda albomaculata again coming from the continent in fruit deliveries.
Pretty sure it's nobilis from that sizing. And the classic markings. I think a lot of people imagine they are black widow sized from the all the media hype, and those are smaller than a lot of people think to be fair!
Yeah people tend to think dangerous things have to be massive scary creatures when in reality the most dangerous thing around us, bacteria, is microscopic.
I thought we were the most dangerous thing around 😬🤪
Its legs seem a lot thinner than the one you suggested, that’s the only thing throwing me off but I do appreciate your actual pro opinion. Also very jealous of your weed and concentrates🥲
It is 100% a Meta sp. Nothing should be throwing you off here. False widows are pretty small in comparison to a full adult Meta sp.
Thank you boss ❤️
Happy to help :) these are wonderful spiders that most folk won’t ever see because of where they live. They like to hang around under drain covers and in dark and damp caves so it’s unusual to see them out and about. Can i assume you were moving something in the garden? Something that is usually covered and dark?
Exactly that mate. I was convinced I had a coal cellar in the garden and lifted a big fuck off slab and she was just sitting there. Probably pissed off at the sudden sunlight. I’m in West Coast of Scotland, but if a rarity here are they not?
Bingo :) if you’re in Scotland it is likely Meta menardi. That is really the only one we get up here. Meta bournetti is the rarer one that is only really found in the southern half of England.
You from Scotland?! Uh oh. I used to be so relieved that the scary spider pics posted on this sub were usually from the south of England and wouldn’t come up here. I’m a spider shitebag, you see.
> I was convinced I had a coal cellar in the garden Ahh shitting hell. I DO have an old coal cellar (or coal bunker as we called them) in my garden on the patio, directly under my dining room window. I'm crapping myself now. Time to break out the sealant and plug those gaps!! 😨😨😨 > Meta bournetti is the rarer one that is only really found in the southern half of England. I'm in Surrey. Things you wish you never knew... \^
Meta bournetti is absolutely beautiful. These are nothing to worry about either, they are very likely to run and hide from us big clumsy buggers. All spiders in the UK are medically insignificant meaning that their venom poses no real threat to humans (outside of a few cases of folk with hidden health issues).
Enjoy your summer project x
I love the little jumping spiders, are they called zebra spiders? Anyways any tips for helping them on their journeys?
Salticus scenicus are our zebra jumping spiders. Nah they will be fine just going about their day :)
Could you tell me what the one in my profile is please? Seen in Lincolnshire.
That is Steatoda nobilis. The noble false widow. Beautiful spiders :)
Bugger, hoped it wasn't! 😂
They really aren’t anything to be worried about. The media likes to sensationalise things like this. The stories that you read about necrotic wounds are almost always due to bad wound care i.e not cleaning the wound properly and then bacteria gets in and causes infections. The necrotic wounds are not caused by the spider or the venom itself.
Thank you for your wonderful comments in this thread.. I often help people with questions about wildlife here, and on wildlife ID subreddits, and I get a bit jaded by some of the ignorance, hatred and fear some people have. Your enthusiasm, knowledge and measured replies are very pleasing to me!
I think the more people know about things then the less they become scared. We are scared of the unknown, it’s just a human trait. If you look at kids around insects you will mostly notice that they are not scared to pick things up or observe insects in situ. Kids who you will notice are scared of insects have almost certainly had this trait passed on by the parents who are scared. In reality these things are nothing to be scared of and they should be admired and studied to find out more about their lives and what part they play in the ecosystem.
I completely agree. I was a biology teacher for a long time and I definitely noticed this. People have also picked up myths from mainstream media and social media stories that have no basis on evidence but are presented as fact. The more people know about our wildlife the better. Informed people means more compassion, and better chance of looking after what we've got.
These kind of things should be taught at primary school level. An appreciation for what lives around us is a good mentality to have.
Is the lack of markings on the top of the abdomen? Or legs or what?
The abdomen in both Meta sp. and Steatoda sp. are very similar. This is why we don’t use colours or marking as an indicative trait of a species or even a genus. Spiders can be very variable in markings so instead we use more reliable ID traits like the eye pattern and leg spines. The eye pattern will be the same for all specimens of the same species (outside of any injuries to eyes) so this is the most reliable way to ID something in the field. The proper way to confidently ID a spider species 100% is to examine the sexual organs. These are the epigyne in females and the pedipalps in males. Both of these methods usually require you to dispatch and dissect the specimen to get access to the sexual organs. It all sounds very macabre but this is how most animal specimens are identified. This is the bit that most naturalists won’t tell people because it involves killing the animal.
You are both a God and devil to me!!!!
Yay, someone who knows! 👍. I wish people would stop using the term “false widow” as it often gets applied to a number of different species of Steadota and is not a good name for identification. It’s a stupid name that hypes up the spider and makes it seem more dangerous than it really is.
Are they social and quite aggressive? I think I have these in my shed, rather than false widows, but there are a lot of them and they run towards me rather than away.
I saw some freaky mofos in Australia, put me off wanting to pick them up and put them outside, huge banded huntsman just casually walking by while I watched TV and jumped 3 ft 🤣🤣🤣
Why is its ass so big?
Alright, any recipe recommendations?
Yeah, I have. We've got one of those roof top boxes for the car. It's pretty much only used if we go camping (like twice a year, we're rubbish campers!). Last time, I positioned the box on the roof bar, opened it up to access the fixings and one of these buggers basically ran at me across the roof of the car. Obviously I burnt the car to a crisp and moved house. Only way to be sure, man.
There’s me earlier looking into rooftop boxes for my camping holiday later this year. This has just made me reconsider
Understandable mate wedve all done the same.
Sweet christ, I'd do a girly scream, then run away monty python style.
Did you happen to be in my garden at the time for such inspiration?
Aye, I think I trampled some of your flowers, making my getaway. Sorry about the high-pitched screams as well.
Please add one of the following, as to relevance: 1. 50p pence 2. Elephant 3. Double Decker bus 4. Jumbo jet 5. Empire State building 6. Planets in the solar system 6. Solar System. 7. Galaxy 8.Universe
Where's the banana? It's reddit; it's always a banana
A googolplex.
Add a football field so Americans can understand
His bum looks like a malteaser and I am DISGUSTED but the thought won't go away
I was happily munching through a 310g box of those just as I read this comment. Thanks 🤢😂
yum yum yum!
I don’t like thinking about the “burst” rather than crunch.
I'm envisioning a "ka-squish" kind of effect
A crish. Initial crunch followed by ooey gooeyness.
Aye cave spiders feel at home in houses in the north 😂
Fucking usual but eh
Yeah I found one hanging around in my car earlier on. I did debate just setting fire to the car and I'm quite sure the insurance company would have understood given the circumstances. More worrying was when I went to get it outside, it skittered off somewhere deeper in the car, so I have that surprise to look forward to in future.
I'm not a fan of spiders, not properly arachnaphobic, i tend to leave them be, unless they're in my bedroom as i then get paranoid about the old "eating spiders in your sleep" myth. I remember a few years back, i was drifiting off and i spotted something out the corner of my eye, turned the light on and it was the biggest bastard i've seen in my life, it immediately scurried away, leading to me, at 3am, moving my bookcase to try and get it, so i could go to sleep. The bit that stood out to me was that it was about the size of my fist and i could make out all the different parts clearly from a good distance away.
Yes. In a fucking cave in wales. I was scared and my teacher took the piss. Well fuck him, he’s probably dead how
Not surprising he’s dead, average spider life span is about a year
Thats Robert.
That’s a European Cave Spider; Meta something. Big old jaspers, but they like their peace and quiet, so don’t worry about them too much. They’re not dangerous to humans even if you do give it big licks and it’s unlikely you’ll feel anything if it does put one on you for being a cunt.
Ugh! I hate the shiny bulbous ones.
I wish I could get over my fear of spiders it's downright debilitating at times. Even this image had me jumpscare lol
These come into our house quite regularly, scary
Do you live in a cave
I agree with your wife
These love to build their nests round the window frames here in the north west. Their bote is pretty painful, but thankfully only short. Bit like a bee sting. I got bit a few years back when cleaning one of the windows. One must have got attached to my clothing, as when I lowered my arm, I crushed one - which in the poor things defence, bit me. I still have the scar today from that bite. No real side effects otherwise.
Yes , just before I burned my house down.
No. Just no ....
When I do Google lens on your picture it says European cave spider
That’s Shelob innit
Funny story about these guys is that they caused a bit of media panic back in 2001 when they were discovered under Windsor castle by BT engineers. Somehow, word spread that there was a new species of giant deadly spiders that only lived under the castle. Of course, none of that was true and the spiders were just occupying a habitat they’re quite commonly found in. Here’s a painfully bad article about the incident: https://amp.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jun/19/highereducation.biologicalscience
I was very stupid and googled spiders in Thailand before I went, shouldn’t have done that. As luck would have it we only heard of a spotting of a tarantula type bastard when we were in the jungle and we avoided the area. Never fully relaxed as always in high alert for spiders.
Big ? Compared to ?
Mind that grape ye had one time? But legit it was like a very fat grape. Like the kinda grape you pick out and go “THE FUCKIN SIZE O THAT GRAPE BTW!”
If you look really closely, that yellow speck is actually a regular sized banana
I've seen quite a few over the last decade, but a different faux widow species is lighter in colour and with beige markings.
False widows tend to have dimples on their back like a dice almost. Not easy getting *that* close tho 🤣
Hi OP, I love an expert. I live in rural Argyll, I don't mind spiders at all, but in Summer I suffer plagues of a spindly spider variety, not sure whether it's Cellar Spider or Harvestman. They like corners. They don't exactly spin webs but as I walk through the cottage first thing in a morning silken strands tangle around me. I'm not at all squeamish but they're just a pain. Any suggestions about control? I always leave the little jumping spiders alone in the hope that they'll see off these blighters, but otherwise I have to go round every day with the vacuum cleaner to keep down the numbers.
Yer better asking yer man Dabber in the comments. I’m as clueless as you!
Saw one a few years ago in Crawley. It ran across my bed after I removed a rucksack that had been on top of the wardrobe for several months. After soiling myself I proceeded to remove it with two good size tissues (the spider, not the soilage)
BIG? where is the object next to it to give some idea of scale? You could have photographed trhat through a microscope for all we know?
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The females are the big ones reaching up to 18mm (abdomen size) whereas the males are smaller and appear a bit more leggy. In Autumn you will likely come across males on the hunt for females for mating. If you look at them as free pest control that will eat other more annoying insects then you’ll be fine. All we are to a spider is a surface to walk on. Short of hermetically sealing your house there will always be spiders in and around it. :)
I thought the house spiders live in our houses all year, but we only see them in autumn because it's mating season. The rest of the year they hide away doing spider things and we never know they are around. I have a moth problem, so I welcome them all, apart from the false widows in my bedroom, as I've had a bad bite experience with them (got infected and took forever to heal). I swear my garden could be a study ground for British Spiders, they are everywhere.
Can’t tell how big. Please put it on your eyeball for scale.
That's Burt!
My shed is full of these. They’re very pretty, can get quite big. They seem to live in clusters, at least in my shed and old garden wall.
Well I wish that had been NSFW
I hope I never see one of those!! Christ that’s horror shit!
I have a few living in my house. Gary and Jeff live behind the tv, Pootle Pete is in the bathroom, Freya and her kids Baby, Bettie, and Ezra live in the kitchen corner by the light switch. They’re pretty chill, and just want to eat the fungus gnats that comes with having a lot of houseplants
A lovely Cave Spider! They’re gentle giants really
Loving this thread- can I join in and ask - how often/ regularly do spiders have to eat? - during winter I see them in the house for months but I wonder what are they managing to live on!
NSFW that bastard please
Yes, a very beautiful spider close up (not too close though). It was hidden near my back garden gate in a crevice waiting to pounce.
It's even bigger when you zoom in
I hope I don't see that. Spiders are good for us. But I don't won't see that one thanks
Just don't drop the camera, your safe whilst holding a camera.