As the Natural Communities trainee placed with Buglife, I feel I have a responsibility to lay down the truth about the Noble False Widow (steatoda nobilis) as the hysteria surrounding it has led to mass misidentification and persecution of common house and garden species. As well as loads of arachnaphobic scare-mongering press surrounding the whole issue.
Firstly to our native spider species, the majority of which could not bite you if they tried as their fangs are too small or too weak to penetrate human skin. If they do however, (doubtful as they are not inclined to bite humans) the symptoms are milder than that of a Bee or Wasp sting, and don’t last aslong.
Noble False Widow – Steatoda Nobilis
Now to the Spider of the moment; the False Widow;
This spider does have a more venemous bite than our native species and it does inject a neorotoxin which may cause localised pain, minor swelling and in extreme cases, nausea within a few hours (not days). The symptons then wear off. There are no proven cases of this spider causing death, coma or permanent injury. Neither does the neurotoxin cause the gangrene-like infections much hyped in the media. These are caused by bacterial infections which could come from any source, including the scratching of bites/cuts/stings with unwashed hands. There is no proven link between spider bites and bacterial infections. Nor is there a single record of an allergic reaction to a spider bite, even in those who suffer a reaction to bee and wasp stings.
Females of this species are sluggish, solitary and non-aggressive so unlike some of the wild media reports of late, they ‘will not’ run and jump at you in an aggressive manner. So the chances of actually being bitten are remarkebly low.
So in the words of Michael Winner; ‘Calm Down Dear! It’s only a wee spider!’ ….. I’m pretty certain he said that.
For more information visit; http://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs-%26-habitats/spider-bites