Cool Spider In My Kitchen

[nmonks]

Just thought I'd share this. It was remarkably large for a British spider, about 8 or 9 cm leg tip to leg tip. What was cool was that when I found it it was eating another spider (apparently a large Tegenaria) that it had wrapped up in silk. It was sucking up the 'juices' with its mouthparts, and I could see the abdomen pumping as it did so. A pretty spider, rather smooth, almost pearl-like but brown.

I'd not seen this species before, but apparently not rare, so worth looking out for! (If you like spiders, that is.)

Cheers,

Neale

 

[CFC]

We gets lots of these in our house, they are apperently specialist spider eaters from what we've seen as they always seem to be eating other spiders.

Good photo.

 

[Bloo]

I'm not a spider fan, so hope not to see any in my neck of the woods - even though I grew up with loads of all kinds of spiders our house in South Africa
Great pic

 

[debiasir]

good pic but hope i never see a live one

 

[saboy]

Since I moved to the countryside i have killed proby about 15 spiders, 2 of them being huge, i hate em,


bloo, you used to live in south africa? and are u south african ? Im from there , and im south african

 

[Bloo]

bloo, you used to live in south africa? and are u south african ? Im from there , and im south african

I am indeed Think I'm losing count of how many years I've lived in the UK now, but it must be about 8 or 9. Still go back to Durban every year to catch up on sunshine and the wildlife (oh and family of course) - including snakes in the garden I definitely do *not* miss !

 

[PlecMama]

Nice spid, we use to just refer to those as "spiders with knees" - for obvious reasons never knew their real name.

 

[nmonks]

I was reading up on them, and CFC gets full marks, they're spider-eaters. So if you don't like spiders, they're the ones to leave in your house! Can't bite you, so harmless.

One of the great things about being back in the UK (I was living in the US until this time last year) is that nothing is poisonous. You can touch, prod, catch, and general annoy practically anything. OK, we have adders but there are like 7 of them in the whole country. My girlfriend brought me back a giant centipede she found on a field trip while we were in the US, and let me tell you, that thing had a bite! And in Australia is sounds like everything is deadly poisionous!

Cheers,

Neale

 

[ajbettle]

"touch, prod, catch and annoy practically anything u want in the UK)

lol true, very true!!!

 

[Ami]

I think the common name for that lanky legged one is a cellar spider and that looks like a garden spider he's eating - hard to tell with the web n all.

All spiders bite and nearly all inject venom into their prey, but there's very few in the world, let alone the UK that have a large enouge and powerful enough bite to pierce human skin.

I think there's only a few hundred that can cause painful bites and then only a dozen maybe that are venemous to the point where you'd need medical attention.

Water spiders can give you a nasty painful bite and people do die, but more from allergic reactions to the venom rather than the venom itself. If that makes sense!

I did a little bit of research when we moved down here from Scotland and started finding massive spiders in our house - I like them but my hubby is terrified. He was particularly worried about the wolf spiders he saw pics of when we went on a woodland walk...telling him they grow to less than 1cm in body size didn't put his mind at ease any!

 

[andywg]

Looks to me like some local "Yoofs" have got to that spider, I can only make out 3 right legs.

 

[wendywc]

Daddy long legs are great! Luckily for me in Texas, we have a bunch of them... but that one must be a female with such a plump body. I've only seen them skinnier.

 

[jimi priest 0189]

in michigan in the northern parts we have huge brown recluses and with one bit you get all that cool color coused by fleash eating venom talk about fun but yeah thats a nice spider and a good pic

 

[Squid]

"touch, prod, catch and annoy practically anything u want in the UK)

lol true, very true!!!

Does not apply to women, I don't think...

Damn right.. they might not be poisonous, but they can't arf inflict some pain...!

 

[denis coghlan]

You can touch, prod, catch, and general annoy practically anything.

I always thought that people where just BSing me when that said that some spiders in the UK and Ireland can bite. This I personally found out to be true and it was no "water spider".

I was putting up a new post box in my grandmother’s house about two weeks ago. Her dog had taken to destroying her mail as soon at it had come in the door so she wanted an external mailbox. “That is beside the point but I am just setting the scene for you”. I was busy drilling holes in the external wall beside the door, when I felt a pinch on my arm, I thought to myself Ba@”£rd “I didn’t even see the wasp or bee”. I stopped for a minute and took pity on myself for being stung and I went back to work. After about ten minutes my arm and neck began to get very heavy and weird feeling, once again “Ba@”£rd wasp”. I finished putting the mail box up and I went inside for a cuppa, while having a cuppa (very important for a work man) I rolled back my shirt sleeve to look at the damage cause by the “wasp”. May the mother of god protect us and the sweet lord have the blessings of the world upon us, this was no wasp sting!!!!
My upper arm around the bite had turned a very vibrant red and looked liked the same texture as uncooked chicken with a big raised white dot in the middle.

It really hadn’t dawned on me that this could have been a spider and I just put it down to an allergic reaction to a bee or wasp sting. After an hour or so and many cups of tea later, I started working on the front flowerbeds like the good grandson that I am. I was busying myself with the hoe, when all of a sudden Ba@”£rd! Ba@”£rd! Ba@”£rd! This time I was bitten under my armpit and to front of my chest, Ba@”£rd!. This is no wasp or bee I thought to myself. It was then that I felt the movement of something under my shirt. Quick as a flash I was unshirted (just like the chip n’ dales), and there it was a big nasty looking orb spider, it took all my will power not to squash the nasty into a pile of mush. Its body was about the same size a penny or a cent coin, put legs on that and you have quite the spider. What really creeps me out was it was wandering around under my shirt for about 2 hours. eeewwww

The spider was a Zygiella x-notata. They are in the classification of orb weaving spiders and are very common here in Ireland. They don’t normally grow this large but this one sure had. The picture is not of the spider that bit me but it’s the same type I got it from another web site.

I don’t mind spiders as long as they do their thing all the way over there. So let this be a lesson to all you, spiders in the UK and Ireland can bite I know I was bitten twice.

tanks