Have you read about 'false black widow' spiders in the UK?

Question

Apparently these spiders came over in banana boats 200 years ago and, up till recently, have mainly been localted in Dorset. Now, with warmer winters, they are multiplying like nobody's business. Their sting is not fatal, but is very painful and can put you in hospital. They are about the size of a pea and live in sheds, on wall, in the bark of trees, and like gardening gloves! I've never been that keen on gardiening but this is really off putting.

Answer 1

Like we need another spider to contend with! I can't stand the things....

Answer 2

umm we'll worry about the spiders & the scientists are worrying about the Mosquito. they're surviving for longer & if Malaria wasn't scary enough. I found out there's a parasite of the mosquito, the Bott fly. They infect the wound when the Mosquito bites, the parasite lays eggs & the Maggot that grows would make any sane person feel very ill.
these spiders are unfortunately the tip of the ice-berg.

incidentally, i heard a while ago now that there's a colony of British scorpions, that are growing in number, the environmental agency must keep their location secret for fear of man calling out Rentokil!
with global warming & the threats from the unpredictability of what's in store, do they decide to wipe these nests of Black Widows out or leave them be?
i'm not sure that it would do much good now, far to late to do something about it. i'd leave them be.
they have as much right to exist & we have had adders in this country, with a worse bite than a black widow,
sensible people just steer clear of the fens/moors & their natural habitat, shame is they're are as equally under threat from our expanding towns & cities, we may come across more spiteful wild-life than we used to.

Answer 3

They don't sound that much different from the regular black widows that I'm used to in the US. The bite is rarely fatal, in fact I haven't heard of anybody dying from it. Usually the person gets sick, but doesn't need hospitalization in most cases.
Although they are very numerous where I live, bites are still rare because the spider is so unaggressive.
We see them in the garden and in the garage or wood pile.

Answer 4

Yeah I read about this yesterday. They are really shiny unlike the usually hairy spiders you get here in the UK. The relatively warm winters have meant that they haven't died off and so are breeding. Euurgh!

Answer 5

I saw that on sky news. had a good read on the natural history museum website about the different types of spiders. I hate them things ewwwwwwwwwwww ewwwwwwwwwwww

Answer 6

yes i read it and went up to make the bed and there was this big spider under the covers i called my husband but it was gone when he came up so where it went i don't know but has put the wind up me as i normally just pick them up put them out the window not any more

Answer 7

Yeah i did, we'll be getting those African killer bees next. Ol' Blighty is no longer the foggy, wet & cold place it used to be.

Answer 8

All spiders are bad news, I can tell you

Answer 9

ouch not good but at least we dont get japanese hornets saw a tv show about the very nasty

Answer 10

heard about on ther radio this morning,scary.keep your gloves well wrapped!