is this a false widow spider?

7 comments

1. Could be…. I wouldn’t risk it.

   Burn the house down.

2. Orb weaver. Harmless but multiply like mad if they like the space.

3. A false widow? Like Anne Darwin

4. No, definitely not a false widow. This one here isn’t dangerous at all.

5. Nope, as said it’s an orb weaver and completely harmless

6. I can understand being hyper alert and worried, especially with it all over the news, but you’ll have little doubt about it when you do see one. Browse some photos and familiarise yourself with the shape of them. I’ve been alert to them but have only seen one and it was unmistakable, massive yoke, killed it on sight.

   > The noble false widow spider looks similar to the black widow spider, hence the name. It has a striking bulbous abdomen which is brownish in colour, usually with distinctive cream markings and reddish-orange legs. Females can grow to 15mm, or 32mm, including the legs.

   The abdomen is the giveaway.

7. No. Standard orb weaver. False widows all over my garden and garage the last few years. Female impossible to mistake and male very identifiable too with orange legs and weird almost skull shape on brown body