This is not intended in an aggressive way at all, neither is it intended to be patronising or condescending. I saw a post on here a few hours ago and it made me realise that a lot of people have been lied to and misguided on this subject. I have written this in the hope that it might reassure people and help people understand why exactly this is so important.

Spiders are just as much of an important part of our ecosystems as butterflies, ants, wasps, flies, bees, worms, woodlice, birds etc. They eat huge numbers of insects every year, helping to keep the populations stable and stop plants from being destroyed. They themselves also provide food for other creatures such as birds and some small mammals. Some birds even use spider webs to build their nests.

Most of the population are not capable of accurately identifying spiders, especially since there are many species that look incredibly similar. This means that if people are told to kill a certain species, then they will go around killing native spiders out of fear as they can’t identify them.

There are very few spider species in the UK that are actually capable of biting a human. Most have such small mouthparts that they can’t even bite onto the skin, let alone get through it. Of the few species that bite, there is only one species that is actually aggressive and they are incredibly shy spiders that live outside and hate any human disturbance.

Unfortunately, some species have been vilified through over exaggerated media with no factual evidence behind it. The main subject of this entirely baseless fear-mongering is the noble false widow.

False widow bites are not common. They usually only occur when the spider becomes trapped in clothing.

The bites only become serious if someone has a weakened immune system, or has an allergy to invertebrate bites (such as a bee/wasp allergy). The bite is considered to be pretty much the same as a bee or wasp sting.

They can become infected if the person scratches the bite or does not have good personal hygiene, resulting in bacteria getting in and causing an infection. So the severity of the bite in someone without an allergy is not due to the spider itself, but is a reflection of that persons own personal hygiene.

Here are some links for people to educate themselves on the actual facts, rather than the rubbish spread by news websites or uneducated people.

Handling a noble false widow.

General information on the species and related species.

Natural History Museum information on the species and their venom.

by Bufobufolover24

35 comments

  1. This is just pro False Widow Spider propaganda. Seriously though, False Widow Spiders are actually an invasive species, that aren’t native.

  2. Honestly, ‘Spider bros ‘ is a great way to look at em

  3. Another interesting fact is that they’re the only Web developers who like bugs.

  4. They get a free pass in my house and if they are too difficult to catch when they get stuck in the bath, I just leave a length of toilet paper hanging over the inside that they’ll find soon enough and disappear on their merry way again.

  6. From an Arachnologist. This is absolutely spot on! Thank you for this!

  8. I used to be terrified of spiders. Now I usually just leave them where they are. We’ve had one living in the bathroom for months, and one in the kitchen. Pretty sure the one in the kitchen is a false widow.

  9. Only thing I have to add is our jumping spiders are bloody awesome

  10. I used to hate spiders, petrified of them as a child and would immediately hoover them later in life… until I moved to the country and now live on a farm. Spiders are the best. Flies are dicks, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

    Did I mention, flies are proper twats, I had one last week wake me up like 20 times. Proper prick.

  12. That’s all well and good, but like someone afraid of heights, I personally have a fear of spiders. I wish it wasn’t that way, I’ve tried to face my fear many times, but my brain just won’t allow it.

  13. I feel for the little guys. I’ve heard stories from people who spray them with hairspray and pour bleach on them. And I don’t know why?! Live and let live. I call them all Webby (the name I chose for all spiders apparently when I was a child) and just let them be until they find somewhere else to go. Eat those flies, friends.

  15. Excellent read. I have actually been bitten by a false widow, about ten years ago so long before the tabloid vilification. I was labouring for a plumber and had my arm under the floorboards of a derelict Georgian house, straight in to the poor buggers home. Got bit, semi painful, very itchy. Removed arm and brushed the spider off me, and exactly as OP says I scratched it raw and it got instantly infected from the dirty building site.

  16. For the overwhelming majority of situations in the UK, the absolute worst thing a spider will do to you is build a web in a slightly irritating place, or to look frightening (to those people who find them frightening). On the other hand they actively eat things that are much more irritating. Look up videos of spiders eating wasps. It is so satisfying to see one of those flying cunts getting wrapped up in silk and made into a meal for an eight legged friend.

  17. As someone that is scared of spiders the main thing I took from your post is that we have one species of aggressive spider 😱 which one is it? The big black one that lives in bricks?

  18. I have a small spider in my bedroom window that weaves little webs. I keep it there to stop the gnats and horseflies from getting at me

  20. I’ve 4 false windows hanging out in my conservatory. They do a great job catching any blue bottles that get in.

  21. I was brought up to respect spiders. I was horrified when I found out some people kill them.

  22. Never minded spiders, my other half used to stamp on them and I set out conditions very early on in our nearly 9 year relationship so far… do not stamp on spiders. Let me know and I’ll move it, she no longer stamps on them and will text me if I’m at work to say there’s one on xxx place please remove it. It’s unnecessary to kill any creatures that are causing no harm at all.

  23. I have always loved spiders since I was a little girl and I would never, ever kill one. They are friends! And their biology is absolutely fascinating, they’re like little steampunk hydraulic machines with primitive breathing systems (“book lungs”). And their heart runs down the back of their abdomen 🖤 their demonisation saddens me 😔

  24. How much bio mass do spiders consume every year? Between 4-800 *million* tons I think.

    We need them more than they need us.

  25. Thank you for this post. I love spiders. If I see one at home I always give it a name!

  26. I just wish I wasn’t terrified of them. I know it’s not their fault and I’m being a wimp, but the sight is enough to send me into a cold sweat with a racing heart. There’s an absolute monster living in my greenhouse at the moment. When I spilt some water the other day it came flying out from under the staging as if to attack. I’ve decided I just won’t go in that corner as I can’t abandon my plants! It’s a giant house spider, but I think he’s been eating plant food or something!

  28. Which or our spiders are the ones that can bite you? Last weekend my brother in law’s niece (I have no idea what that relation is called?!) asked my to clear a spider out of the kitchen and it was a HUGE spider (about 5-6cm leg span I’d guess) that looked (to my eyes at least – I’m a lapsed entomologist that specialised in leps and then ants) like a wolf spider (lycosidae) and I noticed it had significant-lookijg chelicerae. Could it have broken my skin? We get a lot of Steatoda at home, but I honestly don’t know if I’m able to distinguish the species or not, just that they’re Steatoda – I just leave them be and don’t worry about it since they’re never scuttling about the floor (which is what gives my family the willies).

  29. I’ve was once bitten on the side of my nose by something that had crawled into some PPE gear I was putting on at work, I think it was a spider but my eyes were watering so I couldn’t see what skittered away when I shook out the coveralls. I’m the company beekeeper (along with my normal job) so I’ve been stung by bees a few times, the bite wasn’t nearly as bad as that so it probably wasn’t a False Widow.

    I still love spiders, they’re the good guys, I’ve managed to move our vineyard away from pesticides (except fungicide when disease pressure is high) to integrated pest management procedures, we now **encourage** invertebrates into the fields by planting native wild flowers that predator species prefer. Since the change it’s become a regular occurrence to walk face first into spider silk bridges while walking through the vines, it’s a little irritating but it’s good to know they’re there chowing down on sap suckers and leaf munchers.

  30. Thanks for this post. I think it’s beyond time we moved past the collective disdain of spiders. As funny as the “nuke the site from orbit” jokes are whenever someone spots a fist-sized house spider in their living room, there’s really no reason for anyone to go around killing the things for the crime of being a slight inconvenience.

  31. She asks me to kill the spider.
    Instead, I get the most
    peaceful weapons I can find.

    I take a cup and a napkin.
    I catch the spider, put it outside
    and allow it to walk away.

    If I am ever caught in the wrong place
    at the wrong time, just being alive
    and not bothering anyone,

    I hope I am greeted
    with the same kind
    of mercy.

    Rudy Francisco

  32. But why do they have to have such huge legs that can poke out of the bottom of a glass?

  33. I read a post/comment about how you should welcome those spindly, slow moving spiders because they are great for eating the terrifying jacked up huge bastard spiders.

    They were right! Except nobody mentioned that they breed like they are the Elon Musk of the spider world. As fast as I’m clearing webs and trying to keep the population under control, even more appear.

    The house is theirs now. I’m fully expecting to find one of the cats cocooned as a trial run before they move on to us.

  34. I got bitten by a false widow on the soft tissue on the back of my leg about two years ago and I didn’t even feel it first but it got _really_ badly infected and I was hospitilased and in a bad way.

    They don’t deserve to die, and the bite isn’t that bad, but equally should be taken seriously.

  35. I am not their biggest fans having spent the weekend in hospital from what I assume was a spider bite (two small pin pricks on my elbow, which went red and swollen, antibiotics that did nothing and then 3 days later my whole arm being bright red and feeling so ill the doctor sent me to A and E for a drip)
    *

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