False Widow Spiders in Britain ~ Beware
The South of England is playing host to venomous spiders and not only that - they’re breeding and spreading across the country.
What’s more, their bite is potentially lethal - deadly in fact - potentially fatal - often unpleasant . . .
Yes it seems climate change continues to bring us the benefits of more exotic climates - this time it’s a relative of the Black Widow spider. Several people have already been hospitalized by bites although none have yet died - which is good for them but from a purely journalistic point of view - not so good for the story.
The bite is potentially lethal though - The real question is though . . .
Are There Poisonous Spiders in Lincolnshire ?
No I don’t believe so - the only Black Widows we need to worry about are the predatory females 
It does make you wonder whether we are in for some real changes over the next few years. Yesterday I was reading that big cats would soon be part of the scenery in certain places and that Puma, Lynx and Wolves could be part of the natural countryside as they breed and create hybrids !
We already have The Grimsby Growler in the nature park behind my house of course !
Escaped snakes are also beginning to adapt and survive it seems not to mention plagues of Mosquitoes in Lincolnshire - what still beats me is that all this is being made possible by Global Warming according to ‘The Experts’ - if that’s so
Why is it always so bloody cold and rainy ?
Talking of Global Warming - remember the Great Goldeneye Plan - worth a read if you’ve the time
If you’ve been bitten in the night, glimpsed a snake or a growler - do let us know.
Arachnophobically Yours
Rod
Jordan said,
May 19, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
RC
Think i have been definitely bitten by a snake in the past.
Jordan
Rod said,
May 19, 2009 @ 12:55 pm
Jordan,
hope the bite proved fatal
Best
Rod
Jordan said,
May 19, 2009 @ 5:00 pm
RC
On the snake and not myself, i hope you mean?!
Jordan
Rod said,
May 19, 2009 @ 6:53 pm
ordan,
absolutely on the snake !
Best
RC
Lucy said,
May 20, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
haha it’s the ants I have to look out for…I’m allergic to their bites and they seem to actively hunt me out to bite me ???. The first time I was bitten I thought I had meningitis because part of my leg swelled up and turned black
Where did you read about big cats becoming part of the ecosystem? What timescales were they talking about?
Formicidaeically yours, (look it up)
Lucy
P.S had my last uni exam of the year today so hurrah for me
Rod said,
May 20, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
Lucy, sounds like a nightmare - avoidng deadly spiders in the UK is not something too taxing but ants . . . they’re everywhere.
I was reading an article n one of the broadsheet papers and they had the people who looked into the bites on savaged animals etc and there is no doubt that they are out there and suriving in some areas. They mentioned inter-breeding and that eventually they could spread and survive quite happily - we already have populations of racoons I think they said as well !
Great news on the Uni front - enjoy a well-earned rest !
Best
Rod
chris keyworth said,
September 26, 2009 @ 9:58 pm
Does any body know what the most Venomus Insect is in the UK ?????
This Should be interesting…….
Rod said,
September 27, 2009 @ 8:26 am
I’m guessing it’s either something everyday and surprising or something exotic that’s come here in a banana box and managed to settle !
What about a flea ?
chris keyworth said,
September 27, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
The Common House Spider (Tegenaria Gigantea) If this Spider had big enough fangs this would be the Second Deadliest Insect in in the UK. The First Goes to The Daddy Long Legs (Crane Fly) Highly Poisonus if Eaten….
the deadliest beatle is the Lady Bug, but only if you are an Aphid….
Regards
Chris
Rod said,
September 27, 2009 @ 7:26 pm
Chris,
this sounds ominous !
How many daddy-Long-Legs makes for a lethal dose to humans - also re spiders and the like aren’t we supposed to swallow a dozen or something in our lifetimes during sleep
I think I’ll sleep under a mosquito net tonight
All the best
Rod
chris keyworth said,
September 27, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
its unlikely you would ever want to put a daddy longlegs in your mouth as they taste absolutly foul, (trust me on that one) half a dozen my instructor told me, Spider venom is only toxic when in the blood stream and not when ingested unless you have an ulcer, same with snake venom and frog venom however it has been proven to induce halusinations (pink Elephants), similar with the Pinkus Beetle very deadly yet it is used in a famous seafairers drink Pink Gin.
if you look closely at a house spider you will see there fangs but they are not capable of puncturing human skin, however if you look at a common garden spider (Araneus diadematus) there fangs are much larger and capable of puncturing human skin, if these two spiders ever mutataded and bread together then we would have the deadliest spider in the world….
food for thought
Regards
Chris
Clive Lawrence said,
October 19, 2009 @ 9:16 pm
I am re roofing a house in Faversham in Kent and I noticed a spider which I have never see before,after looking on the net I think that I have Identified as the False Black Widow ( Purple Black with markings to its upper body,there are asos about 4 or 5 dead pidgeons in this area of the loft.I would like your comment
Thanks Clive
melanie said,
May 13, 2010 @ 1:52 am
I have eatin daddy long legged spiders when i was a kid i would let them crawl on me cause my sisters thaught i was sick and hated them i played with them all the time and once was dared to eat them. and i did! and yet im still writting this.. not deadly when digested im living proof,
Rod said,
May 13, 2010 @ 9:17 am
Melanie,
I’m pleased you survived and found your way to the site - welcome and thanks for leaving a comment - hope you’ll return
All the best
Rod
Obnoxious Co2 Breather said,
May 14, 2010 @ 8:27 pm
I went to put on my shoes the other week and just by chance saw something move, I shook the shoe and out dropped a spider, the like of which I have never seen before. I captured the poor little bugger and kept him in a glass, thinking I will look on the net to see what type of spider he is. Sure enough, a False Black Widow, a perfect match of the pictures illustrated of several web sites. I intended to take him to the local museum but unfortunately never found the time and he died but not before spinning a web around the bottom of the glass and losing and regrowing his legs, I never knew they did that. Oh I live in North Hampshire so this proves they are moving up country.
Rod said,
May 15, 2010 @ 9:03 am
OCB,
a worrying development and many thanks for the field report.
Your salient warning should serve as a timely reminder to us all.
Bang your footwear on the floor before putting it on - it served my father well in Egypt in terms of scorpions so it’s tried and tested !
Beware - it’s dangerous out there !
Rod
kaz said,
June 1, 2010 @ 2:01 am
i have got the biggest infestation of false widow spiders eva at my house, my dad has been bitten twice in his bed, my mum is concerned for the grand kids, but i find them really interesting, well i do at the moment because i haven’t been bitten (touch wood), but in all seriousness, they are every where, outside in the garden they are all along the wall of the house and the wooden fencing, the UPVC window frames have these little oval holes in them from where the screws were fitted, nearly every hole, upstairs and downstairs has a little resident living in and around it, this is on the outside of course, but indoors is a problem too, when eva furniture is moved there is always one or two about, really there is so many it must be very unusual, i have identified them correctly i’ve caught a couple with the old paper and glass trick, bought them next to the laptop and looked at the pics on line, they are defo the infamous biting sort. i just went outside about an hour ago and i counted 12 on the walls and the fence in the garden, i think tis is quite unusual for a small garden to have this many of any one species. what do u think?
Rod said,
June 1, 2010 @ 8:27 am
Kaz,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
That sounds like a nightmare !
Personally speaking, and for what it’s worth, I would contact your local council first and see if they can do anything via enviromental control or such like.
If not then perhaps a professional pest control company.
I’ve not heard of this before Kaz
Best of luck
Rod
CERN said,
June 1, 2010 @ 7:16 pm
I was having my kitchen redecorated last month {May2010), so I went out for the day , came home walked in the door and my boyfriend says “Can you get rid of a spider as the workmen wont go near the kitchen wall its sitting on”,
I laughed thinking just your common house spider which do grow quite big around here.
I walking into the kitchen ready to take the spider outside but I immediately saw its wasn’t the normal common spider we usually get and thought that looks far too much like a black widow, so I put a jug over it as it sat on the wall had a closer look and could see the brown markings and thankfully not the distinctive red hourglass. Not sure what It was a carefully took it in the jug outside and let it go. Then looking it up on the net realised it was a False Widow, which I now wish id taken a photo of.
So somewhere outside my house the Spider is still living but the boyfriend and I are a little more vigilant when it comes to spiders that might be living indoors with us.
I love and studied at college all nature and have always saved spiders from being squashed by arachnophobes but next time I think I will transport the little beasties further away from my house to somewhere more remote lol
Rod said,
June 1, 2010 @ 7:59 pm
Cern
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
Firstly congratulations on saving the workmen and your boyfriend
Secondly that’s very interesting that we get two comments on the same day about sightings - is there a picture building here ?
Thanks again Cern
All the best
Rod
jshsecure said,
June 14, 2010 @ 12:13 pm
Found 2x false black widows when moving slabs in garden of new home also grass snake and a whole host of other great wildlife
From woodpeckers squirrels and a nest of baby thrush. So cool what next!
shart said,
July 8, 2010 @ 5:57 pm
My daughter was bitten by a false widow spider last week she had to clear puncture wounds and her leg swelled quite considerably, she felt rough but not particularly ill. She is breast feeding her baby so would not use an antihistamine cream. One week on and her swelling is beginning to reduce, but it is still sore. The spider ran off after biting her, she was sat in the garden with her baby.
chris keyworth said,
July 8, 2010 @ 11:13 pm
not reading this thread its doing me no good i dont like spiders of any type or size and ive seen some monsters in my time im shuddering just thinking about um ….
regards
chris
Rod said,
July 9, 2010 @ 8:33 am
Shart,
many thanks for relating this - brings it all home as a real issue.
Thank godness the baby wasn’t bitten
All the best
Rod
julesr said,
July 10, 2010 @ 3:56 pm
hello. false widow spiders are everywhere in Southend-On-Sea - a major problem as we don’t see many of the normal variety any more as they are being eaten by this beasty. We have had about 20 seen in the past week on our out-building, and is a major concern for our children as they also populate their play house. I’ve tried to reduce their numbers, but they keep on growing. I’ve also done my research, with the females laying 200+ eggs, just shows you that what the dominent spieces will be. Jules
Rod said,
July 10, 2010 @ 7:22 pm
Jules,
thanks for the report - really appreciated and welcome to the site.
The problem seems to be worsening if anecdotal evidence is anything to go by and I believe it is.
All the best
Rod
Gem said,
August 9, 2010 @ 9:21 pm
Hi Thankyou so much for this website ive found it very helpful. we recently threw a spider across the street as im such an arachnophobe im scared of dead spiders too. we found it in our cellar and ive been worried sick ever since that we did the wrong thing. we didnt take a photo of it and i could have sworn it was a black widow save for the fact there wasnt a red mark on its back. when i put a glass over it it played dead straight away, and it didnt move until my boyf picked it up with the paper and glass method and it started to move again. fortunately weve only found the one so far but im thinking of moving up north now! i had no idea there was such as a thing as a fake black widow so thanks for putting my mind at rest ive been worried ive set a poisonous spider loose. i live in lincoln so they are definitely getting further north! Aug 2010
Rod said,
August 10, 2010 @ 8:44 am
Hi Gem.
thanks for the comment and welcome ot the site - they’re now officially in Lincoln
That’s only down the road !
Regards
Rod
Joe Sheridan said,
September 19, 2010 @ 6:26 pm
I have just taken a photo of one, (I think) and noticed several similar webs around the place… I am maybe calmer than others as I have met the funnel web spider in Sydney Oz and the Red back at similar distance, yet I dont like the fact that these beasties could be laying eggs all over the show… and that one might invade the house and bite at night!!!
Should I kill and exterminate its eggs? Get a specialist to come get? Or just leave well alone? It is on a South facing wall, and have heard thats where they hang out???
I have a photo, and can say that I have never seen a spider like this, or a web.. in this country.
Please advise, Joe in Hove.
p.s. I can email photo
Rod said,
September 19, 2010 @ 6:44 pm
Hi Joe,
thanks for the comment - I’m no expert in the field I’m afraid all I can say is were it me I’d be getting rid of them !
It may pay to phone the council and see what they suggest etc Joe
Regards
Rod
Tanya said,
September 21, 2010 @ 8:16 am
Hi, with the help of your site,, i just identified the spider laying dead on my front step….Yes, a False Widow Spider….nearly stepped on it. I live in Norfolk..
Stephen Morgan said,
October 24, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
Hi Guys,
Just to let you know about the advance of the false widow spider. I live in Hull and found one two weeks ago. tonight i found more including another female and male and some tiny young spiders which look like they could grow into the same!
They are really spreading!
I have seen these spiders for sale on a web site for £12.00 each! I could make a fortune soon!
Should these sightings be reported any where?
Stephen
Rod said,
October 25, 2010 @ 7:21 am
Hi Stephen,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
It sounds like they are indeed spreading Stephen, quit ealarming really - perhap some of this cold weather we’re now getting will stop them in their tracks ?
As to reporting I’m not sure, possibly notify the local council pest control department, if you do let us know whether they want people to do that Stephen - it could help others.
Best
Rod
Joe said,
March 17, 2011 @ 3:00 am
Was looking in my attic today wen i saw a strange spider next to an old dead wasp nest. It seemed pretty well established. Lots of webs around it. It also appeared to be pregnant. It looked like a black widow but was purpley brown in colour. Could see no other markings. However i could only see it from a profile point of view. I took several photos and it looks bloody scary. I think it may be a false widow from what the internet tells me however i dont get the purple tinge the spider had to it.. Im living in bristol in the southwest and have never seen one of these before information would be appreciated. Also would it be wise to get it destroyed as there are probably lots of them in my attic and i have quite alot of small animals in the house which may be vulnerable to these spiders.
Denise said,
April 3, 2011 @ 8:46 am
2.4.11
Hi, at our BBQ yesterday we noticed a wasp struggling in a very flimsy stringy web. The purple/black beastie appeared from the porch light. It expertly disabled the wasp lightly wrapped it and then dragged it up into the corner of the porch. We couldn’t believe our eyes as this was a large wasp, however the spider was comparable in size. I have had a look at some pics on the web and i think it is a false widow. There is a distinct absence of the usual spiders at the moment, which is strange because we live next to woodland and clunch but there are quite a few baby spiders milling around the site! We live in Burwell, Cambridgeshire.
Regards Dee
Rod said,
April 3, 2011 @ 9:09 am
Hi Dee,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site - it looks like they’re coming into season again - thanks for taking the time to comment
Regards
Rod
Elliott said,
May 3, 2011 @ 1:25 pm
Hi,
I am clearing out my Garage today and I’ve sucked up at least 3 of these ‘False Black Widows’! As soon as I pulled the cupboard out from the wall I recognized the nest from a program about the real Black Widow. Lots of criss crossed silk and egg pouches and a load of empty pill bug carcases! They give me the creeps!
Am I right in thinking they only nest low down as their main prey is crawling insects? Or might I find them in the rafters??
I live in Crossways, Dorset
Regards
Elliott
chelsea boy said,
June 1, 2011 @ 9:41 pm
hi where i work there are loads of the false widow spiders,we saw it kill a bumble bee twice its size,we opened the garage door it was like the scene from aracnophobia cobwebs from the floor to the ceiling and false widow webs all around the sides of the walls very scarey. i work in roehampton london and my mate caught one took a pic and looked it up on the web defo one hundred per cent false widows i reckon there must be at least 15 to20 full grown spiders and if they are mating there will be hundreds i refused to go back and work there but this is where children get changed and play so very dangerous to them but have informed council
Gary Mathewson said,
June 2, 2011 @ 5:40 pm
I have found three False Widows in my house, which is a worry because I have two young children and my youngest will pick one up straight away if He sees one. I found a large female under a cupboard in the kitchen, a male going for a wander across the kitchen floor and a juvenile in a bedroom. Obviously the female has laid eggs that have hatched. Can anyone tell me how many eggs a female would normally lay? I have sprayed the whole house with insecticide, so that should deal with the ones that were already there. I’m thinking of making an electronic device that will give out a regular pulse of sound (inaudible to humans) that will deter spiders and am conducting tests at the moment to work out the most effective frequency to employ. Any(serious) suggestions?
wedgwood said,
June 27, 2011 @ 3:36 pm
I know the spider is as far north as cleveland in the uk as a guy as just been bitten by one I saw the damage it did to his arm
kev w said,
July 14, 2011 @ 9:24 pm
i was working for virgin media in the heathrow area and in the cabinets there was loads of these false black widows , i found this out by taking a photo on my work phone and checking it out on the old tinterweb, in 3 months of working around the berkshire area i must of seen over a hundred of these things (not the best when your working in these cabinets) . now i think ive got them in my lean-to because of the triangle web that they spin and the thickness of them , and i live in derbyshire !!!!!!!!!!
Rod said,
July 15, 2011 @ 7:23 am
Kev,
thanks for the comment - really appreciated, it really does look tey are spreading in terms of area and increasing in numbers !
Best
Rod
Kirstie said,
September 28, 2011 @ 3:57 pm
I’ve just found a false black widow 2 in my garden :-/
Jennifer Russell said,
October 6, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
Hi there. I got a pain in my heel while in my kitchen on Tuesday afternoon. Heel has swollen and there’s like a yellow fluid under the skin. Then today I saw a pic of the false widow on the BBC website. I recognised it as the exact same as the dead spider I found in the kitchen and threw out of the back door yesterday.
I went and found the body which was still there and put it in a tupperware and took it to St Tiggywinkles in Haddenham, the wildlife hospital, this morning. They confirmed it is a false widow but made light of my bite saying since I’d not had a big reaction I’ll be fine, will just be painful for a few days.
It hurts to put my weight on my heel. Definitely keeping an eye on it even though sure I’m fine. Tiggywinkles asked to keep the spider so I left it, but I took a photo first. Apparently it’s very rare to be bitten by one of these. So I’ve been unlucky. Will post the photo in a minute.
Jennifer Russell said,
October 6, 2011 @ 1:33 pm
Hi, couldn’t work out how to post the pic so I’ve emailed you a link, Rod.
Rod said,
October 6, 2011 @ 1:34 pm
Jennifer,
many thanks for sharing your story/ordeal with us - really is appreciated and welcome ot the site.
I think this is the first report we’ve had here of somebody actually being bitten and the effects of it.
Regards,
Rod
PS. It’s not you Jennifer, only I can add manually pictures to the site.
Jennifer Russell said,
October 6, 2011 @ 1:43 pm
You’re welcome. And one good thing came out of it. By typing in on google ‘I’ve been bitten by a false widow spider’, I found your site!
Rod said,
October 6, 2011 @ 1:53 pm
Jennifer,
hope you find a few other bits of interest on the site, though I do wish you’d found the site in better circumstances
Regards
Rod
Chris Keyworth said,
October 6, 2011 @ 5:06 pm
I forgot to write this up last week Rod, Last Week Cindy Clark the Lady who Delivers the Grimsby Evening Telegraph Around Habrough was Imobilised by two Bites two her Foot, when it was mentioned to me by my Mother i Imeidiatly Though False Widow she had a bite to her Ankle and another to her Lower Foot, Her foot and lower Leg Ballooned up and she was in alot of pain, when i spoke to my mum on Sunday she was still confined to a chair, this is getting quite common and i cant for the life of me think why these spiders have been released into the country my take on this is if you see one Kill it its non native to this country and should not be able to reside in our homes and gardens, im known for my hatred of spiders i say kill them all but this one i would have no problem dispatching if they are capable of causing such pain and discompfort to us imagine what it could do to a small child or pet, it doesnt bare thinking about
Regards
Chris…
Rod said,
October 6, 2011 @ 7:13 pm
Chris,
I wonder how big a problem this has the potential to become ?
Best
Rod
debs said,
October 8, 2011 @ 9:46 pm
hello
iv recently moved into an old house with a big garden and noticed lots of these false widows, first noticed the first one in the outside porch with a strange web and it was eating what looked like an earwig :/ female one i think, well after a while we identified it on the internet and and found a few more in the same area plus a few smaller what look like male ones upstairs. after a while my boyfriend as horrible as this sounds blow torched it (im pregnant and have a toddler so i am concerned she may get bitten) it was definilty dead he checked several times and squashed it but a few days later its back in the same place using the same strange web but this time looks a bit fatter, either that or another has stolen its home. i have no idea what to do im terrified of them, other spiders do not concern me but these ones creep me out, i live on the isle of wight and iv heard there a problem here.
Rod said,
October 9, 2011 @ 7:51 am
Debs,
I’m sure in your circumstances you’re right to kill them, sounds like you’ve more than one.
I wonder whether it is worth contacting the local authorities, they may be able to do something in terms of pest control.
Kind regards,
Rod
debs said,
October 10, 2011 @ 10:27 pm
Hi thanks for your reply.
Unfortunatly i did contact a pest control who was very good but all they could suggest was i get the hoover out :/ and sent me some links for a ultrosonic repella.
Hopefully these creepy looking spiders leave soon cause tonight my boyfriend has found several more outside around the same area and if they dont evict themselves soon i shall have to move, they certaintly give me the creeps.
rob said,
November 8, 2011 @ 8:08 am
my son is 14 he came into our bedroom saying he hade a bad pain in his arm it looked like a bee sting when we looked in his bed there was one of these spiders the pain got worse for a few hours then he had chest pains in the morning we took him to hospital we also took the spider as he must of rolled on it and killed it it was a false widow i looked out in the garden there is at least 2 more out there the bite is very nasty
jean said,
November 8, 2011 @ 6:04 pm
Hi Rod, when we came back in April noticed a few o these spiders around and killed every one found,did not stop me being bitten the spider was in the side of the cushion of the sofa the are now 2 marks on my arm,at the time it was sore,but in September the bites flared up again.My motto is see one kill one!In Felixstowe they appear to be everywhere light sandy soil and very little frost,they love it.wonder if conkers will keep them away,glad I,m back in Spain where I don,t have them. Jean
Rod said,
November 9, 2011 @ 8:25 am
Jean,
their spread is getting quite alarming I feel. I’ve no statistics as such but I know this page is getting more views evey month - something’s happening out there . . .
Enjoy the sun, I’ve seen nothing but dark grey skies fo rthe last few days
Best
Rod