This summer I spotted a particularly mean looking spider out in our utility room. It had been feasting on a couple of bumble bees it had caught in its tangle of web across the skylight. Although I am bot interested and scared of spiders in about equal measure I decided to let it get on with it.
A few months later media hysteria breaks out over the invasion of the killer spiders in the media! A quick check out the back - my spider was out there and it was definitely a false widow. I'm pretty confident it is a Steatoda nobilis, or the noble false widow; the most dangerous spider in Britain!! Obviously context is everything and being the most venomous in the UK equates to being about as bad as a wasp sting. Still, painful enough to give this fellow a bit of respect.
With all the news items in recent months I did a bit of research into the false widows. They are in fact related to the true widows which include the notorious black widow and red back spiders. I was interested to find out just how potent the venom of the black widow was - much more so than a rattle snake for example. Fortunately they are only capable of delivering a small amount in a bite and what is more the false widow's venom is infinitely less potent. It is related though; both are neurotoxins and it was found that the black widow anti-venom was effective against the bite from Steatoda grossa.
Anyway, so enthralled am I by these spiders I have set up a website dedicated to the false widow spider. Along with a few photos and information on the true nature of the false widows I'm hoping to gather information on their increasing range via the sightings page.