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House Spiders

NemJones

NemJones

I Am the Terror Of the Night!
Anybody else have House Spiders? Tonight before putting the plants under cooling,
I noticed this guy stalking around. Seems to like the towel I have infront of the
Nepenthes chamber. I tried to shoo him along to some other spidery crevice, but he didnt seem
afraid or even bothered by my presence/ushering. I decided to try and get a few close photos.

I think its a False brown widow?

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Camera shy now.


Im always really spooked taking close shots of spiders, but this one
let me get close and didnt even flinch. My Skins still got that crawling sensation.
 
Ever been bitten by a spider?
 
I have! I get a hard lump just under the skin for a few days and it goes away. I guess I haven't been bitten by one of the nasty ones.

I usually don't bother small house spiders. I feel like they are doing me a favor by eating the other creepy crawlies lurking around. If I do catch them I toss them outside.
 
It might be a Steatoda sp. (False Widow), but if it is, you would have nothing to be afraid of. While Steatoda are members of the family Theriidae, which includes Latrodectus, their venom very rarely has any noticeable affects on very large mammals, like humans.

Even if it can't be identified, it still is not anything to be afraid of. It is not any species of Latrodectus or Loxosceles, and therefore is most likely not a danger at all.

I like to let house spiders, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, another harmless species, build their webs in and around my highland Nepenthes. It creates a more natural growing area IMO.

1421518654182_zps028189c1.jpg

P. tepidariorum under a Nepenthes robcantleyi "leaf".
 
I think the more accurate Q would be: "Is there anyone who DOESN'T have house spiders.

Many folks have little to no reaction to Latrodectus bites either. Despite all the terror hype surrounding black widows, deaths due to widow bites is very rare. I recall checking the CDC reports several years ago (prompted by curiosity) and was rather surprised to see there hadn't been a verified death by black widow in the US in a 10-15 yr span.
 
I've been bitten by a wolf spider and a couple species of tarantula, but they were nothing compared to an unknown spider that got me walking through the woods. I put my arm up to sweep away a web in my path, and suddenly a red hot dagger sank into my forearm. I watched the bite turn red and swell into a 3/4" lump that broke open a few days later and took over a month to heal. Symptoms were more in line with a wheel bug bite, but unless it was trapped in the web it was likely a spider. All that said, I've never been bitten in a fight with a spider that I didn't start. House spiders eat lots of bugs, so an occasional one is welcome anytime at my place
 
No, I have never been bitten that I know of, except one day I woke up and found 2 dots about 1-2 cm apart from eachother on my forearm.
I wouldnt be surprised though, my room is a nest.

Do you know what it was that bit you?
 
No idea. Whatever it was was in a spider web across a trail in the woods. I got bit by a Wheel Bug once and it was a very similar experience. Maybe the spider caught one and the bug and I both just got lucky?
 
Not sure about inside the house (green or human), but there's been a St Andrew's Cross spider just outside the window for a week or so:

NVZ5cZx.jpg
 
  • #11
There are so many spiders in my house. . .
 
  • #12
I used to have an orb weaver in my living room a couple years ago. I had no plans to chase it out.
 
  • #13
I have spiders all over the house and in the greenhouses. A great advantage being in the UK is I'm not very likely to get bitten. All the spiders likely to inhabit domestic places are incapable of piercing skin. I think we have one that can bite and that's a water spider.
 
  • #14
Here the spiders can all break skin, but none of them seem to want to.
The only ones that ever seem agressive is the occasional grass spider.

We once had one about the size of a quarter that lived on our outdoor
Fountian. If people got too close, he would shoot out of his hole and fluff up and
Watch you, follow with all of his eyes. Get even closer and he would jump at your face
 
  • #15
Thanks Nem, I have absolutely no idea what size a quarter is.
 
  • #16
A quarter is a slightly smaller than a 5p piece
 
  • #17
A 5p is 18mm, very small coin
 
  • #18
fredg said:
Thanks Nem, I have absolutely no idea what size a quarter is.
Click to expand...
According to my unofficial measurement (taken within the last minute), a quarter has a diameter of 24mm.

On topic: Non-scary-looking spiders (jumping spiders, the skinny ones who live in the upper corners, etc) are quite welcome in the house (by me anyway). Anything that looks like it could potentially cause harm (fairly subjective & quick classification) gets moved outside (if it's lucky) or squished (if it's not). The one shown in the pics in original post fits into the 2nd class ... ???
 
Last edited:
  • #19
RL7836 said:
According to my unofficial measurement (taken within the last minute), a quarter has a diameter of 24mm.

On topic: Non-scary-looking spiders (jumping spiders, the skinny ones who live in the upper corners, etc) are quite welcome in the house (by me anyway). Anything that looks like it could potentially cause harm (fairly subjective & quick classification) gets moved outside (if it's lucky) or squished (if it's not). The one shown in the pics in original post fits into the 2nd class ... ???
Click to expand...

You are hereby banned from entering any lambic brewery worthy of the title!
 
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