'Foreign' spiders in our flat and garden!

[hpsaucey]

We've been getting foreign spiders in our flat and garden for the last few years. Just caught another of these nasty beasties: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segestria_florentina

Anyone else plagued?

Helen

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Charming little matricidal buggers aren't they?

We've been having some huge spiders lately, but I don't think they are funnel ones.

[louisiana]

Haven't seen that type, but I was bitten - while gardening - by another type of spider a couple of summers ago here in ED. The wound got so bad I had to go to hospital. They told me they were experiencing a massive upswing in casualties with bites.

The bite went from tiny punctures, to dark blister the size of ping pong ball with halo-pattern inflammation throughout lower leg, to deep hole in leg. It took about 8-10 weeks to clear up.

[The Minkey]

Interesting post hpsaucey - that looks remarkably like a distinctive looking black spider that's lurking in a corner upstairs, for want of a crevice maybe. Ooh err!!

There's another spider which has invaded our shores called the False Black Widow (I think) which has a noticeable bite. I got spider bites for the first time in the UK three years ago when I was clearing old wood etc from my then new back garden. You can see the puncture marks and the bite blisters and makes the whole limb itch.

[hpsaucey]

Urgh - I'm sorry for other people's bites! The Minkey - I'm not for killing really and I always put out house spiders but I'm afraid we're killing these evil beasties and you might want to do the same! Nasty bite they have and agressive too.

[hpsaucey]

Partner says - they've got a 'surprising burst of speed too' LOL!

[Jeremy]

Minkey and hpsaucey - please let me know approximately where you live, so I know never to go within a 100m radius!

[Brendan]

I?ve got a bunch of these living out the back. Some attempted to move in through the window and colonise the bathroom but I got all up in their grill with me Raid.

There is also a population living in the brickwork on platform 1 at Denmark Hill Station.

They don?t bother me as much as the house spiders I?ve been getting in my new house that are as big as medium sized mice.

[Loz]

Jaysus - that picture on Wikipedia is a bit scary - green fangs??? I normally remove spiders out to the garden when they get in, but if I see one of those it's going to be an instant size 9.

[DJKillaQueen]

Damn foreigners, sneaking into our country illegally, breeding in uncontrollable numbers, infecting our population with displays of aggression and on some occasions ABH....biting today, knife crimes tomorrow I yell ya! And green fangs should just be damn well outlawed..... ;-)

[Pickle]

This is a thread I wish I'd never read :-S

[louisiana]

It's awright Pickle: we get bitten so that you don't have to :)

[Moos]

Pickle Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> This is a thread I wish I'd never read :-S

Pickle, I thought you Australasians were all immune to arachnophobia! ;-)

[Loz]

Moos Wrote:

> Pickle, I thought you Australasians were all

> immune to arachnophobia! ;-)

This one is not. Eeeeew.

[The Minkey]

Haha - I don't think it is my spider, it doesn't appear to have moved out of the corner at all and it's nowhere near a crevice. Luckily, I don't mind spiders at all - they do a good job keeping down less welcome visitors. I have one of those really delicate spindly ones living in my kitchen window.

Rest assured though, I am sensitive to the more delicate sensibilities of friends who call around, particularly if I know their phobic, and remove all traces of my housemates in advance ;-)

[Pickle]

I wish I was immune... then I'd be much better at dealing with the "Mummy Mummy, come and LOOOOOOOOOOOK at what we found" cries from the kids when they proudly show me the 8 legged monsters they find. Horrible horrible things (the spiders too).

[hpsaucey]

Yuk - I started this link and I'm fair freaked out and feeling a bit queazy. We've found 4-5 of them now including one in my trouser leg, but then again we live on the wrong side of the tracks in Nunhead LOL!

If you really want to spoil your dinner then have a look at these babies:

http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=segestria+florentina&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=tF99TPf5GdOQjAeXztzSDg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQsAQwAA

AND: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jorgenlissner.dk/images%255CPictures%255CSegestria_florentina_female_JL4564_4081.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.jorgenlissner.dk/Segestriidae.aspx&h=817&w=1220&sz=181&tbnid=4A5riewo3yC5jM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsegestria%2Bflorentina&zoom=1&hl=en&usg=__9BpTz5zRYkVewi4g5RRFkC73lag=&sa=X&ei=tF99TPf5GdOQjAeXztzSDg&ved=0CCAQ9QEwBA

Or this video showing the aggressive bu**ers in action. They're certainly not shy:

Urgh, urgh, urgh!!!!

[Pickle]

Aaaah, I can relax then! Hpsaucey, you make sure you keep your nasty spiders in Nunhead. I will contact our local councillor to see what can be done about a spider-proof perimeter fence ASAP!

[hpsaucey]

Aha - but if they're in Denmark Hill too they're gradually surrounding even ED!! Could make for a great horror movie.