Spider query please help!

Hi All

My wife found a spider, we live in the Uk and we cannot identify it is certainly not the usual type we see scurrying around, it is only 2inches in diameter (thank fully!) but jet black and and shiny has got large fangs.... I am sure some of you are use to these types and much larger! Can you identify it?

It does not look like the one mentioned as it is all black, it has been suggested it is a tunnel web spider.

seen a few funnel web spiders. but i am not at all qualified to identify anything.
to me the 2 big black shiny fat 'noses' are those from a mouse spider rather than funnel web. and the 9th and 10 th legs(the short little forearms ) are short like those of a mouse spider. altho the mousespiders we get here are a bit fatter.

one of the funnel webs, the sydney funnel web is a real killer so dont get bitten.

i can remember as a seven year old laying in bed reading a comic book seeing something out of the corner of my eye. there on the pillow inches from my ear was a funnel web. we would get a few in the house every year. but only ever one on my pillow.

I gave the incorrect name should have said tube web spider not so dangerous but still painful...!

I like spiders and one of these black beauties came into my house a couple of years ago and agreed to pose for photos before being gently ushered outside again . I agree that with the suggestion that it's a tube web spider, probably Segestria florentina (if its fangs were shiny green in real life), shown in the first video:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7573530.stm

It's a nocturnal introduced species and can give a painful but harmless bite, but only if provoked. 'Tickling' for tube web spiders is an interesting way of getting a look at them

..that one makes the black widow look like a lamb..'on approach it raises it's legs and bares it's fangs'?? and then it 'jumps at you' !!??
yikes. I 've been living with black widows for years, and have never had an incident; they are shy and retiring, and evidently do a great job on other 'vermin' insects..sure I shake clothes that have been lying on the floor a while, but that's about it..
does this invasive species have a predator?

TedTheLed said:

does this invasive species have a predator?

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:devil: Newspapers

In Britain there are (I think) thirteen indigenous species of spiders with a bite as bad as (or worse than) a wasp or bee sting ... This is not including the spiders that come over from the rest of Europe or come in with imported fruit ... Some dogs have been killed by British spiders ... Our Yorkie had a nasty experience when he attacked a spider in the garden ... It bit him in the mouth and we had to rush him to the Vets ... Luckily he survived the spider bite but his mouth was tender for a few days and he wouldn't let us look in his mouth for several weeks ... He doesn't attack insects now , though he does sniff them and occasionally paw them.

A young Retriever Dog (18 months old) was killed by a spider bite apparently due to organ failure.

My Father was a Builder and was regularly bitten by spiders when demolishing old buildings ... He said that some were worse than bee stings and as he was also a Bee-keeper I think he knew what he was talking about.

I still don't kill any spiders that are found in the house and I pick them up in my fingers and release them safely down the bottom of the garden ... I have not been bitten yet.

There are two areas in my garage that are a sanctuary for spiders and have not been disturbed for well over thirty years ... The spiders there are very big though I don't know what they eat , as I don't see many flies or other insects in there.

I reported our dogs' spider incident to an internet site and was contacted by telephone for more details ... The gentleman was very interested and that is where I learned that pets had been killed by British spiders ... Can't remember what site it was , but it made interesting reading at the time.
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march.brown said:

... Some dogs have been killed by British spiders ...

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That was very interesting reading. I'd only ever considered the effects of spider bites on humans before.

A young Retriever Dog (18 months old) was killed by a spider bite apparently due to organ failure.

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Has anyone managed to discover the species that did that, or what the toxin was?

I still don't kill any spiders that are found in the house and I pick them up in my fingers and release them safely down the bottom of the garden ... I have not been bitten yet.

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Same with me. I only once got a mild warning nip, but nothing painful. Nice to hear of someone else being kind to them

There are two areas in my garage that are a sanctuary for spiders and have not been disturbed for well over thirty years ... The spiders there are very big though I don't know what they eat , as I don't see many flies or other insects in there.

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My brick garden shed is another safe place for them. Apart from the occasional woodlouse I've only ever seen them eat each other. Those Daddy Long Legs (Pholcidae) are amazing and can take down much more massive spiders.

I've taken thousands of photographs of different kinds of spiders, but have never seen a single housefly-type fly in a web yet. Maybe evolution's at work

I reported our dogs' spider incident to an internet site and was contacted by telephone for more details ... The gentleman was very interested and that is where I learned that pets had been killed by British spiders ... Can't remember what site it was , but it made interesting reading at the time.

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If you ever remember the site, please PM me with the URL. I'd be very interested to read more about it. I know that two Australian spiders are very dangerous for dogs, but had never heard of UK spiders actually killing them. Maybe it was anaphylactic shock caused by a second exposure rather than a direct effect of the toxin?

Very glad to hear that your Yorkie survived the experience. You must have been so worried on that journey up to the vets.

RBR said:

These do normally have no predators, beside climate and age.

Most of such toxical species come from warmer areas and don´t survive the cold weather period due to the lack of catches, if not due to temperatures.

And as they normally don´t find friends to joke around with they die as "singles without kids" from senility, fortunately.

It may go less well if this should be a girlie with some "subtenants".



Cheers

RBR

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is one girlie with some 'subtenants' enough to start colonisation or is the gene pool too small ? cheers

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RBR said:

It´s certainly not enough to start a colonisation in my opinion but i think it might be enough to cause some fine locally limited fun under good conditions.
RBR

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