5 days ago
Warning issued as Britain's 'most dangerous spider' with 'unbearable' bites invades homes across the UK
A stark warning has been issued as Britain's 'most dangerous spider' with an 'unbearable' bite, is about to invade homes across the UK.
False Widow spiders are set to appear in greater numbers as spider mating season is set to begin later on in August.
This is prompting experts to urge people to keep windows closed both day and night.
The venomous animal delivers a bite that, although not lethal, can cause swelling, painful burns and even fever.
It is the largest of the three false widow species commonly found near homes.
Dr Tom Elwood said as 'spider season' kicked off this month - when horny males move indoors to search for mates - the eight-legged critters could scuttle through pipes into homes.
The arachnologist said: 'August is when male spiders become active - they're searching for a mate and they'll wander through open windows, up walls, into bathtubs - anywhere they can.'
It comes after Dr Elwood this week urged Brits to clean their windows to stop grimy, cobwebbed frames becoming a haven for the poisonous arachnids.
Dr Elwood encouraged Brits to keep their bathtubs, sinks and other areas of their homes clean and tidy to hold back the invasion of venomous critters.
He said: 'Spiders are drawn to dust, insect remains and debris.'
He added: 'Spiders are already on the move. You may not see them, but they're out there, climbing walls, slipping in through vents and squeezing through the tiniest cracks.'
The noble false widow is 'widely regarded as the most dangerous spider breeding in Britain,' according to a 2020 paper by Clive Hambler, an Oxford University zoologist.
Known as Steatoda nobilis, they're not native to Britain and are thought to have arrived from the Canary Islands in banana boxes in the late 1800s before slowly spreading northwards.
The Daily Mail previously reported that a man believes he was bitten by this spider left him in 'unbearable' pain and struggling to walk.
Keith Robinson, 65, says he developed a large, angry inflammation on his leg shortly after clearing out cobwebs at home.
At first, he tried to treat it himself using painkillers and savlon, but before long, it became too much to bear and he went to the hospital.
Now he's been diagnosed with cellulitis around the wound, and can only walk for short distances before 'intense pain' sets in.
He said: 'It must be more than a coincidence that I had removed a large number of cobwebs from the house by hoover.
'So I'm thinking that I've disturbed a spider, and at some point, I got bitten.'
The bite, unnoticeable at first, only got worse as the days passed.
ARACHNOPHOBIA IS IN OUR DNA
Dating back hundreds of thousands of years, the instinct to avoid arachnids developed as an evolutionary response to a dangerous threat, the academics suggest.
It could mean that arachnophobia, one of the most crippling of phobias, represents a finely tuned survival instinct.
And it could date back to early human evolution in Africa, where spiders with very strong venom have existed millions of years ago.
Study leader Joshua New, of Columbia University in New York, said: 'A number of spider species with potent, vertebrate specific venoms populated Africa long before hominoids and have co-existed there for tens of millions of years.
