Venomous spider discovered on Canvey (From Echo)

"UK's most deadly spider"

From Wikipedia:

Steatoda (False Black Widows) are significantly less harmful to humans.... bites by Steatoda species generally do not have any long-lasting effects

So I take from this that the UK's "most deadly" spider is in fact not deadly at all.

Good work, Echo. Good work.

EastStBoy wrote:
"UK's most deadly spider" From Wikipedia: Steatoda (False Black Widows) are significantly less harmful to humans.... bites by Steatoda species generally do not have any long-lasting effects So I take from this that the UK's "most deadly" spider is in fact not deadly at all. Good work, Echo. Good work.

You obviously take Wikipedia as gospel......

http://www.telegraph
.co.uk/news/newstopi
cs/howaboutthat/9210
860/Woman-nearly-los
t-arm-after-black-wi
dow-spider-bite.html


This real life example would suggest that they are more poisonous than the tripe you found on Wikipedia.

Hardly the Day of the Triffids is it? Oh I forgot - it's Wednesday the Pipe and Slippers Gazette team have a team-bonding day at the Jelly Tots plays school ....

Russ13 wrote:

EastStBoy wrote:
"UK's most deadly spider" From Wikipedia: Steatoda (False Black Widows) are significantly less harmful to humans.... bites by Steatoda species generally do not have any long-lasting effects So I take from this that the UK's "most deadly" spider is in fact not deadly at all. Good work, Echo. Good work.

You obviously take Wikipedia as gospel......

http://www.telegraph

.co.uk/news/newstopi

cs/howaboutthat/9210

860/Woman-nearly-los

t-arm-after-black-wi

dow-spider-bite.html



This real life example would suggest that they are more poisonous than the tripe you found on Wikipedia.

Natural History Museum states:

Adult spiders are capable of biting humans. Spiders are not aggressive and most injuries to humans are defensive bites delivered when a spider becomes unintentionally squeezed or pinched.

Steatoda nobilis
Steatoda nobilis the false widow spider will only bite defensively when under attack.

The bite of the false widow spider can be medically significant in humans, but usually without any long-lasting effects.

Reports from those bitten describe a certain amount of pain, which often radiates along the limb or part of the body where bitten, and often a degree of swelling in the affected part. Some describe fever and a general feeling of being unwell. These symptoms may last for a couple of days but the total effect is unlikely to be more serious than that.

As for bites from other species in the genus Steatoda, it can produce a set of symptoms known as steatodism.

More serious symptoms have occasionally been reported, but are likely to be the exceptional reaction of individuals to the venom. It is always advisable to seek medical attention if symptoms persist.


So not really a massive danger to people.

breed 'em up and train 'em to attack knife wielding hoodies then put some in every shop and post office and amusement arcade etc on the Island...

Barely news. We get these in our house. As others have noted, they'll only bite if attacked and even then it's trivial unless you have an alergy but that would be true of anything if an individual had a bad response to it. #notnews

We have quite a few of these spiders at work , they are no threat and if you do get bitten which we have had here there were no real effects worse than a gnat bite.

Russ13, you've obviously got a boner for fact integrity, I'm sorry I dont have a subscription to National Geographic to give you some solid facts.

My point was regarding the article showing "most deadly" in the title and throughout the piece. You may find it disappointing that the Echo has found this to be a little OTT and has amended the references of "deadly" to "venomous"

I will let you go back to your coin collecting and train spotting, factboy.

Russ13 wrote:

EastStBoy wrote: "UK's most deadly spider" From Wikipedia: Steatoda (False Black Widows) are significantly less harmful to humans.... bites by Steatoda species generally do not have any long-lasting effects So I take from this that the UK's "most deadly" spider is in fact not deadly at all. Good work, Echo. Good work.

You obviously take Wikipedia as gospel...... http://www.telegraph .co.uk/news/newstopi cs/howaboutthat/9210 860/Woman-nearly-los t-arm-after-black-wi dow-spider-bite.html This real life example would suggest that they are more poisonous than the tripe you found on Wikipedia.

Anyone can have a bad reaction to any kind of bite from any kind of animal. That’s just life (or death).

These, quite prolific, spiders can't be that dangerous otherwise there'd have been a lot of such news stories over many years. How many more have you seen?

I suspect Russ13 is scared of all creepy crawlies, snakes and spiders. He probably has to keep the light on at night, in case the Bogieman comes to get him too.

Yes they are venomous, but so are the majority of other spiders in the country!
The false widow, along with other UK spiders will generally only cause a reaction if you are allergic or get an infection!
You have just as much chance of an allergic reaction to a bee.

Oh and echo, spiders are not poisonous, they are venomous.

I know two people who have been bitten by the false widow spider and I think if you ask them they would describe it slightly worse than a bee sting or a gnat bite, one if them had her leg swell to nearly double the size and the wound had to be redressed for a number of weeks, and the other was so bad the wound got bigger and bigger resulting in losing all his flesh on half of his lower leg and needing to spend time in hospital, so please don't shrug these spiders off you may be one of the unfortunate who will react in this way if bitten!! I have known them to be here for about 3 years now and think its a good idea to make people aware of them. Also this 'news' is certainly more welcome than the recent bad press Canvey has been getting.

Warriorisme wrote:
Oh and echo, spiders are not poisonous, they are venomous.

have you ever tried eating one?

;-)

minesabud wrote:
I know two people who have been bitten by the false widow spider and I think if you ask them they would describe it slightly worse than a bee sting or a gnat bite, one if them had her leg swell to nearly double the size and the wound had to be redressed for a number of weeks, and the other was so bad the wound got bigger and bigger resulting in losing all his flesh on half of his lower leg and needing to spend time in hospital, so please don't shrug these spiders off you may be one of the unfortunate who will react in this way if bitten!! I have known them to be here for about 3 years now and think its a good idea to make people aware of them. Also this 'news' is certainly more welcome than the recent bad press Canvey has been getting.

That's as maybe but the article says

"...it is the female that delivers the potentially fatal bite."

Which appears to be completely wrong unless you consider other bites/stings such as those delivered by bees as 'potentially fatal' due to possible allergic reactions.

All spiders are venomous. Check out the story in last weeks Daily Mail about a woman who nearly lost a limb because of a spider bite. If they get seen in my house they go straight up the hoover. Outside the house they can do as they please, but the big one on my curtains a couple of months ago just had to go. It was nearly 5 inches across. Gave me the shivers it did.

Never know, it may have bitten the 'Echo reporter" and created our local super hero "Spider man Essex style to fight crime"

Good ol' Echo

Never let the facts get in the way of a good headline

Great story, Echo.

Now we'll have loads of cretins stamping on every spider they see.

As someone else ably pointed out, these little things are no more a risk to people than wasps - sure, people can have a bad reaction, but its not something that happens often.