Call for calm over Shropshire sightings of false widow spiders
A Shropshire spider expert is calling for calm over fears that the UK's most venomous arachnid has spread to the county.
Nigel Cane-Honeysett, Shropshire County Spider Recorder, said any sightings of the false widow should be treated as unconfirmed.
And even if the cousin of the deadly black widow spider had crawled into the county, he points to advice from the British Arachnological Society is that it is unlikely to cause much harm.
The eight-legged creature, hit headlines when Devon amateur footballer Steve Harris had to undergo emergency surgery on his leg after being bitten as he slept.
The species is said to be spreading further north due to warmer temperatures and Shropshire Star readers have told us they have found them across the county.
Eight creepy crawlies, thought to be false widows, were spotted at the Shrewsbury home of former Sundorne councillor Karen Burgoyne on two separate occasions this month. And Sophie Harris, aged four, of Baschurch, was left with a painful black wound after she said she was nipped by a spider.
Shane Wheeldon, from Dawley, captured a suspected false widow in his house and Harry Sheehan from Shrewsbury said his granddaughter, Kelly Parkes, saw one crawling on a cuddle blanket of her two-year-old son, Findlay.
Mr Cane-Honeysett, a member of the British Arachnological Society, said: "This spider has not been officially recorded in Shropshire yet so any sightings ought to be treated as unconfirmed until it has been reliably identified under the microscope by an expert. Unfortunately it is not a reliable means of identification to compare a spider with photographs or pictures, particularly many found on the internet.
"The main problem is people are now sharing pictures of what they believe is the false widow when it is in fact a garden spider or similar and then people are panicking when they see a garden spider in the house.
"But garden spiders will come into the house and they are harmless.
"My area of expertise is the identification of British spiders and not their behaviour, including spider bites, so I can only repeat advice from the British Arachnological Society that, even if they have been found, false widow spiders are not really as dangerous as people make out.
"It's been in the country since 1879 and has become very common in many areas of the south. Despite this, very few people are bitten by any kind of spider in the UK. The Natural History Museum website records no more than 10 per year countrywide.
Most people who have been bitten report it as similar to a bee sting and, although there have been a very few reports of adverse reactions, it doesn't appear to have been proved that a spider bite was definitely the cause.
No-one has ever died as a result of a spider bite in the UK."
He said if someone discovers what they believe is a false widow there is no reason to panic. "Just leave it alone, if you are really worried about it you should call pest control at Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin Council," said Mr Cane-Honeysett, a retired civil servant from Madeley, Telford.
The County Recorder network comprises a group of unpaid volunteers who strive to ensure the completeness and accuracy of records for their particular wildlife interest.
The British Arachnological Society's website now has a special page devoted to false widow spiders at http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/False+Widow+Spiders
