Is this a False Widow?

[croyde]

My son, who lives on the South Coast, said he felt something crawling up his leg. Caught a spider with markings on its back.

Sent me a pic.

I get to my place in SW London and see a spider coming out from the back of a painting.

Not big, maybe 18mm across with legs out but looks like the one my son found.



Is it time to blast off and nuke from orbit?

[Trevor555]

Looks like it, i get them in my place.

Nasty bite I'm told.

[croyde]

Just been doing some reading on the Natural History Museum website.

Seems the nasty bite is a fallacy. According to them it's no worse than a wasp sting.

I can't remember the last time I got stung by a wasp but a bee got me a few weeks back.

Surprisingly painful but pretty much gone after 10 minutes.

[bigpriest]

That marking is quite close to the PH logo

[TGCOTF-dewey]

I think it resembles the punisher logo...which is ominous.

[Tango13]

TGCOTF-dewey said:

I think it resembles the punisher logo...which is ominous.

The spider is going to take off and nuke the OP from orbit...

[Skii]

Yep, Male one.

we live on the south coast and we run into them more often than any others. they are very timid and not really any bother, blimmin' horrible looking things though !

[croyde]

Saw a female dead in the window jamb. Proper black widow shape, shiny and big, same marking on the abdomen.

Usually get the Giant House Spider in September and that one that spins webs across your whole doorway or between a parked car across a pavement onto a wall/fence/hedge.

Busted my glasses thanks to one of them years ago. Rushing to the station, face first into a web, panicked scrabbling at face, glasses fly off and thanks to my own momentum I managed to crunch them underfoot.

Blind as a bat, I had to feel my way back home.

[rallye101]

They are everywhere

[AlexC1981]

I usually make an effort to catch and release any creepy crawlies that come in, but I make an exception for false windows and mosquitos. They are an invasive species and some people can have a bad reaction from getting bitten.