21 replies to this topic

[Still Waters]

A woman has described how a bite from a house spider in the UK almost killed her after her arm turned septic.

Natalie Hemme was lying in bed in her home in Wallington, Surrey, when the insect nipped her.

In a rare reaction, her arm swelled and the blood stopped flowing.

Surgeons planned to amputate it as her life was thought to be at risk, but in the end she managed to keep the limb.

http://www.telegraph...says-woman.html

[Armchair Educated]

i see these spiders all the time, in fact lifted my covers up after staying at a friend and saw a crushed one that must of snuck under in the night. i hope i wont have any severe  bites, hopefully my good karma from not squishing bugs might come in handy.

[ouija ouija]

I wonder if how their bite affects you depends on what they've just eaten?

[Coffey]

Was she allergic to it? Why didn't the reporter clear that up? I hate the media they never ask the important questions. Prefer to just scare everyone.


Anyone know if it's posisble if the common house spider could mix with spider like the black widow or false widow?

Edited by Coffey, 15 November 2012 - 03:50 PM.

[Hilander]

She was probably allergic to it.  I know some spiders can leave some nasty looking wounds on people one the venom takes effect without being allergic.

[TheLastLazyGun]

Spiders give me a shiver up my spine.

Edited by TheLastLazyGun, 15 November 2012 - 04:24 PM.

[TheLastLazyGun]

Coffey, on 15 November 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

Anyone know if it's posisble if the common house spider could mix with spider like the black widow or false widow?

I'm going to be pedantic here.

The species of spider known as the common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) lives almost exclusively in the United States and is not found in the wild in Europe.

The species of spider which bit that woman is Tegenaria domestica, known in Europe as the domestic house spider and in North America as the barn funnel weaver.  This species of spider is almost completely harmless, so much so that it will retreat when it thinks it is threatened by a much larger species of animal - such as humans - and can even be lifted from its web without much aggressive behaviour.  However, any female member of this species of spider will not hesitate to defend its young should it need to.  So it's likely that the Tegenaria domestica which bit that woman had young which it was defending.

Tegenaria domestica used to be found only in Europe.  It was once believed that it was taken to America by British lumber merchants during the Napoleonic wars amongst their wooden cargo exports.  However it has since been discovered that Tegenaria domestica had a common ancestor with the giant house spider (Tegenaria duellica) that spread to Europe and the rest of North America from northwestern Canada long before humans arrived in North America.

Almost every species of spider is venomous.

Edited by TheLastLazyGun, 15 November 2012 - 05:06 PM.

[Catz]

Have you ever wondered how many spiders the average person will swallow while sleeping during their lifetime???

[ouija ouija]

Considering how many spiders come into this country from abroad, it could well have been a Violin spider or a Brown Recluse spider. They are a similar size to tegenaria domestica and are brown, so if they didn't actually capture the spider, just had a glimpse of it, it could have been something quite dangerous. I wonder if it's still roaming about in her bedroom?

[ouija ouija]

Catz, on 15 November 2012 - 04:38 PM, said:

Have you ever wondered how many spiders the average person will swallow while sleeping during their lifetime???

NO!





although sometimes I wonder if one has laid it's eggs in my ear while I slept ...........

[Coffey]

TheLastLazyGun, on 15 November 2012 - 04:33 PM, said:

I'm going to be pedantic here.

The species of spider known as the common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) lives almost exclusively in the United States and is not found in the wild in Europe.

The species of spider which bit that woman is Tegenaria domestica, known in Europe as the domestic house spider and in North America as the barn funnel weaver.  This species of spider is almost completely harmless, so much so that it will retreat when it thinks it is threatened by a much larger species of animal - such as humans - and can even be lifted from its web without much aggressive behaviour.  However, any female member of this species of spider will not hesitate to defend its young should it need to.  So it's likely that the Tegenaria domestica which bit that woman had young which it was defending.

Tegenaria domestica used to be found only it Europe.  It was once believed that it was taken to America by British lumber merchants during the Napoleonic wars amongst their wooden cargo exports.  However it has since been discovered that Tegenaria domestica had a common ancestor with the giant house spider (Tegenaria duellica) that spread to Europe and the rest of North America from northwestern Canada long before humans arrived in North America.

Almost every species of spider is venonmous.

It's cool, I like learning new things so thanks.

Wuld you say they are venomous enough to cause this reaction though? Or does this suggest the woman has an allergic reaction to it?

Never heard of anyone having this affect from being bitten by one of these before in the UK.

Catz, on 15 November 2012 - 04:38 PM, said:

Have you ever wondered how many spiders the average person will swallow while sleeping during their lifetime???

Well I've read that is a misconception thta it happens often. Spiders prefer cool dry areas not really hot damp tunnels. lol So it does happen just very rare.

Edited by Coffey, 15 November 2012 - 04:45 PM.

[TheLastLazyGun]

Coffey, on 15 November 2012 - 04:43 PM, said:

It's cool, I like learning new things so thanks.

Wuld you say they are venomous enough to cause this reaction though? Or does this suggest the woman has an allergic reaction to it?

Never heard of anyone having this affect from being bitten by one of these before in the UK.

Well I've read that is a misconception thta it happens often. Spiders prefer cool dry areas not really hot damp tunnels. lol So it does happen just very rare.

There are around 700 species of spider in Britain, believe it or not, and about 20 of them can bite a human.  Almost all of these spider bites will be unpleasant, causing skin irritation, swelling and a little lump or blister.  But that is not life threatening and will soon clear up.

However some people do suffer severe allergic reactions to these bites and suffer anaphylactic shock.  That's probably what happened to that woman,.

It's similar to bee or wasp stings.  Almost everyone who gets stung by a bee or wasp finds it unpleasant, feels some pain and develops skin irritation, but some people suffer from anaplylactic shock when they are stung.

Here is a list of UK spider bites: http://www.nhm.ac.uk...ites/index.html

Edited by TheLastLazyGun, 15 November 2012 - 05:04 PM.

[Coffey]

TheLastLazyGun, on 15 November 2012 - 05:00 PM, said:

There are around 700 species of spider in Britain, believe it or not, and about 20 of them can bite a human.  Almost all of these spider bites will be unpleasant, causing skin irritation, swelling and a little lump or blister.  But that is not life threatening and will soon clear up.

However some people do suffer severe allergic reactions to these bites and suffer anaphylactic shock.  That's probably what happened to that woman,.

It's similar to bee or wasp stings.  Almost everyone who gets stung by a bee or wasp finds it unpleasant, feels some pain and develops skin irritation, but some people suffer from anaplylactic shock when they are stung.

Here is a list of UK spider bites: http://www.nhm.ac.uk...ites/index.html

I thought it would be soemhting alogn the lines of that, don't understand why the article didn't mention this information.

Wow didn't realise there was thta many spiders that would bite in the UK. Thanks for the info.

[TheLastLazyGun]

Catz, on 15 November 2012 - 04:38 PM, said:

Have you ever wondered how many spiders the average person will swallow while sleeping during their lifetime???

You don't have to worry about that.  It's just an urban legend.  The chances of you swallowing a spider as you sleep is almost zero.  Not only do most spiders have no desire to crawl into a person's mouth (they will stay well away from the mouth of an animal which they would see as a predator) but, in order for you to swallow a spider in your sleep, a series of unlikely coincidences will have to occur:

1)  If a spider crawled on your face, you will most likely feel it, so a spider would have to enter your mouth by "abseiling" into it from the ceiling on its silk thread;

2)  Then the spider would have to hit your mouth dead centre to avoid tickling your lips and arousing your attention;

3)  Even if it did that the chances are it would then hit your tongue, which has a highly-sensitive surface.  You would almost certainly feel it.  This would mean that the spider would have to land at the back of your throat without touching anything on the way in;

4)  And, after all that, you would then have to swallow at just the right moment.

So it is very silly to worry about swallowing spiders in your sleep because, basically, it is not going to happen.

[Mistydawn]

I know it was a close-up of the spider, but I don't think any of my house spiders look like that. Good to know it's a rare event anyhow!!