What is this spider? thread

and yes my grass is awful

It had a white ring around the body and then a symbol that looked like an on/off button

Could it be a false widow?
I wonder if Google will come up with answers.

I'm not sure how to do it.

I thought false widow too. I’m off for a Google…

Google lens allows you to search the image.
I found an exact match, then realised it had just been posted on gransnet.

I have seen some spiders like that one. Probably one of our many species and harmless but better to be on the safe side and keep away from it.

This is from the natural history museum

What do false widow spiders look like?
All species have distinctive sets of markings on their abdomens: they have a narrow white or lighter band around the front of the abdomen towards their head, and also other markings that vary by species. However, all of these marks can be variable, faded, or missing, especially in adult females.

Females have a globular shiny abdomen, while male abdomens are smaller and less rounded, but are more clearly marked.

Their webs are a tangle of criss-cross threads which may become quite dense in the centre if left undisturbed.

I think false widow as well 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️
We had one in our bird box a couple of years ago..

We had some flash floods here, and my friend went for a walk to check out which areas, etc.

She was bitten on the heel by a false widow, and ended up with a really lengthy infection.

She has dark, scarred, pitted skin now, on about half of her foot.

Oh dear that sounds nasty. I'm glad I moved it now.

Google 'false widow' and then images and you'll see quite a variety of pictures, but some look exactly like yours so I'd say that was a definite identification. It's not a native species and can give a nasty bite so I'd have no trouble killing it.

Here's an article:
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-dangerous-are-false-widow-spiders.html

Thank you I don't really like killing spiders

Sounds like some of the nasty ones we get here in Australia. I never,ever touch a spider because some of them are quite deadly.

Are you afraid of them, nanna8?1

JaneJudge

Thank you I don't really like killing spiders

I never kill spiders either, but I probably would if I knew it gave a nasty bite and more importantly was not a native species. Any creature not native to the UK can destroy the ecosystem by killing our native species. Look at those horrible Asian Hornets which are killing all our bees. 😢

What is this spider? Big and scary!

Oh yes, it is scary looking.
I think I must have been a fly in a former life.

My son was bitten on forehead whilst clearing an overgrown garden. He had to have antibiotics (went to A&E) and does have a couple of scars. It looked awful whilst it was healing. He was told at A&E that it is rare to be bitten and even rarer to have such an extreme reaction to the bite.

My neighbours heel just kept peeling, and underneath was more infection, for months.

Could it be a zebra spider. Harmless, I think.

MissAdventure

My neighbours heel just kept peeling, and underneath was more infection, for months.

😬😮Eeeeek!

MissAdventure

Are you afraid of them, nanna8?1

Not particularly but the ones here can actually kill you so best be aware. We had a nest of red backs once in the roof, wasn’t going to engage them in conversation! We don’t,as yet, get the funnel webs but they are moving south apparently. We get quite a few huntsmen but they wouldn’t kill you, just a nasty bite. White tails bite and then the skin rots and can cause problems for years, like ulcers.

We get the white tails here. Nasty critters, can’t be doing with spiders, they should be very afraid when they see me coming…with their 8 eyes or so!

I don't think that it's a false widow. As far as I know they have a pattern on their back. It's big though and looks distinctive! We do have the odd large black spiders in the garden with bulbous bodies, they live in funnels. I don't like them, but never kill them.