Spiders - what the hell is this in my garden ???

red10 said:

Try living in a barn conversion out in the sticks, millions of the little buggers. The bigger ones do keep the cats entertained until their legs fall off.

They must be huge to take off a cats legs 😉

ForeverAddickted said:

This one terrified me the other day

Forget spiders. Let's talk about the elephant in the room.

Gribbo said:

Stig said:

Yep OP is definitely a Garden Spider. Just like this one I got the other day.



Talking of Hornets (bog standard, not Asian) I got stung the other day. I saw a nest when I was out and about and got too close for their comfort. It was worth it though to get some cool pics.

I got attacked by a load of Asian Hornets when I disturbed their nest in our electric meter box, after a storm in France. It was only a couple of weeks after my kidney transplant. Reckon I was done about 10 to 15 times around the ankles and head / neck. Managed to get my gear out the van and treat the nest before collapsing on the drive. Seems I was lucky to get away with 2 weeks of fever and the obvious pain of the stings as some of the local farmers reckon that 5 stings would kill a Limousin cow.

Do you keep Asian Hornet eradication gear in your van? If so, where was your protective suit?

This all sounds very dramatic. Why didn't you just hide in the car?

Macronate said:

Came downstairs this morning and this was on the blind. Gave me a fright, I can tell you.

Any ideas on the species?

Looks like arachnid plasticus to me. Very common this time of year.

cfgs said:

Spider experts what is this?  Lifted a hydrant cover to be greeted by this arachnid beast, its abdomen was as big round as my thumb.

That looks like a Uglious Bastardis!

jimmymelrose said:

Gribbo said:

Stig said:

Yep OP is definitely a Garden Spider. Just like this one I got the other day.



Talking of Hornets (bog standard, not Asian) I got stung the other day. I saw a nest when I was out and about and got too close for their comfort. It was worth it though to get some cool pics.

I got attacked by a load of Asian Hornets when I disturbed their nest in our electric meter box, after a storm in France. It was only a couple of weeks after my kidney transplant. Reckon I was done about 10 to 15 times around the ankles and head / neck. Managed to get my gear out the van and treat the nest before collapsing on the drive. Seems I was lucky to get away with 2 weeks of fever and the obvious pain of the stings as some of the local farmers reckon that 5 stings would kill a Limousin cow.

Do you keep Asian Hornet eradication gear in your van? If so, where was your protective suit?

This all sounds very dramatic. Why didn't you just hide in the car?

Sorry, just read this. Yeah I had all the gear (including a veil) in my van because I ran a pest control business in France, and I needed to get rid of the nest so I could turn the power back on. Luckily the fuckers had calmed down and died off enough so I could manage to turn the main switch back on before the real pain and fever set in about 20 minutes later. Yeah, I can confirm it was very dramatic indeed

cfgs said:

Spider experts what is this?  Lifted a hydrant cover to be greeted by this arachnid beast, it's abdomen was as big round as my thumb.

Very difficult to say with any certainty. My first thought was Barn Funnel Weaver, Tegenaria domestica, but there are lots of similar looking species and there are some things about the photo that don't match my experience of that species: less hairy than I'd expect (though that could just be photo quality), darker femurs, high contrast shades on abdominal and carapace patterns (again that could be photo processing). I think the best we can say really is that it's probably some sort of funnel weaver and assuming this was in the UK that probably suggests that it's most likely (but not necessarily) from genus Eratigena or Tegenaria. I could be wrong though, even at that level. 

StAlf198 said:

They found some Asian hornets at my Mrs' school in Maidstone. They trapped it and then the official people give it some sugar. The hornets are let go and then fly straight back to their nest to report food. Do this a few times and they can triangulate the position of the nest. They found the nest and destroyed it.

Wait, your wife is still at school?

I got bitten or stabbed by some little fkr the other day while moving a bird box. Didn't see what it but it was bloody painful and my finger was swollen for about 4 days and itched like hell. Too early for a wasp, wasn't a bee but something lurking just inside the nestbox and I still have the mark on my finger. Little shitbag.

MrWalker said:

man_at_milletts said:

I got bitten or stabbed by some little fkr the other day while moving a bird box. Didn't see what it but it was bloody painful and my finger was swollen for about 4 days and itched like hell. Too early for a wasp, wasn't a bee but something lurking just inside the nestbox and I still have the mark on my finger. Little shitbag.

School holidays so it could have been a youth in a hoodie?

It's been a long time since I posted any spider pics, so I thought I'd share these with you. Both are Long-bodied Cellar Spiders. The first is a beautiful maternal moment of a mother caring for her eggs. The second is another spid (possibly the mate of the first one, it was quite close) with a shrink-wrapped Garden Spider. It just shows how brilliant this spids are. They may look like long gangly streaks of piss, but they are amongst Britain's Hardest Arachnids. Spider season is coming up soon. Enjoy these wonderful creatures and remember, they are no harm to us!



 

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