English Spiders

[China Doll]

Does anyone know how big english spiders can get up to?

I have had what I can only describe as a mutant bug living under my bed for a few days. Last night it apparently came out from under the bed and was discovered by my neighbours who promtly killed it and got rid of the body (harsh I thought).

I had assumed it was a actually a stag beetle (having only seen its shadow one night) but have been told it was a spider and that neither of them had ever seen one that size before in England.

Is it possible to get spiders the size of a very large stag beetle over here? Are they getting bigger? Is the change in weather effecting their size?

Many Thanks.
China xx

[~posy~]

hi hunnie!! we had a massive one on the outside wall the other day! i couldn't put a glass over it coz it would have squashed it's legs! and i wasn't picking it up with my hands!! at least your bug thing has gone now eh??!! xXx

[China Doll]

Well I certainly hope there isn't a stag beetle in there as well! Just glad I was out when it made another appearance but I would really like to know what species it is. I hope there are some experts on here!

[aka pixi]

We live in the countryside china and sometimes (though thankfully not too often) get huge spiders in the house. They are seriously the size of my palm, they arent the round bodied kind of spider but the ones with the long thin bodies. They are also one of the fastest spiders I have ever seen.

I just googled and found this too. Warning to anyone who doesnt like spiders, it may not be a good idea to open link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3902993.st m

[aka pixi]

ps how come ya neighbours were in your bedroom? nudge nudge wink wink say no more lol

[Rabelais]

The safe money says it's one of the following
Tegeneria domestica, body size up to 10mm
Tegeneria atrica body size up to 18mm
Tegeneria gigantea body size up to 18mm
Tegeneria parietina body size up to 20mm
Tegeneria saeva, body size up to 18mm
All are varieties of house spider.
I regularly wake up when they crawl over my face at night and they are the only spider large enough to make a noise as they walk over the plastic bag on the top of my wardrobe
Note the above is body size not span. Search the web using the Latin name and you see pictures to see if they match. The largest is the cardinal spider which is so called because it used to terrify Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court.

[ugly_bob]

i believe the common house spider in britain can, in certain cases of hot weather followed by light rain, grow to approx 10cm (body size), and have been known to attack humans.
Although not dangerous to healthy adults, they give a nasty bite and have been known to suffucate people by crawling in their open mouths whilst asleep.

[kuhugaq]

Have a google at Araneus diadematus China doll,their a common garden spider that often gets into the house (might be the critter that you saw)quite harmless.

[China Doll]

Thanks everyone, I've googled all suggestions.... frankly it could have been any of those whoppers but at least I can tell my neightbours that a baby terantula has not escaped from the research park and it most likely is an english spider. This thing definately had a massive body span as well as thick legs.

Pixi... cheeky thing! I left my door open when I went out ;0P

God... I feel all shuddery now!

[Rabelais]

10 cm? Good lord Ugly bob, they wouldn't even grow that big around Sellafield and as for suffocating people, a spider that big would be wider than a mouth. The day a credible record of a house spider suffocating a person exists Satan will be skating to work.

[China Doll]

I did read that it was an urban myth that spiders do go in to peoples mouth although have also been told that the average adult swallows eight of them in their lifetime... or possibly a year, can't remember.

[ugly_bob]

Sorry, I did make everything up in that last post. Had you worried though didn't it!!
Apparently people do eat a lot of spiders while they're asleep though - good source of protein.

[China Doll]

Bob.... you're an evil bar steward! I did actually read the 10cm as 10mm so should really have spotted that! Honestly...

[China Doll]

Rabelais, thank you especially for your answers. As I said, I did google all of them and at the moment I'm thinking it looked something like the tegeneria gigantea or tegeneria atrica. Also saw a mouse spider picture which wasn't too far off either for that matter...

Can I ask why you see the spiders you listed so often? Are you not terrified when they walk over your face?

[Rabelais]

I just live in the right sort of area in the south of england in an old house with plenty of spots for them to get in and out. They particularly like the back of the house where I am situated as the drainage for the shower room allows them access. They interest me, especially the way they move. They can run in bursts of incredible speed and then have to stop as they are out of oxygen, they then have to remain motionless as they recuperate. After a couple of runs they are literally unable to move. As to why I am not terrified, because they are just harmless spiders and I quite like spiders. (However the wasp invasion of my room in 1974 was quite another matter)

[China Doll]

I have a pretty bad phobia of anything with more than 6 legs and less than 2 (excluding fish) but have been working on it and am a lot better than I used to be. Think this critter may have put me back a little bit but to date have been able to get rid of most stuff on my own.

Stupid thing is that I'm actually very interested in bugs in general, they're kind of fasinating in a grotesque way (well if you're me they're grotesque).

The movement is part of what freaks me out but I had no idea that there was a reason why they stopped like that! Never occured to me they might be tired. Oh well, if I see one do it again, at least I'll know and then maybe I'll be a bit less afraid again if I know why it's doing it.

[Supernick]

When I was a mere nipper, my brother and I used to keep house spiders as pets. We never used to move them, but if we found a web, we'd go to it and feed the spider in it every day, recoiling in horror as it rushed out to devour the latest woodlouse that we'd found. Why didn't Mum just buy us hamsters?

Some of them were massive. Urgghh. You're on your own if you find another one China!!

[China Doll]

Yuck Nick! Did you never think about asking for a pet that you can hug? Honestly, boys really are made of puppy dogs tails!

You want to google some of these babies, I came over all jumpy looking at them, still it's therapy of a sort.

Thanks for leaving me on my own with them... tho on second thoughts, you'd probably just come in with a fly and try and feed the critter ;0P

[jon1968]

Yep, they�re definitely getting bigger.
I read somewhere that the type you describe only travel in pairs as well so if you�ve only seen the one then it�s the baby of the family and the REALLY big mummy & daddy spider will probably be around tonight looking for it �and they�re not gonna be happy with you!!

[China Doll]

Amazing how quickly you can go off a person Jonny! ;0P

Get back in my inbox, I prefer you there!

[whiffey]

I have seen a spider in my bath maybe 4 inches in span.

I did what I always do, draped a bath towel over the rim so it could get out while I was at work. They do not come up the plughole and should not be flushed down. They are good things to have in the house.