But these spiders only bite when they feel threatened.Jan Beccaloni, Curator of Arachnida and Myriapoda, says 'During my time at the Natural History Museum I have, not surprisingly, met many people who are scared of spiders.
But this is only because they leave the nest in search of a mate, often venturing indoors looking for females.
It reaches a body length of between 8.5 and 11 millimetres.
The False Widow spider is often mistaken for its much more dangerous distant cousin, the Black Widow.
Its legs are a reddish-orange colour.
Each sac can contain 200 or more cream-coloured eggs. 'So next time you find an unwanted spider in your house, please donât kill it!
Every autumn there are reports of false widow spiders becoming uninvited eight-legged houseguests in homes across the UK.But despite looking similar to the more dangerous black widows, all these spiders are likely to do is give you a small and relatively harmless bite.It might seem like false widow spiders make a dash for your home as soon as the weather gets chilly, but they can actually be seen inside year-round.Temperature may be one cause of the arachnid exodus as they attempt to get out of the cold, but some may have long gone unnoticed in the darkened corners of the house.The name false widow is given to species in the genus Each species is fairly distinct in colour and size.The noble false widow is most commonly reported and it is the largest of the three most common species. Steatoda nobilis Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Infraorder: Araneomorphae Family: Theridiidae Genus: Steatoda Species: S. nobilis Binomial name Steatoda nobilis Steatoda nobilis is a spider in the genus Steatoda, known in the United Kingdom as the noble false widow and often referred to as the false widow. Thatâs a great pity because spiders are awesome creatures which are sadly misunderstood. As the … Now we're wondering if you can help us.  Every year, more people are reading our articles to learn about the challenges facing the natural world.
View our
newspaper archive.is expected to increase northwards in the UK, due to, at least partly, mild winters in recent years.Noble false widow spiders have a distinctive white marking Noble false widow spider (left), the rabbit hutch spider (top right) and the cupboard spider Lyme disease: Feeling this in your head could be a warning signFalse Widow spiders: The spider's venom can cause localised pain Black Widow Spider's cousin Noble False Widow SPOTTED in UK False Widow Spider ‘invasion’: Where are False Widows spreading to?False Widow spiders: The False Widow is one of Britain's most dangerous spiders False widow spider invasion: UK spider-bite hotspot REVEALEDFalse Widow Spiders MAPPED: Sightings and incidents on the rise False Black Widow Spiders mate in the spring and the females can produce three or more egg sacs or cocoons from May through to July. Understanding and protecting life on our planet is the greatest scientific challenge of our age. In homes they often prefer to skulk in kitchens and conservatories.
form a group of species that, because of their general resemblance to the much more notorious black widow spiders (Latrodectus spp.
'False widows can live in relative harmony with us - they're even tidy houseguests, helping to keep the place clear of flying insects and other pesky invertebrates.... or that it helped you learn something new. Noble False Widow spiders arrived in the UK around 1879, migrating from Madeira and the Canary Islands. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper,
The False Widow is a species of dark-colored spiders that gets its name because of its strange resemblance to the infamous and venomous black widow spider.