All UK spiders are venomous, says Fergus Collins, but that doesn’t mean we have to fear them as their venom is unlikely to affect us
All of the UK’s 650 spider species are venomous. From the tiny 2mm money spider to the cardinal spiders (one of Britain’s biggest spiders) with its impressive 14cm leg span, spiders kill prey by stabbing it with their fangs and injecting venom to paralyse or kill.
Only 12-14 UK species have fangs strong enough to pierce human skin but this only happens extremely rarely, and only when the spider feels under imminent threat of being squashed or trodden on.
A bite can be painful and there may be redness and swelling afterwards. These symptoms usually recede quickly although some people have allergic reactions to bites and stings and may require extra medical help.
Wildlife horror stories are meat and drink to tabloid editors looking for hyperventilating headlines. Autumn is a time for spider stories as it’s often when we become more aware of spiders.
Many species invade our warm houses hunting prey as it becomes cooler outside. In the garden and meadow, heavy autumnal dew bejewels webs, making them more visible. So beware opportunistic headlines in autumn, claiming ‘Spiders as big as rats’ and other rubbish.
In the past 30 years, there have been a couple of cases where spider bites have become infected, leading to fatal sepsis. In 2014, a woman from Aldershot died of sepsis that the coroner said may have been caused by a spider bite. The woman’s daughter found a dead false widow spider on her mother’s keyboard.
The noble false widow spider is often heralded as Britain’s most venomous spider. Named after the infamous black widow spiders (which can be deadly but are not native to the UK), these beautiful creatures are little bigger than a paperclip but can deliver a bite similar to that of a wasp sting. With UK spiders, there’s nothing to fear and everything to admire.