False Widow spider sends a shiver through Earlsdon household

A False Widow has given a Earlsdon family a few sleepless nights over the past week.

The tiny venomous spider species has been generating headlines in recent weeks with conflicting claims over the danger posed by the cousin of the deadly Black Widow although experts insist they pose no real threat to us.

Rebecca Hessel spotted one last Friday in the doorway of the house she shares with husband Ed and nine-month-old daughter Isabelle. It could be the first sighting in Coventry.

A quick Google search revealed it was not what her husband dismissed as a 'big standard house spider'.

"It was at the top of our front door curtain in our hallway. I spotted it immediately as it was black against the cream curtain," Rebecca told us.

"I was really hoping it wasn't a False Widow, given all the stories in the papers, but I went on the internet to identify it and found a photo that confirmed it was.

"Although I'm OK with catching spiders and putting them outside, they do scare me and I certainly don't want a False Widow biting me or crawling over me in the night so I did have a mini panic attack.

"We have a young daughter and were concerned about her safety. It's fair to say I didn't sleep very well that night and have been checking inside my shoes ever since."

The species, which are around 2cm in length, are understood to have arrived on these shores in the 1870s after travelling in banana crates from the Canary Islands.

They have mainly existed in the south west since although have been spreading further north.

There have been several sightings in neighbouring rural Warwickshire, but experts at Stratford Butterfly Farm have said Britons have been coexisting with the non-deadly False Widow their entire lives.

Spokeswoman Emma Bartholomew a small percentage of people would have bad reactions but the chances of being bitten were small as only females bit and most would not unless they were disturbed and provoked.

She also dismissed hysteria caused by pictures of a man's injuries being circulated around the internet whose his leg was cut open following a False Widow bite, saying it was more down to his bite becoming infected and not because of the venom.

"They have been peacefully living in dark, quiet, corners, sheds and garages eating small insects, particularly in the south west, ever since," she told us.

“We have displayed the spiders here in the past but honestly there is nothing to worry about.

“Sensational articles have brought this species to public attention and people are afraid of it, but people can have severe reactions to any number of things, take peanuts for example, this does not mean that peanuts are dangerous to the majority of people."