Incy Wincy Spider.....

The first thing most people ask me about the Minibeast Mayhem Roadshow is am I going to bring any spiders. The answer is no. I have to say I absolutely love spiders and have no problem with them at all. When I worked for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust I was based on a fantastic nature reserve called Redgrave and Lopham Fen, www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org and it was here that I got very up close and personal with one of the UKs rarest spiders. The Fen Raft Spider, Dolomedes plantarius, is a magnificent spider and big too, with the females reaching a impressive 7cm across in maturity, www.dolomedes.org.uk. These spiders really are beautifully marked and totally gorgeous but unfortunately very dependant on one particular, specialized habitat. We have more than 600 species of spider in the UK. Only 12 have ever been known to bite humans -we have done a lot worse to them lets remember here! Included in those 12 is a particular family called Theridiidae or the Comb-footed Spiders. (So called because of the tiny bristles on the tips of their back legs that they use to spread out their web).This family includes a famous relative you will have heard of... the dastardly Black Widow. That is one spider you really do not want to get bitten by, especially as they have an uncanny habit of living inside toilet bowls. We DO NOT have Black Widow Spiders living in the wild all over the UK and NO ONE has ever died directly from a native spider bite in the UK. But what we do have is the False Widow Spiders Steatoda grossa and Steatoda nobilis. These are awesome little spiders with that distinct body shape that immediately raises your suspicions. They can bite, and I am told it is like being stung, but cases are rare. They are in Southern Britain and with the milder winters are beginning to spread northwards.