‘Britain’s most dangerous spider’ is invading our beds and even our underwear, disturbing new testimony from victims of their venom has revealed.
Four Brits, each bitten by noble false widows in different parts of the country, have spoken out to raise awareness of the invasive arachnid.
It comes as the species enters mating season, with males – who are more prone to biting – heading into our homes to find females.
Vicky O’Dell was on holiday near Skegness in Lincolnshire when she found one in a particularly unfortunate place.
The 56–year–old said: ‘I was getting dressed, I had just gone to the toilet and I pulled my shorts up, and I felt something.
‘This massive spider fell out of my knickers. I was bitten on the top of my left thigh, and you could see the two bite marks.’
Cambridge pensioner Richard Gallimore had a rude awakening when he was bitten on the face.
He said: ‘I woke up and I couldn’t see correctly out of my left eye. I just put my hand up to brush away whatever it was, only to discover it was a large spider.
‘Britain’s most dangerous spider’ is invading our beds and even our underwear, disturbing new testimony from victims of their venom has revealed
Earlier this month, Adam Abrehart from Shefford, Bedfordshire, described how a bite left his leg swollen and turning black, landing him in hospital for three days
The leg of Adam Abrehart, from Shefford, Bedfordshire, after a noble false widow spider bite
‘So I brushed it away, but not before it bit me.’
The pain followed very quickly.
‘Within a minute or two I realised something was up,’ said Richard, 72.
‘At first, I thought it was just some irritation. It was only when it started to swell up that I thought to myself ‘that spider’s bitten me’.
‘It felt like someone sticking needles into me actually – that’s the best way I could describe it. It was very painful.’
Stewart from Solihull had a similar experience.
He said: ‘I was actually bitten on both my legs on the Wednesday.
‘I was asleep and my cat was on my bed, and I thought she was trying to bite my feet but I guess she was trying to get the spider.
Cambridge pensioner Richard Gallimore had a rude awakening when he was bitten on the face
Brits are being bitten outside their homes too. Amy Evans, from Redcar, North Yorkshire, was gardening at the time
‘The next day I came down with fever symptoms – like I just had a cold – and I didn’t actually notice much pain from the actual bites, just aching in my legs.
‘But gradually over the weekend my symptoms just got worse and that’s when I noticed a rash appearing down my legs and swelling.
‘By Monday I found it hard to walk and to put weight on my legs.’
Brits are being bitten outside their homes too.
Amy Evans, from Redcar, North Yorkshire, was gardening at the time.
‘It was in a massive heap of hedge cuttings from removing the hedge in the garden,’ she said.
‘I felt nothing more than a sting and thought it was a branch that had scratched me.
‘It wasn’t until the next morning that I saw the two bites.
Vicky O’Dell was on holiday near Skegness in Lincolnshire when she found one in a particularly unfortunate place – her knickers
A noble false widow spider or Steatoda nobilis spotted by Stewart, from Solihull, at his home
‘Over time my ankle completely swelled.
‘I got pins and needles and tingling lips, which made an ambulance come out because they thought I was having anaphylaxis – but it was a reaction to the venom.’
She continued: ‘It was awful; I felt like rubbish.
‘I couldn’t walk and had to borrow crutches from a friend.’
These aren’t the first victims to come forward with horror stories about the noble false widow.
Earlier this month, Adam Abrehart from Shefford, Bedfordshire, described how a bite left his leg swollen and turning black, landing him in hospital for three days.
The noble false widow is ‘widely regarded as the most dangerous spider breeding in Britain,’ according to a 2020 paper by Clive Hambler, an Oxford University zoologist.
But the severity of symptoms from their venom varies.
According to the Natural History Museum, many bites ‘are no worse than the pain of a wasp sting’.
That was the case for Miss O’Dell, from Stafford.
She said: ‘It felt like a bee sting so I put some ice on it. It felt like that for a few hours, and I could kind of feel it the next day.’
But for others the severity of their injuries has made them want to warn others.
Stewart, 43, said: ‘I’m one of the unfortunate ones who are allergic to their venom but there are much more serious cases of these bites occurring.
‘Check everywhere for them, and if you have children around, get someone out to try to rid your home of them.’
Noble false widows or Steatoda nobilis are not native to Britain.
They’re thought to have arrived from the Canary Islands in banana boxes in the late 1800s before slowly spreading northwards.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .