En lille 'Peter Edderkop' historie...

..men der er dog endnu ikke fundet giftige edderkopper i den fri natur i Europa.

Slægtens geografiske udbredelse: .....middelhavslandene.

Black widow spiders belong to the genus Latrodectus . They have a nasty bite and do occasionally kill. These are found around the world, including southern Europe, southern USA and Mexico, the Middle East and Australia. They are not found in the UK.

One species of false widow spider, Steatoda nobilis , appears to be the UK's most venomous spider.

This species came from the Canary and Madeiran Islands over a 100 years ago. It has been established in Devon for a long time but in recent years has been spreading along the south and east of England and is likely to spread northwards in years to come.

The severity of symptoms from any spider bite depends on the amount of venom that is injected. False widow spider bite reports include symptoms such as chest pains, swelling and tingling of fingers.

In the UK a succession of mild winters has increased the survival rate of a number of creatures that would more normally die off in cold winters.

'The distribution of the non-native Steatoda nobilis has increased steadily along the south coast over the last 15 years'