Reports of the venomous false widow spiders across Britain have forced one school to close and an elderly man to be transported to the hospital after experiencing a badreaction a bite, the Telegraph reports, and experts believe spider populations will continue to rise.
Just in time for Halloween, the false widow spider is currently becoming "more common and more widespread," as John Tweddle, head of the Angela Marmont Centre at the Natural History Museum, told the Telegraph.
"It is likely that this spread is at least partly a response to a changing climate and as such we're expecting the species to continue to increase its distribution within the UK," he said of the spider that's about the size of a 50p coin. Climate changes, especially Britain's slow start to summer followed by a sudden heatwave, may be helping the spiders breed.
False widow spiders first appeared in the UK in the 1800s, brought over by ships from the Canary Islands. Since then, populations have "rapidly spread," the spider having been spotted in places such as London, Wales, Birmingham and Norfolk.
While bites from the false widow are rare, it is one of the 12 spiders out of the 650 species that inhabit that UK that does bite humans. Most bites are from female false widows that have been aggravated.
Shiny and black with cream-colored markings, the false widows are often confused for black widow spiders due to their very long legs, though unlike their extremely venomous cousins, false widows are relatively harmless.
Students at a secondary school in Glouchester recently got the day off for fumigation, as their building is currently infested with the spiders.
"Reports from people thought to have been bitten by Steatoda nobilis describe varying levels of burning, discomfort or numbness and associated swelling in the area surrounding the bite," a spokesman for the Natural History Museum told the Independent, adding that spider bite symptoms, including swelling and burning, usually disperse within three days or so.
