On 27/2/08 12:03, in article
, "Des
Higgins" wrote:
snip
--

The very delicate very very long legged spiders (Pholcus phalagioides)
do not bite
but the big hairy scuttling ones can pierce human skin. These are the
really big ones that you get stuck in bath tubs (Tegenaria species)
that people thought came up the plug hole but didn't. They can bite
and cause a reaction (swelling and pain) so I am wary of them although
I have hardly seen any for 4 or 5 years. It is as if they have been
replaced by Pholcus which used only be found along the south coast of
Ireland and UK in these here parts.


The majority of the spiders we get in the house are those tiny pin-bodied,
long legged ones. The hairy monsters do exist but like you, we see fewer of
them. I just know I'm going to regret saying that! When we were having the
house re-wired some years ago, the electrician withdraw his head from the
floorboards looking very white one day and said "they're breeding with
lobsters down there!". We get a lot of Hunter spiders in the garden and on
e.g. Window panes. But a year or two ago, we had some quite tiny spider in
the bed! It gave me a nip which didn't do much more than itch a bit but I
certainly felt it. And most of the neighbourhood probably heard my reaction
to finding it!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'