Here, spidey spidey: Fear not the ‘shy’ arachnid false widow (Picture: Alamy)

Apparently you don’t need to go down to the woods today to be sure of a big surprise – the false widow spider will come to you.

Amid claims of a rampaging false widow spider army on the march across the UK, we sought expert advice to determine whether this story was being spun to portray the arachnid in a bad light.

Here are eight reasons why you don’t need to worry about the false widow after all.

1 They are as scared of you as you are of them


‘The species of spiders that we have in the UK are generally shy. Even false widows are not aggressive. They’re a small animal in a big world,’ Graeme Skinner, principle ecologist at environmental consultancy Naturally Wild, told Metro.



Spiders – including false widows – are afraid of being squished or eaten, so they are vying for a humble life in the crevices of home foundations or in the crannies of garden sheds. It won’t jump at you and it certainly shouldn’t pursue you.

2 They have integrated with our communities

‘It’s widely known that false widows been in the country for over 100 years,’ Mr Skinner told us, so these creepy crawlies and their families probably set up shop long before you were a twinkle in your parents’ eyes.

Sophie Harris was bitten on the back by a false widow spider, but her mother Amy was told to just give her antihistamines (Picture: SWNS)

3 They don’t bite (kind of)

Often people who get a severe reaction from the bite of a false widow are allergic. This is the case among many parts of the animal kingdom, like with insects such as wasps and bees.

But it’s actually quite hard to get bitten by a false widow. Due to their sedentary nature – false widows like to stay in their webs – bites can be the result of it getting agitated, for example a person putting their hand through a web or sitting on one by mistake.

4 Wasps are the real menace

‘When one considers the undoubtedly large number of people who are stung each year by wasps and bees, the risk of being bitten by a false widow spider must surely be relatively small,’ says the British Arachnological Society.

‘It is only a small number of the larger species of spider which have fangs capable of penetrating human skin.’

And in any event, it probably wasn’t a spider that bit you after all.

‘There are currently few definite recorded occurrences in Britain since 1979, many reports almost certainly being the result of non-spider-related causes which have incorrectly been assumed to be the result of “false widows”,’ the society added.

Sadie Perry was shocked when she found out her daughter Ava had been holding a false widow spider (Picture: Masons)

5 False widows are part of the ecosystem

False widows are critical to the survival of many birds which rely on them as a crucial source of food.

‘We’ve got millions and millions of spiders across the country, that’s just part of the natural world. Spiders are there and it’s unfortunate for people who are scared of them,’ said Mr Skinner.

6 You can’t blame climate change on a spider

While a false widow is highly unlikely to attack, reports that it has spread are true.



The steatoda nobilis or ‘noble false widow’ was first recorded in Torquay in 1897 and was at the time confined to a few locations along the south coast.

‘It is now spreading, perhaps as a result of global warming, so that it is now recorded across southern England as far north as Norfolk,’ the British Arachnological Society added.

That isn’t a spider, this is a spider: Australia has to contend with the funnel web spider (Picture: Getty)

7 We’re not in Australia

‘We’re not living in Australia where they’ve got spiders that can really put you in trouble. We’re living in Great Britain,’ Mr Skinner said.

8 Media in scare story shocker? Never…

Greg Hitchock, of the Kent Wildlife Trust, said it all: ‘False widows are getting a very bad press.

‘They are no more dangerous than eating a peanut. But quite often alarming headlines are used to draw people in.’

More: Eight things you need to know about the false widow spider