Don't look in the shed......

Paul Iddon

I opened up the shed door tonight to get out a couple of garden canes for the missus (goodness knows why, we've nothing to use them on)...

Anyway, being a thoughtful guy, I remembered back when last year my friend housed herself up on the roof and cross-members, and I wondered if she was still living there, or would even be alive, or moving, seeing as it is a nigt on which I can see plumes of my breath.

And you know what?




She's been waiting for me!


Flash had to be used of course, but I have a few nice ones to share. Starting with this one.


Taken using the Sigma 105 macro lens.














And off she goes back to her funnel web in the shed...






Don't have nightmares...


Paul.

lispott

Wow Paul, she is a beauty. I hope I don't have nightmares. Great shots! Lisa

wilson44512

wow is right.

Lord Vetinari

Wonderful series Paul. Any idea on body length ?
Brian V.

Paul Iddon

Thanks folks.


Brian - she is huge! Body and head length at least an inch and ¼, add its legs more than double I'd say. Fully grown I'm sure.

Paul.

Lord Vetinari

Paul Iddon wrote:

Thanks folks.


Brian - she is huge! Body and head length at least an inch and ¼, add its legs more than double I'd say. Fully grown I'm sure.

Paul.

Must be The Giant house spider (Tegenaria duellica; formerly known as T. gigantea)

sunita

Nice series, Paul! The last one is my fave - brings out the differing textures very nicely.

Paul Iddon

sunita wrote:

Nice series, Paul! The last one is my fave - brings out the differing textures very nicely.

Thanks Sunita

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Must be The Giant house spider (Tegenaria duellica; formerly known as T. gigantea)

Brian, someone quoted this at me....

"I reckon you may have an 'aggressive house spider' or hobo spider (Tegenaria agrestis) there Paul, she happily bite you, without much provocation. They don't live in houses though, mostly sheds garages and lawnmowers from my experience."


Any credence in that?

Scrubs

Holy Sh*&^ I dident know we got spiders that big over here!
Great story though, brought a smile to my face. Reminded me
5 days spent nursing a green fly back to life a few years back.
As ridiculous as it sounds at was an amazing experience hahah!


Great shots here!

Scrubs

By the way... e-mail the pics to one of these guys.
apart from them probably appreciating good shots and may want to use
them for the archive. They will know doubt no its name

http://www.britishspiders.org.uk (under contacts)

Paul Iddon

Cheers Scrubs

PremiumMalt

My god I would never go back in that shed again lol. Great shots though!

Paul Iddon

PremiumMalt wrote:

My god I would never go back in that shed again lol. Great shots though!

Heheh... the wife won't either!

Lord Vetinari

Paul Iddon wrote:

Thanks Sunita








Brian, someone quoted this at me....

"I reckon you may have an 'aggressive house spider' or hobo spider (Tegenaria agrestis) there Paul, she happily bite you, without much provocation. They don't live in houses though, mostly sheds garages and lawnmowers from my experience."


Any credence in that?

I really don't know much about these spiders - descrition on the web
"

• Tegeneria domestica (Common House Spider), body size up to 10mm
• Tegenaria atrica body size up to 18mm
• Tegeneria gigantea (Cobweb Spider), body size up to 18mm
• Tegeneria parietina (Cardinal Spider), body size up to 20mm
• Tegeneria saeva, body size up to 18mm

Closely related to these is T. agrestis, with a body size up to 15mm, which is found on waste ground and open grassland."

Quite a while ago I found what i thought was T.gigantea in the garage and it had a body length of 2.2cms - pic below

Brian V.

Paul Iddon

Hi Brian.


After rwading this, I sent an e-mail to the British Spider Society and their expert promptly replied with the following information:



I contacted the British Spider Society and their expert there told me the following about my spider friend:


"Quote":



Firstly, great photo's.


The patterning suggests T. gigantea (this is the approved name) rather
than T. agrestris, as does the internal location. However, it is not
that simple, as there is also T. saeva in some parts of the country (and
we are not sure of the distribution), and even worse, the two species
hybridise. Work on this is being carried out by Geoff Oxford at York
University.

Yours is a female.

Tegenaria species very rarely bite and if they do it is painless. What
gives them a bad reputation is their size, speed and nocturnal habits.
Females can live for several years, but males, who live for a few weeks
with the female, die after mating and are sometimes consumed by the
female. Like all spiders living in houses they can withstand the very
dry conditions and survive for months without sustenance.

Regards.

John Partridge

"Unquote".




Paul.

tnjoann

Nice macros of the spider! Glad to hear she isn't likely to bite you

Paul Iddon

tnjoann wrote:

Nice macros of the spider! Glad to hear she isn't likely to bite you

So is the wife!!!


Welcome to DG btw.


Paul.