The great steatoda
Last week I met my new house-dwellers: the big steatoda.
The left is the male, the right is the female.
Of course, my new housespider went on an adventure...
And I went after it (cautiously). The great steatoda is closely related to the notorious black widow. Also a poisonous spider, but contrary to what her name suggests, she is only about an inch tall.
The male crawled under my desk for a while (perhaps to hunt for the mosquitoes that plague me in the evening) and then walked back to his wife.
Here you see the two running towards each other. For a moment, I was afraid that one was going to pick up the other, but luckily that didn't happen.
This spider has been quite common for several decades in Belgium and the south of the Netherlands (I live well in the middle).
As far as known, there are no cases of steatoda bites here yet.
Elsewhere, especially in Australia. Those cases learned that the poison of the great steatoda causes similar symptoms to that of the black widow.
These include heart rhythm disturbances, vomiting, fever, fluid accumulation, sticky breathing and muscle spasms.
The web has been empty for a few days now. I have no idea where the couple moved. As long as it's not directly under my desk, I'm fine with everything!
