My girlfriend and I have just discovered a spider in our garden and wondered whether you guys might be able to help identify the species. I don't have a photo yet as it's pretty dark outside right now. I'll try to get one tomorrow. The critter in question looked very much like an orb web spider but was a lot darker than any orb web I've seen. It was pretty much black. It also had two little 'pits' towards the front of its abdomen.

I know this is a pretty crap description but hoped you clever people might be able to work it out anyway.

Does it look like this? It's a False Black Widow.

Blackadder wrote:Does it look like this? It's a False Black Widow.

Nah, not quite. It's abdomen was much fatter, though the little intentations on it's back look the same. Perhaps it's my ignorance of spiders, though. Does the size of the abdomen change during a spider's lifetime? I did think it looked a lot like a black widow.

If it's a Steatoda species, then the Natural History Museum comes to the rescue ... there are six Steatoda species to be found in the UK, including one introduced species. The full list of known European species is as follows (taxonomic & distribution data from the Fauna Europaea website):

Steatoda albomaculata (De Geer 1778) - found virtually throughout Europe including UK
Steatoda bimaculata (Menge 1869) - apparently restricted to a few records of doubtful provenance in Germany
Steatoda bipunctata (Linnaeus 1758) - found virtually throughout Europe including UK
Steatoda castanea (Clerck 1757) - Continental Europe, not found west of Germany or the Benelux countries
Steatoda distincta (Blackwall 1859) - no data available from Fauna Europaea
Steatoda erigoniformis (O.P-Cambridge 1872) - confined to Greece & Macedonia
Steatoda grossa (C. L. Koch 1838) - much of Europe including UK
Steatoda incomposita (Denis 1957) - restricted to France, Spain & Portugal
Steatoda latifasciata (Simon 1873) - apparently confined to Sicily
Steatoda latrodectoides (Franganillo 1913) - only known from Spain
Steatoda maura (Simon 1909) - confined to Greece & Macedonia
Steatoda nobilis (Thorrell 1875) - introduced to UK, found naturally in France, Spain, Portugal and Corsica
Steatoda paykulliana (Walckenaer 1805) - weird distribution, with France, Spain, Portugal and the Alps occupied in the west, and Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece in the East
Steatoda triangulosa Walckenaer 1802) - much of Europe including UK

Two subspecies are recognised, namely:

Steatoda albomaculata infuscata (Schenkel 1925) - currently known only from Switzerland
Steatoda grossa obliterata (Franganillo 1918) - known only from Spain

A species listed by the British Arachnological Society in their checklist of UK spiders, is Steatoda phalerata (Panzer, 1801), which appears on the Fauna Europaea website under a different taxonomic designation, namely Asagena phalerata (Panzer 1801), which is found throughout most of Europe including the UK.

So, let's try and find some photos shall we?

This page has a nice large photo of Steatoda bipunctata, sometimes known colloquially as the Coffee Bean Spider because of the appearance of the abdomen, and two photos of Asagena phalerata, which is associated with ant nests - the spider feeds on ants, and is capable of venturing into the nest itself to seek prey, apparently without attracting retaliatory attention from the ants.

Several nice photos of Steatoda albomaculata can be found here, with photos of Steatoda grossa here, Steatoda nobilis here, and Steatoda triangulosa here.

Incidentally, Steatoda bipunctata is also known as the Rabbit Hutch Spider, because it has a habit of being found frequently inside these artefacts. However, it's likely to turn up in any outdoor wooden structure used for keeping either pets or livestock, e.g., a chicken house or an outdoor dog kennel.

Note that of these species, Steatoda grossa and Steatoda nobilis have chelicerae and fangs that are capable of penetrating human skin. Of these, Steatoda nobilis is capable of producing medically significant symptoms. Since these spiders are members of the same taxonomic Family as the true Black Widow (Family Theridiidae), the venom probably contains neurotoxic components related to the venom of true Black Widows, though significantly less dangerous to humans as far as is known.

With respect to true Black Widows, there is one species of Latrodectus living in Europe, the Malmignatte, Latrodectus tredecimguttatus (Rossi 1790), which is easily identified because it has 13 red spots on its abdomen (hence the taxonomic designation tredecimguttatus). This spider can inflict medically significant bites upon humans, and is known to be found in the same areas in Italy as the much larger and more easily spotted Lycosa tarantula, a species of wolf spider that was previously blamed for spider bites in rural Italy, and which led to the Tarantella dance and associated folklore. However, whilst the wolf spider is innocent with respect to bites upon humans, the Malmignatte is very definitely guilty as charged, and can result in the need for hospital attention if it bites a human being.

Other Latrodectus species known to be found in Europe include:

Latrodectus geometricus C. L. Koch 1841 - patchy distribution, recorded from Belgium and Ireland, almost certainly a vagrant introduction from its native USA
Latrodectus hasselti Thorrell 1770 - this Australian species (with a potentially lethal bite) has been recorded making a brief appearance in Belgium, where it was almost certainly introduced
Latrodectus lilianae Melic 2000 - European native, recorded in Spain, lives in rough countryside far from humans
Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius 1775) - This American species (the true Black Widow) has been recorded as a vagrant introduction to Belgium, and is of particular significance as it has a potentially lethal bite
Latrodectus reviviensis Shulov 1948 - native to Israel, possibly a vagrant introduction to parts of Europe

One notable Latrodectus species that is dangerous to humans is the Katipo, Latrodectus katipo Powell 1870, which is virtually the only dngerous piece of endemic New Zealand wildlife. However, it is endangered in its native New Zealand, and humans are only likely to encounter this species rarely, as it is a seashore specialist living on sand dunes, requiring specialised conditions, and human interference with the New Zealand fauna has resulted in the species becoming endangered. However, just to make life more interesting, the Australian Red-Back, Latrodectus hasselti, has been introduced to New Zealand, and the less specialised requirements of this spider, and its propensity to set up home around human habitation, could make this the biggest spider related medical issue in New Zealand in the future. Indeed, this species has apparently turned up in the UK, and, I note with some alarm that it escaped from an Australian container shipment in Preston in Lancashire, which is a little too close to me for comfort!

There was a spider in the news last night (UK), it looks foreign to these shores but they say it has been dormant for years. It is a fat and poisonous looking thing.
Similar to this http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1301292/Has-worlds-deadliest-Funnel-web-spiders-Gloucester.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-11480604
Here is yesterdays news

It turned out to be a Segestria florentina, or tube web spider

Wow. Thanks for all the info, Cali. I'm pretty sure, looking at all the pics, that it must be a Steatoda of some description. I'll get a mug-shot and a better look in the daylight, tomorrow. Off to bed for now.