Wirral workers discoverd deadly Black Widow spider

Oct 11 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

WORKERS at a builders merchants in south Wirral lifted a paving stone yesterday to find one of the most deadly spiders in the world staring back.

The black widow is known for its lethal venom and its very name can make arachnophobes quake.

The spider was found by Gavin Doughty at the Beers builders merchants next to Hooton train station. He immediately told the manager of the site, Adrian Bird.

Mr Bird said: “The lads were getting some sandstone ready and Gavin was selecting flagstones when he saw this spider clinging to one of them. It was tiny, about the size of a 5p piece and it was horrible. There were eggs with it, too.

“I got a plastic bottle and coaxed it in with a twig. Now, knowing what it was, I wish I hadn’t. Then we looked it up on Google and saw it had the same markings as a black widow – the red hourglass shape on its belly. So we called the RSPCA.”

The spider was transfer-red to National Museums Liverpool’s Bug House, where it was confirmed to be a black widow, rather than its less poisonous cousin, the “false widow”.

A spokeswoman said: “We get several of these each year, but usually they are dead when they arrive in this country.”

Although the venom can be highly potent such a small dose is injected that a healthy adult would be unlikely to die, even from a healthy spider.

Sadly, in this case, the spider itself has died.

RSPCA animal collec-tion officer John Little-wood said it was the second time he had been called to a black widow; the last one had climbed out of some grapes.