Warning to neighbours as 'False Widow' spider found at Athlone home

A local resident has warned his neighbours to exercise caution after he discovered a Noble False Widow spider in the garden of his home in Monksland, Athlone.

While bites from a False Widow are usually not severe, in some cases people can develop more serious medical issues after being bitten by one.

Pavel Mialko, who lives in the River Village estate in Monksland with his wife and three daughters, discovered the spider (pictured above) around a bin in his garden on Wednesday of this week.

A native of Belarus, Pavel has been living in Ireland for the last fourteen years, so he's familiar with the spiders commonly found in Irish homes.

He knew immediately that this one was different.

"I had read before about 'False Widows' and so I thought straight away that this might be one. So I took my phone and took some pictures and video," he told the Westmeath Independent.

He subsequently sent his photos of the spider to Dr Michel Dugon, a lecturer in Zoology at NUI Galway, who confirmed that this was, indeed, a Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis).

In an email to Pavel, Dr Dugon said: "False widow bites are generally not severe (but not pleasant) and limited to some moderate pain, swelling, and redness around the bite. The symptoms last anywhere from 2 to 48 hours.

"In some rare cases, victims start to develop a neurotoxic syndrome called Steatodism. This is characterised by intense pain, some cramping, headache, fever, sweat and chills and a general feeling of being 'unwell'.

"When this happens, victims need to go to a GP or contact the emergency services if they feel faint. In extremely rare cases (a handful were recorded so far over the past 10 years), patients develop swelling, intense pain, blistering of the skin and bacterial infections which must be treated in a hospital set-up.

"Overall, it is a little bit like with honeybees: they are not much of a problem for most people, but some people are more sensitive to their venom than others."

He said that, as False Widows were invasive, killing them is not an issue from an ecological point of view.

Pavel, who has been living in River Village for the last three years, killed and disposed of the False Widow he found on Wednesday but he decided to share the photos and details to create awareness in case others might come across one.

He said that, from researching the spider online, he found that the lifespan of most native Irish spiders is 1-2 years, whereas the lifespan of the Noble False Widow is 5-7 years.

"From March to October, every three or four weeks, they have a nest of around 200 eggs. Because of their lifespan and the amount of eggs they lay, they are becoming more common now," he said.