Tegenaria Gigantea

Dr Pies

Arachnoknight
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Hi,

Thought I'd post a pic of the biggest wild spider we have in the UK.
I believe that it is the fastest spider in the world at something between 8 and 12mph!
I love 'em! :)
Is it true that they bite over there in America? Anyone been bitten?
 
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Venom

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As far as I know we don't have T.gigantea in the US. We have T.agrestis, and yes, that spider causes bites. One of the reasons people get bitten is because we have no T.gigantea. In Europe, the larger gigantea competes with agrestis and pushes it out from human habitations, leaving the harmless giants in contact with humans, and the medically significant agrestis out in the country ( which is why you don't hear of agrestis bites from Europe-- the spiders inhabit fields and railways; and railways, I have heard, are gov't property and so trespassing on them is illegal. The removed habitat of T.agrestis thus makes bites less likely due to decreased exposure to humans). Here we have no such inhibition on agrestis, and it is able to colonize human dwellings and cause bites. This is what I have read anyway.
 

Dr Pies

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Thats strange because I have never seen an agrestis anywhere in the UK.. We have the domestica but that is very similar to the gigantea.. My house is full of them.
Thanks for the info ;)
 

Randolph XX()

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There are some in Vancouver Canada, i've seen them catching a big moth b4
 

JPD

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As far as I know we don't have T.gigantea in the US. We have T.agrestis, and yes, that spider causes bites. One of the reasons people get bitten is because we have no T.gigantea
T. gigantea are actually quite common in the US.

When T.agrestis made it's way from Europe to the US, it adapted to living near human dwellings as opposed to the fields as is the case in Europe. Many believe that T.agrestis name is due to it's "aggressive" nature (which is not true), however, the name literally means "mat weaver of the field"

Identification between T.domestica, agrestis, and gigantea really needs to be done by a qualified arachnologist. Morphological characteristics and locale are not very reliable.

Is it true that they bite over there in America? Anyone been bitten?
T.gigantea are quite gentle and can be easily handled. The same is true for T.agrestis and domestica.
The purported bites are likely the result of the unexpected and desparate situations in which the spider has no other option. Even in the web, you can shoo them out with your hands with little worry of sustaining a bite.

Nice pic btw;)
 
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Dr Pies

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Its interesting that the gigantea and agrestis have the ability to bite over in the US, as far as I know they cannot pierce the skin here in the UK.
Maybe they have adapted to the harsher surroundings?
Interesting all the same though ;) Thanks for the replies. :)
 

NRF

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The valid name of Tegenaria gigantea is Tegenaria duellica. It is indistinguishable in size and general appearence from Tegenaria atrica and some other large species, but much bigger than Tegenaria domestica. I personally don´t think it would be any problem for their fangs to penetrate human skin. There is actually a report from Sweden of a severe bite of a T. atrica. So don´t play too much with those pets...
 

Orb Weaver

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Another interesting fact is that Tegenaria spiders don't digest their food like most other spiders do. Instead of using a digestive liquid, they literally chew their prey until they can "eat" it. That's why it takes up to twice as long to lunch for those spiders.

They also cannot climb smooth surfaces like glass that's why you often find them in bathtubs or in the shower.
 

NRF

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Orb Weaver said:
Another interesting fact is that Tegenaria spiders don't digest their food like most other spiders do. Instead of using a digestive liquid, they literally chew their prey until they can "eat" it. That's why it takes up to twice as long to lunch for those spiders.
Yes, they chew their prey into pieces, like many other spiders do, but I think they spit up digestive liquid into the chewed prey like other spiders which chew their prey do, and then suck it up.

Nor do I think Tegenarias can run at something between 8 and 12 mph. That´s actually as fast as a trotting wolf. Tests in England in the 1970s revealed that Tegenaria atrica could run at 1.9 km/h or 1.18 mph (over short distances). But that´s anyway very fast for a small creature. If compared to size it is equivalent of a 2 metre tall man (or woman) running at a speed of 720 km/h (480 mph)! :worship:
 

Crotalus

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NRF said:
There is actually a report from Sweden of a severe bite of a T. atrica. So don´t play too much with those pets...
Do you know if theres a article about this bite?

/Lelle
 

NRF

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I´m not sure, probaly not. It was my lecturer who told me about it. He has published some notes on spider bites from Finland. But I will check it up immediately.
 

knightjar

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Dr Pies said:
Its interesting that the gigantea and agrestis have the ability to bite over in the US, as far as I know they cannot pierce the skin here in the UK.
Maybe they have adapted to the harsher surroundings?
Interesting all the same though ;) Thanks for the replies. :)
We Brits have thicker skins ;)
 

Dr Pies

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knightjar said:
We Brits have thicker skins ;)
lol :D

I have never heard of anyone being bitten by the tegenaria species.. I asked my wife today who is american, and she has never heard of anyone being bitten over in the US by them either.

I admit too that 10-12 mph seems slightly too fast :)
 

Crotalus

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Dr Pies said:
lol :D

I have never heard of anyone being bitten by the tegenaria species.. I asked my wife today who is american, and she has never heard of anyone being bitten over in the US by them either.

I admit too that 10-12 mph seems slightly too fast :)
http://www.hobospider.org/

/Lelle
 

Dark Raptor

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Dr Pies said:
I have never heard of anyone being bitten by the tegenaria species.
My younger sister was bitten by adult T. atrica female. She had only moderate pain and she had inflammatory state around that wound. After few hours everything was ok.
I was bitten by small (2 cm) specimen, but it wasn't painful. I had more problems with bug Notonecta. That was really nasty bite.

So as you see, we Poles, haven't got thick skin :rolleyes:
 

Crotalus

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Strange that he vanished. Wonder what happened to him. I hope he was not on the plate at the dinner.... ;)

/Lelle
 

Immortal_sin

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The whole story of Darwin Vest is very intriguing....he just completely disappeared, and to this day, nobody knows what happened. Sorry for the thread derailment, but it's a subject that fascinates me. He was the pioneer for the work done with the hobo spiders. Hopefully someday we'll find out what happened to him.
 
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