During a bout of domestic activity this afternoon (the dreaded dusting and vacuuming) I came across a huge spider which had fallen into a container containing cd's.
House Spider (Tegenaria spp)
It was huge - its body length being about 14mm so I suspect it may be Tegenaria gigantea (sometimes known as T. duellica)- though I much prefer the former scientific name! Sorry for lack of italics - even with new blogger I seem unable to get bold, italics or links to work.
This species is often seen running across floors or found in the bath at this time of the year when males go searching for a mate. Once the male finds a female close to maturing he will guard her until she undergoes her final moult and then mate with her several times. This species takes up to 2 years to reach maturity.
I've released it now - into the garage. Unfortunately some of my family do not share my interest in spiders!! In fact we have several arachnophobes - who will remain nameless :)
We had one of these scuttling around in our kitchen. We named it Romain Grosjean (all of our spiders are named after F1 drivers).
ReplyDeleteUnfortunatley he met his death when curiosity got the upper hand last Monday. He must have run across the sink overnight, slipped and fell into about 3cm of water in the bowl.
Very annoyed. I don't like being resonsible for the deaths of spiders or bees.
Love the idea of naming them Graham :) Sorry to hear about Romain Grosjean :(
ReplyDelete*shudder* That thing would be so dead if I ever saw it in my house. Thankfully I've never seen anything like that here.
ReplyDeleteMy husband might well share your thoughts!!!
ReplyDeleteThey are rather large and move very fast but harmless :)
Much as I like them they can definitely make you jump at times!
I just put them in moth pots and release.
Hello there!!! I'm back:) It was very restful and I actually got a book read which is what I needed:) As for this spider....cool but gives me the heebie jeebies:)
ReplyDeleteRohrerbot - Welcome back Chris - you have been missed. I'm so glad you have had a relaxing break and managed to get reading time :)
ReplyDelete