Is this a native spider? (Warning picture of spider)

Never seen an Irish spider like this. Black face and bulbous abdomen.

Normally I'd pick a spider up cuped in my hands and put it outside. Wouldn't do that with this. I didnt kill it either. Found around the side of my house.

Raspen

I'm no expert but it looks like a false widow to me.

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119097057#Comment_119097057

Yes me too...that red colour with really long legs.

Ubbquittious

The little cu nts are everywhere

lawred2

Are they bitey? With venom?

Raspen

Yes and yes.

Some people can get a bad reaction to the venom.

Best avoided really. Although all over my fascia's and soffits.

They seem passive enough though and mostly run away or curl up.

lawred2

they leave me alone and I'll leave them alone then

bad2thebone

They were once all over the place, in every hedge row, especially escalonia hedging for some reason, anything with a waxy leaf evergreen and year round shelter.

As a young lad we had load's in the garden. I'd catch them and they'd kind of tickle you or try to bite your hand if you caught one. Nasty little blighters. They gorge on small flies, especially when the midges are out on a damp warm summer's evening, they get caught in their webs. They like salt marches too and rushes.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119097057#Comment_119097057

That's what I thought. Limerick suburbs. 🤔

Any benefits to them, or should they be killed. Even if a hopeless exercise.

snowstreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119097243#Comment_119097243

They are all over my windows too.

I try to leave the old native spiders who make nice web shapes (false widows make messy cobwebs) when cleaning the windows but I go all out killing the false widows. They seem to have taken over in the last 5-10 years.

taxAHcruel

I post this video every year when the topic of the False Widow comes up. It can tell you pretty much all you'd want to know about them and identifying them and about their bite and so on:

youtube.com/watch?v=-RtXsXpvSSw

Also discusses what to do if you want to get rid of them. And he makes a good argument against killing them because quite often people are killing native spiders due to misidentifying them. So unless you are entirely sure what you have - better off not killing them.

Tmch1

Does anyone know what type of spider this is? Found him on my patio door this morning. Thank you

Redlim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121117727#Comment_121117727

Looks like the cross spider. Have a few of these here too.

https://www.mywildireland.ie/product/cross-spider/