Leicester Mercury

SPIDERS CAPITAL OF THE UK

CITY AT TOP OF UK LIST FOR THE NUMBER OF UNWELCOME EIGHT-LEGGED VISITORS

- By DAVID OWEN david.owen@reachplc.com

IT might be time for unfortunat­e arachnopho­bes to climb up on a chair, rolled-up paper in hand, or at least have an empty glass close by - because Leicester has been revealed by researcher­s as the spider capital of the UK.

A study into our eight-legged “friends” invited people across the length and breadth of the land to monitor the notorious home invaders.

The findings don’t make good reading, with Leicester identified as the place where residents recorded more run-ins with unwanted house guests than any other.

The bottom line is the city boasts 228 different species of spiders - and their allies - which is 19 more than our closest rival.

Using data from The National Biodiversi­ty Network (NBN Atlas), the UK’s largest collection of ‘biodiversi­ty informatio­n’ and curator of 235 million wildlife records, along with data collected from other sources between September 29 and 30, 2020, the “house of horrors” table was compiled by property company SellHouseF­ast.uk.

A spokespers­on for the research team said: “It’s that time of year again, when eight-legged creatures venture into our homes seeking out warm and dry places to survive.

“Following the recent news giant house spiders ‘the size of your hand’ will be invading homes across the UK this autumn, and in the build-up to hallowe’en, we wanted to look into the spiders and their allies (chernes and ticks and the like) that could invade our homes and which part of the UK is most likely to be hit the hardest.

“To do this, we compiled a list of UK cities using the ‘Explore Your Area’ tool on NBN Atlas to find out how many species of spiders were recorded within a 10km radius of 67 city cities in the UK.

“And the city most in danger of having homes invaded by spiders is Leicester, with 228 different species recorded.”

They added: “Following shortly behind is the city of St Davids in Wales, with 209 different spiders (and allies) species recorded. In third place is Swansea, with 196 recorded. In fourth place is Westminste­r, with 183 different spider species recorded, and in fifth place is the City of London, with 178 recorded.”

In sixth place is Norwich, where 168 species of spiders and allies were recorded, while in seventh place is Canterbury, with 162, and in eighth place St Asaph, in North Wales, with 142 recorded.

In ninth place is Chester, which counted 118 species of spider and allies. Gloucester recorded 108 species and rounds off the creepy crawly top 10.

The place least likely to have its homes invaded by creepy crawlies is the city of Hereford, with only three species of spiders and allies currently recorded.

The second city least likely to have close encounters with spiders is Dundee, where only four species were recorded. In third place is Preston, with only nine currently recorded.

Researcher­s for SellHouseF­ast. uk also found that the Araneus Diadematus, also known as the Garden Spider, was recorded 269 times by the All Taxa Records for Leicesters­hire and Rutland. The spokespers­on said: “Although it is extremely rare, they have been reported to occasional­ly bite when aggravated. “According to the data resource IRecord Surveys, there is currently one recorded species of the Argiope Bruennichi, better known as the Wasp Spider, in the City of London. “Although these prickly creatures are capable of biting, they are not a serious risk to humans.” The Welsh Invertebra­te Database, the Argyroneta Aquatica, commonly known as the Water Spider, were found to reside in St Asaph.

Although only known to bite when mishandled, the bite has been notably compared to a bee sting.

The city most in danger of having homes invaded by spiders is Leicester, with 228 different species recorded

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