White-tailed spiders surprises resident
An Auckland woman says she’s surprised at the number of whitetailed spiders she’s found since moving into an upmarket central suburb.
White-tailed spiders can have a leg span of up to 28mm and were first introduced to New Zealand in 1886 - by way of Australia. They are predators that eat other spiders.
Annmarie Loftus moved to Grey Lynn late last year with her young children and recently expressed her creepy-crawly concerns on Neighbourly.
Loftus asked neighbours for advise on the potential risks the spiders posed and how to get rid of them, after discovering several in her first few months at the property.
‘‘There is so much conflicting information online, which is why I posted on Neighbourly,‘‘ she said.
Mark McDonald of Bug King Pest Control Service Auckland said white-tailed spiders were ‘‘very common’’ throughout the whole Auckland region.
The removal of white-tailed spiders was a frequent request from Bug King’s customers, he said.
‘‘A typical New Zealand home ticks all the boxes for a great white-tail environment,’’ he said.
‘‘Removing web-building spiders will take away the whitetailed spider’s food source forcing them to re-locate.’’
Canterbury Museum curator of natural history Cor Vink has a PhD in arachnology, and has studied spiders for more than 20 years. Vink had noticed an increase spider sightings in urban
in areas, but couldn’t pin point exactly why. But there was no need for fear and in fact there were many misconceptions about white-tailed spiders and their bite, he said.
‘‘There is no medical evidence that a white-tailed bite can cause any of the flesh eating results you hear about all the time,’’ Vink said.
‘‘The bite does hurt, more so than a wasp sting sometimes, but they are otherwise harmless. There are no long lasting effects.’’
Where people typically got into trouble with white-tailed and other spider bites was ‘‘picking and scratching’’ the wound which could lead to infection, Vink said.
White-tailed spiders are brown in colour with orange to brown banded legs and usually with a distinct white marking on the tip of the abdomen. If bitten, Vink recommended applying an ice pack to reduce swelling.
‘‘There is so much conflicting information online’’