A Brit was in for a surprise when ‘Europe’s largest spider’ – a venomous species with a ‘huge appetite’ – arrived with his delivery of olives.
The Spanish funnel-web spider was spotted at a nursery in West Sussex after a shipment of olives from Cordoba was unloaded.
The nursery owner, who asked not to be named, said: ‘My son, who was driving the forklift, saw it when he drove past.
‘He just saw it out of the corner of his eye walking slowly across the yard.
‘He rang me and said there’s something big just walked across the yard and under a pot.’
‘It came in on a batch of olives we bought from a place near Cordoba.
‘I had two truckloads of them and after we unloaded, it was walking across the yard slowly.’
Sharing a photo with arachnologists on Facebook, the man was told it was a Spanish funnel-web spider, or Macrothele calpeiana.
The Spanish funnel-web spider was spotted at a nursery in West Sussex after a shipment of olives from Cordoba was unloaded
Sharing a photo with arachnologists on Facebook, the man was told it was a Spanish funnel-web spider, or Macrothele calpeiana
It ‘has for some time been considered to be Europe’s largest spider’ according to a 1989 description of the species from the British Arachnological Society.
‘It has also gained a reputation for being aggressive when disturbed and capable of administering a painful bite,’ the description said.
Working with plants, the nursery owner is no stranger to wildlife.
‘Honestly, we’re a nursery so we see bugs and spiders all the time,’ he said.
But even for him, its sheer size stood out.
‘That was the only thing,’ he said.
‘It was impressive. I think it’s the largest spider in Europe.’
The spider has now been taken in by Jack Casson, a spider enthusiast from Hartlepool.
It ‘has for some time been considered to be Europe’s largest spider’ according to a 1989 description of the species from the British Arachnological Society
The spider has now been taken in by Jack Casson, a spider enthusiast from Hartlepool
He said: ‘This species builds elaborate webs, with the entrance to their burrow being funnel-shaped and adorned with silken trip wires.
‘Taxonomically, they are in the infraorder mygalomorphae which includes the trapdoor spiders and tarantulas.
‘We only have one native mygalomorphae in the UK and they are much, much smaller and look quite different.
‘So I knew straight away that the spider was a non-native stowaway.’
But the newcomer has been made right at home.
Jack said: ‘The spider looks to be female, is settling in very well and has already started webbing up her enclosure to make herself feel at home.
‘She has a huge appetite, having eaten five crickets since I took her in.
‘My girlfriend has named her Bessie.
Mr Casson, 38, added that the spider was nothing to fear.
He said: ‘The spider is venomous but isn’t medically significant – meaning it can’t kill humans.
‘Although I bet a bite would hurt a lot, I don’t plan on finding out either way.’
He continued: ‘Spiders are hugely misunderstood creatures and I hope that people reading this will look at them in a more positive light.
‘None of our UK spiders are medically significant and the last thing a spider wants to do is bite a human hundreds of times its own size.
‘We’re simply not on the menu and spiders don’t go around biting people willy nilly, contrary to popular belief it seems.
‘Next time you see a spider about your home, let it go about its business.
‘And thank it for the free pest control it provides, by helping keep at bay the bugs that actually do seek out humans to feed on.’
