anyone know what this spider is?

[darknight]

ok, the story was we were driving down the road to a local beauty spot, when my wife says shes got something sharp under her jumper and it really hurts. well, she lifted her jumper up and this thing lands on her leg, needless to say plenty of screaming ( we both hate spiders).
i pulled over quick and got the thing off her and out the car, but this thing bit her hard, it came up very quick like a bad bee sting, sorry about the pic its only on the iphone.

[Donald]

What size is it, Mark?

[darknight]

its body was about 3/4 inch longer with the legs, very dark nearly black on the front half with that like adder pattern behind

[jdathebowler]

Hello Darknight.

It looks very much like a Lace Web Spider to me.Why not Google it and check for yourself.I have just started taking images of spiders to try my hand at Macro Photography.

[Donald]

That does indeed look like a likely candidate. And apropos the bite, if it was indeed a lace-webbed, one website suggests, "Care should be taken in handling the spider because its bite is poisonous but not lethal."

[darknight]

dont think it is that one john, we saw that one on google and the colouring of this was s different, and its got a definite diamond pattern on it, very dark to black up front and reddish brown behind

[darknight]

sorry donald didnt see your post, unless they change in colour and pattern?

[Geoff F]

My first thought would be for one of the Tegenaria species which are commonly found in most houses.

However, that abdomen pattern makes me also consider Segestria florentina. Sometimes found around houses in the south where they live in cracks around walls, etc.

Possibly a male looking for a mate may enter houses. The females are even bigger and mostly dark coloured. Segestria senoculata is similarly marked to S. florentina males but a bit smaller with a 10 mm body size.

A better view of the thorax is required for a firm identification, but the first three pairs of legs facing forward and the hind legs backwards is a bit of a clue. They only have 6 eyes.

Have a look at this site http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/Spider...estriidae.html

Lots of lovely spider photos and information there.

[darknight]

geoff, thats the boy i think,Segestria florentina, some of those pictures on google looks just like it, this one as said was around 1 inch long.
we also found a record from a Gloucester newspaper saying they are quite rare and were taken away from a house for testing!!
our porch is getting a thorough cleaning tomorrow....to scary to go out there at night,lol.
thanks for the help guys.