The Invasion of Spiders in Your Home

AN INFOGRAPHIC LOOK AT UK SPIDERS There are 650 different species of spider calling the UK home, with reports suggesting there may be up to 500,000 spiders living in every acre of the United Kingdom. The most common spider is the Garden Cross Spider, but what about those that aren't native to the UK? In this graphic we'll look at the native and non-native spiders living in the UK, as well as those that bite, those that don't and some handy tips on how to keep your house (nearly) free of arachnids SPECIES BOTH INVASIVE & INDIGENOUS TO THE UNITED KINGDOM Spiders in the UK: There are thought to be 650 different species of spider in the UK, with 500,000 living in every acre. No suprise then that the fear of spiders (arachnophobia) is one of the UK's most common fears. In homes: The average UK Ratio: There are 500,000 spiders for every person in the UK house has around 30 spiders BAS accumulation of records: From the early 1900's to modern day, the records relating to the number of spiders land species) in the UK have increased exponentially. In 2013, the BAS (British Arachnological Society) have more records on UK spiders than ever before... 1930's 1940's 1950's 1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's 2010's Invasive spider species: There have been numerous reports of spiders - both dangerous and non-dangerous - that are not indigenous to the UK. Let's have a look at the two most common invasive species: The False Widow Steatoda Nobilis) Public concern %: 25 Size: 1.4cm Origin: Canary Islands 60+ 40+ 25+ 18+ Estimated UK population: = 1 million 10 million UK spiders Tube Web (Segestria Florentina) Public concern %: 16 11 Size: 2.2cm Origin: Eastern Europe 60+ 40+ 25+ 18+ Estimated UK population: = 1 million 03 million UK spiders UK spider bites and sightings In the past ten years, there have been spider bite events involving 14 different species of spider. There has also been an increase in the number of venomous spider sightings, although this could be attributed to the increased coverage in the media of the so-called False Widow 'invasion'. 20 Number of spider bites per year in the UK: 20 19 18 17 16 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 10 Between April 2012 and March 2013 toxic spider bites rose by 25% in the United Kingdom 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 In 2013, the majority of reported incidents (bites and reports) have involved the non-native False Widow. Let's examine the reports surrounding this species and the number of bites involving indigenous and invasive spiders: Online and traditional media coverage Reported bites & other similar incidents Other species Indigenous False Widow Invasive 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1001%) 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 1001%) Spider-proofing your home Although you can never truly ensure you will never get spiders in your home, you can take steps to minimise the likelihood of them getting in: Close and seal doors, windows and any holes or cracks. Spiders need only 1/16 of an inch to get in to your home. Keep fresh conkers in the house. Some consider this an old wives tale, but the chemical emitted by conkers is unpleasant to spiders. 日 日 8 Keep foliage near the house trimmed to discourage spiders from building their webs. Treat the exterior boundary with insecticide. Keep all gardening equipment, such as gloves, secateurs, etc. outside, so you don't bring in spiders on the equipment. However, before you set about banning spiders from your home, give some thought to the benefits they provide, including keeping your house free of flies and mosquitoes and even killing wasps, which are much more irritating. Infographic by: Sources britishspiders.org.uk I yougov.co.uk | biology.st-andrews.ac.uk | nhm.ac.uk telegraph.co.uk I wildengland.com | theguardian.com I news.bbc.co.uk travel.aol.co.uk | en.wikipedia.org | pest-control-services.org | dailymail.co.uk independent.co.uk | kentonline.co.uk | express.co.uk | insects.about.com wikihow.com | cornell.edu | spidercenter.org | keene.edu | web.bgu.ac.il DESIGN55 Visit us online at: www.design55online.co.uk