[Debbie]

Is it usual for White tails to make their way indoors more regularly at this time of yr?
We have always had a few outside, (apparently it because we have a cedar house, they love all the little nooks and crannies). However, this last fortnight we have had 4 in the house. Last night OH tried to catch one off our bedroom ceiling and dropped it on the bed!!!!
If they are likely to go on their merry way once we get to summer I'll leave well enough alone, otherwise more drastic action will need to be taken!!!!.

Debbie

[Moorf]

Do you have many spiders of other varieties in the house? I believe they do like to lunch on other spiders (black house spiders I think) so to keep them out we keep all spiders out... I find more spiders indoors from now until end of the Autumn than the rest of the year. Reminds me, better top up the Robocans...

[sizzlingbadger]

We've just sprayed the outside of our house with Mortein (think that's how you spell it :uhoh ) As we've had quite a few white tails inside and out. Since spraying the outside they've all come out, seems we had more than we originally thought :exit

This is the first time we've come across them since being in NZ. Can you imagine the reaction when sitting down for a family meal outside and a white tail wandering across the table :D Me and the kids moved very quickly while hubby was sat there asking what all the fuss was about. Didn't believe me until we looked the spider up on a search engine :roll That's what bought about a very quick spraying of the outside the next day !

[Smiler]

Our neighbours all wipe their window frames with Mortein or similar on a rag. Seems to do the trick for them too. :nice1

Sizz, did you spray the house yourself or get a company in? Did you have any adverse effects?

:)

[sizzlingbadger]

OH sprayed it, no adverse affects so far :nice1 We haven't sprayed the inside, I find I'm pretty sensitive to certain chemicals, like the Robocan unnatural one made my asthama really bad :( So we'll leave it and see how we go, should do the trick though as we haven't seen any spiders inside since :nice1

They sell the stuff in Pak n Shove so it can't be too lethal.

[Smiler]

OH sprayed it, no adverse affects so far :nice1 We haven't sprayed the inside, I find I'm pretty sensitive to certain chemicals, like the Robocan unnatural one made my asthama really bad So we'll leave it and see how we go, should do the trick though as we haven't seen any spiders inside since

They sell the stuff in Pak n Shove so it can't be too lethal.


Ooh thanks. :nice1 I was worried about the effects as I'm affected by certain chemicals too. Mr Muscle and that Spray and Wipe stuff make me really wheezy.

I'll look in Countdown or Mitre 10 first, if not I'll have to brave Pak and Scratch which normally brings me out in a rash anyway. :)

[Debbie]

Do you have many spiders of other varieties in the house? I believe they do like to lunch on other spiders (black house spiders I think) so to keep them out we keep all spiders out... I find more spiders indoors from now until end of the Autumn than the rest of the year. Reminds me, better top up the Robocans...

No other spiders at all, (white tails eat them all!!).
It could be that there is another, totally harmless black spider with a thin cigar shape body and white tip to its tail about the size of an adults thumb nail that I am mistaking for a white tail and needlessly squashing.
DOes this sound like a white tail to you? I'm only going on the picture in my sons bug book.
Debbie

[Familyofmonkeys]

This worried me for a minute. House we are in has loads of spiders...don't pay much attention to them as have never been bothered by spiders.

Found this: http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biosystematics/invertebrates/spiders/white_tail.asp

A White-tail bite is immediately painful. It is usually possible to catch the perpetrator easily, since the spider has poor eyesight, and its identity can then be confirmed. It should be noted that cases of confirmed White-tail spider bites have rarely resulted in anything more severe than a red mark and localised, short-lived pain.

As with bee/wasp stings different people will react in different ways.

Hopefully not too bad then :o

[Moorf]

No other spiders at all, (white tails eat them all!!).
It could be that there is another, totally harmless black spider with a thin cigar shape body and white tip to its tail about the size of an adults thumb nail that I am mistaking for a white tail and needlessly squashing.
DOes this sound like a white tail to you? I'm only going on the picture in my sons bug book.
Debbie

Sounds about right - when I first saw one I thought "is that IT?" - they're quite "flat" to the ground, too, haven't seen one for yonks...

There's a bit of an urban myth in NZ that whitetails cause your skin to necro'wotsited- eats away skin - but I'm assured it's not true... :uhoh

[Debbie]

Yep the large one found in the shed (picture from link) looks about right. What I noticed was the 2 little stirrups on the end of a white tipped tail. The ones we have had in the house have been particularly fast (when chased with a wodge of tissue for squashing) and have raised their tails when hacked off.
We have loads of spiders all over the out side of the house, (good food for them I suppose). Time for a house wash then. Can anyone recommend a company in Auckland area?

Debbie

[Kim39]

Friend of mine was bitten 7 times at once and was very ill as the poison takes approx 5 weeks to go through your system, so 7 x 5 = 35 weeks ill. He was out of the game for around 4 months.


Kim

[incredible hulse]

There's a bit of an urban myth in NZ that whitetails cause your skin to necro'wotsited- eats away skin - but I'm assured it's not true... :uhoh
I got bitten by one in Sydney and this is what started happening to my foot. I started having a hole appear in the foot and a large red line started going up my leg from my foot. I went to the doc and they reckoned it was heading for my lymph gland at the top of the leg. If left much longer she reckoned it could have been serious. Had to go to the doc every day for 2 weeks to get the 'poison' taken out and was on anti-biotics for 4 weeks.

That said I'd heard the NZ ones were 'tame' compared to the Oz variety.
Steve

[jackie m]

Just like to say thanks guys guess what decided it wanted to sleep in my bed last night?????. Luckily hubby noticed it just before I got in :eek: & several attempts later it was finally dead after reading the last couple of posts I'm now paranoid & will checking the bedding everynight forever:D
Jackie

[incredible hulse]

Sorry Jackie. I won't mention I got bitten whilst asleep in bed :exit Actually thought it was just a mossie bite and tried treating it with a bit of dettol and a kitchen knife. I didn't go to the quacks until a few weeks after when got a bit worried by this big red line from my foot to halfway up my shin.

As I say I've heard the NZ ones are ok

[Joanne100]

Ive seen a few around the house but no one has been bitten, ive been told its like a bee sting and some people react to it and some dont, a friend of mine was bit while walking the dog, it looked like a burn, she never saw what bit her she just assumed it was a white tail.h

[Moorf]

Just like to say thanks guys guess what decided it wanted to sleep in my bed last night?????. Luckily hubby noticed it just before I got in :eek: & several attempts later it was finally dead after reading the last couple of posts I'm now paranoid & will checking the bedding everynight forever:D
Jackie

Hence why we only have light coloured bedding - easier to spot them! ;)

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong - but I had heard that the bites in Oz are worse because of the diets of the white-tails there - i.e more poisonous prey?

[nippa&pippa]

My kids know about white tail so i get sound of squealing in exicitement from them every time they found any type of spider :laugh but I found a spider inside washing waited to be ironing few times....

[mgbridges]

OK so now my skin is crawling and my head is itching and I want to lift my feet off the floor... I'm such a big girls blouse when it comes to creepy crawlies. Am definitely going to keep on top of getting rid of cobwebs now just in case. :laugh

Anneliese

[Moorf]

I'm such a big girls blouse when it comes to creepy crawlies.


Pssst - me too! :exit

[Debbie]

OK so now my skin is crawling and my head is itching and I want to lift my feet off the floor... I'm such a big girls blouse when it comes to creepy crawlies. Am definitely going to keep on top of getting rid of cobwebs now just in case. :laugh

Anneliese

Now I was told that if your house was full of cobwebs this was a sure sign that you didn't have white tails. As I said, I have no other spiders in the house as my white tails eat them all:exit

[Familyofmonkeys]

Hence why we only have light coloured bedding - easier to spot them! ;)

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong - but I had heard that the bites in Oz are worse because of the diets of the white-tails there - i.e more poisonous prey?

Aparently the species in Australia are different to the ones in NZ.

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biosystematics/invertebrates/spiders/white_tail.asp

This Australian spider was first recorded in NZ in 1886, at Waiwera, Auckland. It is believed that it came into the country with early colonists and is now well established throughout the North Island. Another species Lampona cylindrata (Koch.L) is also known from Nelson and has recently been found in Christchurch.

For many years the White-tailed spider was thought to be just the one species Lampona cylindrata but a recent revision of Australasian Lamponidae found that there were 61 species in Australia and just the two mentioned here occur in New Zealand.

[kanatakiwi]

Hate to be the one with the bad news story.... but my kiwi husband (who thinks all us emigres with our spider concerns are big wusses) got bitten by one when gardening. He ignored it, just a welt on his hand, but it got bigger and then there was the red vein up the arm and swollen arm. He went to the doc, got antibiotics and told to keep the arm in a sling with the hand up (presumably this keeps the venom from travelling up the arm?) anyway being a man, he continued gardening cleanup , which meant his hand was not in the sling, and 2 days later he was back getting intravenous antibiotics (2 courses) and they had a very hard time getting it under control. At one point they were talking about hospitalizing him to put him on a continuous drip of antibiotics. So my message is, maybe you won't have a reaction but be very vigilent and if you get bitten seek treatment soon if needed and treat it seriously. the whole thing was very scary, especially when the doctor said "If we don't get this under control you could lose your arm"

[Leccy-Lee]

OMG.. (books flight home to UK)
i aint even afriad of spiders, but after reading this thread i think i am now, espiecally the bedding malarky! ARGGHH gunna buy a hammock now!

I never ever seen a spider at home since i been here, is this good or bad? /gulp

[SNK05]

OMG.....I HATE spiders and freak at the sight of the big hairy house spider here in the UK...OH has to get 'em! Ok, so I'm not quite that bad, I don't actually 'freak'...but I have to say, I'm with Anneliese and Moorf!! :exit

[Myrkk]

I didn't realise there were any dangerous animals in NZ and I love spiders, terrible for picking them up and chucking them outdoors. Perhaps I'll invest in one of those spider picking up thingies before we move over

[thezorbster]

Had our first yesterday! It is now an ex white tail spider. Now totally paranoid and inspect every room as I walk in. Ugghhhhhh!

[granger]

I've yet to see one!

[Jo Jo]

My mother-in-law was bitten by one last week. She has a very large, red mark on her tummy - about 7 cm in diameter - and has been given antibiotics by the doctor.

[nippa&pippa]

My OH burst out laughing at me wear socks over bottom of my track suit bottom today. I pointed out I don't want white tail spider jump and climb up inside while doing gardening...:exit
MIL overheard this and she didn't know about this but she wore a short few days ago. She now wear trouser for gardening :laugh

[Leccy-Lee]

I had a a spider in my bedroom today that was about 1in long, two large front legs/tentacles etc, and a yellow/gold stripe down its back. Looked menancing to me! So i dispatched in a glass.

Any ideas (i did take a photo, put it up later)

[kanatakiwi]

I had a a spider in my bedroom today that was about 1in long, two large front legs/tentacles etc, and a yellow/gold stripe down its back. Looked menancing to me! So i dispatched in a glass.

Any ideas (i did take a photo, put it up later)
was this it?

[thezorbster]

OH was also bitten by a whitetail last week - had a huge swelling on his forearm - he came home from work with a blue circle drawn on, marking the extent of the swelling. Was told to treat it with antiseptic, lots of cold compresses and monitor the swelling to see if it grew. It did grow downward towards his hand and outward but the colour faded from its initial redness and now you can really just see a mark around the initial bite.

Am now even more paranoid than ever!

[Moorf]

Could that be a Katipo? If so, be careful, I hear they CAN be very very nasty - double check though as I've never seen one in the flesh, so to speak... generally only found north of Canterbury. :exit

[marcia]

We've had 3 white tails in the house over the last two weeks, I was jsut about to get into the shower yesterday when I had to scream for someone to come and get the 'Harry' - it was a big begger!!

(we call all spiders Harry - from the cadbury chocolate finger advert years ago, where the little boy was always having parties for his pets - 'but today its hary the spiders coming out party!!' anyone remember the advert?!)

So anyway I've got two robocans goings now, one at either end of the house - but do they still work when the windows are wide open?!

[Leccy-Lee]

Robocans?

And not sure that was the spider kanatawi? Similar but not sure?
I put pic up on a sec..

[Leccy-Lee]

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5421/spidyze2.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spidyze2.jpg)

Sorry crap focus, tried several times but my camera just wouldn't focus on it..

[Moorf]

Could it be this?

http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/TePapa/English/CollectionsAndResearch/Collections/InsectsSpidersAndSimilar/Spiders/Spiders_Web/What/JumpingSpider.htm

[Leccy-Lee]

The photo is a "maybe" as its a side-shot and i didnt stick around to look for hairs or eyes! LOL
But the description certainly seems to match, IE: the colours legs and stripe etc.

So hopefully yes, as that would appear to be harmless...

[Moorf]

Next time you see one, try and make it jump!! :D

[Sam B]

My 11 year old expert declares that it is definitely a sort of jumping spider, but she's not sure which species. She's always right.

[Leccy-Lee]

Children are never wrong! Your a mum, you should know that! ;)

"Jumping" i think i jumped more than be did! Thanks for the diagnosis though..

[Lara Croft]

"Harry the Spider's coming out party!" - yes I remember that!!! Wasn't it a little dark haired boy with glasses?

Jane

[thezorbster]

Have you read how far those jumping spiders can jump? Quite frightening. Could take a flying leap right off your bedroom wall on to your bed at night. That's the reason I've been dispatching those too. I consider myself very brave to even read descriptions but thought the jumping spider looked quite menacing the first time I saw one and had to know what it was. Te Papa website is very useful!