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Waspspider Or Spiderwasp?

lee

Junior Acolyte
Joined
Apr 3, 2016
Messages
72
This was years ago...I'm not a fan of spiders or wasps. I was living in a flat on my own at the time when a big spider appeared on the living room wall and started hunting me. I left for work and upon my return it was still there and I wasn't brave enough to tackle it so I ignored it. The next morning I woke up and my face felt like I'd been punched but there was nothing to see. But when I made my bed...in the duvet was a squashed spider who had the body of a wasp. I've never seen one before or since.
 
I think it bit me on my lip when I was asleep and in those days I slept heavy. I think I must have fought it off and squashed it in bed during the night, thankfully I wasn't aware of the process. That is until I woke up in the morning with a hurting face but checking in the mirror there was nothing obvious no marks or swellings just felt like someone had punched me.
 
Whether that would be a bite as in a spider or a sting as a wasp I don't know. It had wasp body complete with stingy part.
 
That could have been nasty for someone with those allergies. And that creature did not exhibit normal spider behaviour...It was a hunter as I recollect.
 
Ha...me neither! I was early 20's just moved into my own pad and no one to call for help anymore if a creepy crawlie appeared. Ignoring one of those fellas I learned was not the way to go. Haha :)
 
Funny you should mention bite/sting allergies. I was just bitten by a mosquito this week. Normally, I have a worse than typical (for other people) reaction to mosquito bites, but this week I had a truly horrific reaction.

Not only did it swell, but I developed a huge patch of bright reddish purple, the size of my hand. I was so afraid I had cellulitis from the bite, but I saw the dermatologist and she said it's not infected, just a really bad allergic response. It looks like a gigantic purple birthmark on my leg. And still itches enough to make me insane, or perhaps I should say, more insane than usual!

You were lucky!
 
One extremely dislikes mozzies, that's a bad one for sure! They certainly do drive insanity. I don't get those reactions but when bitten it stays for weeks/ months at times and scars. Not nice at all. I would advise jungle spray it works perfectly....unless you've missed the tiniest molecule of space somewhere on a toe....Then every biting insect will bite you on that precise speck and you'll be barefoot all holiday which isn't so bad. So I just accept and take the bites now. :) hope you feel better soon. Meanwhile......here's a trick to try....if you can visualise a mirror image of yourself In your minds eye. Using the right hand of your mirror image...allow it to touch the bitten area of the opposite side of your real body...(the area that has not bite). The itching goes away. Repeat as necessary
 
I've never heard of a spider with the body of a wasp.
Odd one.
 
How big was it?

The concealed picture shows Davus Pentaloris, a dwarf tarantula. I understand their bright orange colour tends to fade between moults, and the stripy abdomen could be thought of as vaguely wasp-like. They are available in the spider-keeping hobby, so an escapee is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Davus-pentaloris-AF.jpg

Might you have taken spinnerets - especially on a squashed spider - for a stinger? The venom is supposedly not too powerful, as it's a new world species, but the jaws might be expected to inflict some mechanical damage.
 
How big was it?

The concealed picture shows Davus Pentaloris, a dwarf tarantula. I understand their bright orange colour tends to fade between moults, and the stripy abdomen could be thought of as vaguely wasp-like. They are available in the spider-keeping hobby, so an escapee is not beyond the realms of possibility.


Might you have taken spinnerets - especially on a squashed spider - for a stinger? The venom is supposedly not too powerful, as it's a new world species, but the jaws might be expected to inflict some mechanical damage.
Ooooo that's a beast!
 
No....not the same. It was large like a common house spider with expansive brown legs. But the body was completely that of a normal size wasp.
Like a wasp with common house spider legs instead of wings.
 
This Summer I watched a fight to the death between a large house spider and a small wasp.
The spider battled bravely but succumbed to a wasp sting and fell still.

The wasp bit through its middle and flew off though the conservatory door with the spiders thorax.
Ten minutes later the wasp came back, neatly removed a couple of legs and flew off again.
This slow dismemberment continued until all parts had been carried off and finally the wasp came back one more time - just to check.

Amazing how something so small can have such accurate gps and organisational skills !
 
It was in Edinburgh Scotland.
I keep trying to Google images but it give me big heebie jeebies that I have to shut the tab down

Ah right, not the sort of beastie we normally have up here. I've googled too and it's not nice what google turns up! There are quite a few wasp like spiders in warmer climes but couldn't find anything in sunny Scotland. And when they do appear I'm going!
 
This Summer I watched a fight to the death between a large house spider and a small wasp.
The spider battled bravely but succumbed to a wasp sting and fell still.

The wasp bit through its middle and flew off though the conservatory door with the spiders thorax.
Ten minutes later the wasp came back, neatly removed a couple of legs and flew off again.
This slow dismemberment continued until all parts had been carried off and finally the wasp came back one more time - just to check.

Amazing how something so small can have such accurate gps and organisational skills !
If a wasp could pull off it's wings and legs and glue on a house spiders legs and carry on as spiders do. (About a medium size house spider). That's what it would look like.
 
Ah right, not the sort of beastie we normally have up here. I've googled too and it's not nice what google turns up! There are quite a few wasp like spiders in warmer climes but couldn't find anything in sunny Scotland. And when they do appear I'm going!
I must concede that one no longer lives in that building but for reasons other than the wasp spider. Haha
 
It sounds like an orb spider but, although some have been seen in southern England, none have been reported in Scotland. It's even called a Wasp Spider.
http://www.uksafari.com/argiopebruennichi.htm
I have seen those before (originally being a southerner). No it wasn't like those. I describe those as spiders with stripes. And their bodies match their legs and the legs are different to a house spider.
 
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