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Comments & ID Thoughts
Found in the back garden behind paving slabs leant against the side of the house. So a rocky shady area (concrete floor, side of house and paving slabs) There was another spider nearby that was more brown coloured with a larger and rounder abdomen. I think maybe that one was a cupboard spider/false widow? No red marking on that one though. Thanks for any help you can offer on identifying this one =)
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Jul 12, 2020
- Photographed: Jul 12, 2020
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.),Under rock, log, or debris
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
This definitely looks like Steatoda grossa, the False Black Widow. I’ve never seen one with a red spot on it, but many spiders are host to parasitic mites, which are usually orange or red. A closer, sharper shot could confirm whether that is actually a mite.
Ah that would make sense. Unfortunately I don’t have a better picture, although I can say the red part seemed slightly raised compared to the rest of the body. A mite seems to fit pretty well. Thanks for your response.
Hey, you’re welcome! 🙂 I don’t know if your area universities have any programs tracking parasites, but they might be interested in your photo and information. Also, iNaturalist has a project to document parasites of arthropods worldwide – you can see the project here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/passengers-parasites-taking-rides