Beetle and Spider

Violaceous Ground Beetle

Here are a couple of recent visitors to our garden. The first is a relatively common species of beetle - the Violaceous Ground Beetle. I have seen the term Violet Ground Beetle as well but I think violaceous describes it better because it's not violet, it's black with violet highlights like the hair of many a modern-day goth.  It is nocturnal and flightless (which is probably why it's on the ground!) and eats slugs amongst other things. The Natural History Museum produced a very entertaining blog entry on this beetle which is well worth looking up at blog.nhm.ac.uk/tag/ground-beetle/.

Steatoda nobilis

Our second visitor was even bigger and was this 'false widow' spider with no common name, but goes under the catchy title of Steatoda nobilis.  It was introduced to this country from the Canary Isles or Madeira were it is endemic in the 1870s.  It tends to be associated with houses but in the South of England it can cope with the weather and lives outside.  Like all spiders it is poisonous (that's how they subdue their prey) and is one of only a handful of UK spiders that can break through human skin.  Its bite has been likened to a bee or wasp sting, but that doesn't stop the Daily Mail wallowing in pictures of people with extreme reactions to the bite or tales of near death experiences.  Not that I'd want to be bitten by one, but I'm not reaching for the spider extermination kit either.  There is also a related species found in Australia Steatoda capensis which is also called 'false widow' - as is the Red-back Spider (Lactodectus hasseltii) , the bite of which may well put you in hospital. 

Red-back Spider