Where is mummy spider? (From The Argus)
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Where is mummy spider?
1:30pm Monday 9th February 2009 in
Forget about Spider-Man, Patricia Ogle is more concerned about finding Spider-Mum.
The grandmother of seven is on the lookout for an exotic spider in her house after discovering an empty egg sac in a bunch of bananas from Sainsbury’s.
Mrs Ogle, who lives in Grove Hill, Brighton, spotted the sac encased in a sticky web on the fruit.
She said: “It was about three inches long and there was something inside it.
“It looked like a sac of eggs and I don’t know if the mother is lurking around.”
Sainsbury’s delivered Mrs Ogle’s Fairtrade bananas on Thursday but she did not make her alarming discovery until Friday evening when she went to eat one.
She said: “I got the bunch down from where I keep them on top of my freezer and went to pull them apart and there was this sticky stuff like glue holding them together.
“We had to cut the sac away with scissors.
“It looked like candy floss and I put it straight into a jar.
“A man from Sainsbury’s came round on Saturday morning and took it. He said they would send it away to find out what it was.
“The mother spider could be in my kitchen – that’s what’s bothering me. I tried to get on the web to try to find out more but I couldn’t.”
Sainsbury’s buys its Fairtrade bananas from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Dominican Republic and the Windward Islands, all of which are home to large and potentially dangerous arachnids.
There have been reports recently that spiders coming from overseas are surviving because of the milder winters we have been having – although any spiders arriving in recent days would probably turn round and head back.
Polegate resident Ray Hale, from the British Tarantula Society, said he thought the latest interloper was probably a large but harmless Huntsman spider.
The creepy-crawly is found in Australia but also in many tropical and semi-tropical parts of the world, including China, Japan and southern parts of the United States, such as Florida and Puerto Rico.
Mr Hale said: “The lady has absolutely nothing to worry about.”
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s apologised and said the company was investigating the incident.
Comments(14)
The Garden Slug
says...
1:33pm Mon 9 Feb 09
Pontop Pike
says...
1:36pm Mon 9 Feb 09
Charismatic Andrew
says...
1:55pm Mon 9 Feb 09
....like the cheeky little play on words!
Pat Mustard
says...
2:31pm Mon 9 Feb 09
Charismatic Andrew wrote:Was it that she couldn't find out more or just get on the web, which is pretty irrelevant to the story? Unless of course the Mummy Spider has eaten through her router...
“The mother spider could be in my kitchen – that’s what’s bothering me. I tried to get on the WEB to try to find out more but I couldn’t.” ....like the cheeky little play on words!
tinkywinky
says...
3:33pm Mon 9 Feb 09
Harmless? I dont think so. I would have a coronary.
sue.thepooh@virgi.net
says...
3:51pm Mon 9 Feb 09
jyan
says...
4:38pm Mon 9 Feb 09
GreenGrocer
says...
4:39pm Mon 9 Feb 09
oh no, it's only a traffic warden, far more unwanted than a harmless lickle spidey!
Anyone got a shoe to squash it with?
Jim BB
says...
7:00pm Mon 9 Feb 09
Dribbler
says...
8:46pm Mon 9 Feb 09
ps. perhaps the spider's legged it!
disgruntledHove
says...
10:26pm Mon 9 Feb 09
Dave At Home
says...
11:36pm Mon 9 Feb 09
'course you couldn't you daft moo, the man from Sainsbury's took it... remember?
Security word HIDE-BODY
pigletstrotters
says...
11:42pm Mon 9 Feb 09
highlighter85
says...
4:12pm Tue 10 Feb 09
Huntsman spider bites usually result only in transient local pain and swelling. However, some Badge Huntsman spider bites have caused prolonged pain, inflammation, headache, vomiting and irregular pulse rate.
First Aid
A cold pack may relieve local pain. Seek medical attention if symptoms. persist
Hopefully it was a female, but what going to happen to the eggs, are they going to breed them now ???
The female Huntsman (Isopeda, for example) produces a flat, oval egg sac of white papery silk, and lays up to 200 eggs
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Patricia Ogle, above, with the bananas and the egg sac in
FEARS: The empty egg case
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