Overview

• The dead spider was found cocooned in webbing inside the left shoe of Hugh Marsh, who brought it from Perth to Stow-on-the-Wold for a cousin’s wedding.
• Contact with the spider’s fine hairs left Marsh’s hand red, itchy and swollen until a week of antihistamine treatment reduced the reaction.
• Marsh believes the arachnid may have been a black house spider (Badumna insignis) based on online photos, but no specimen was preserved or professionally identified.
• Information cited from the Australian Museum indicates black house spiders rarely bite but can cause painful local swelling and occasional systemic symptoms.
• Media coverage described the case as a venomous arrival in the UK, yet no official biosecurity measures or evidence of an established non-native population have followed.