Giant house spider breeding in the Faroes

A new type of house spider is becoming an increasingly common sight in Faroese homes.

With a leg span of up to 10 cm, ‘the giant house spider’, known scientifically as the Eratigena atrica, has been seen occasionally in the Faroes for the past ten years or so, but it has now become a common sight.

It is predominantly found in large warehouses, but it has also been spotted in homes across the country.

Scary but harmless

The giant house spider is much different from the other 90 or so house spider species in the country, but it is harmless, according to ornithologist Jens Kjeld Jensen.

“It’s big, it can run 50 cm in one second and it bites – all of which may seem scary to a lot of people, but it is in no way dangerous for humans,” he says.

“All spiders bite. They feed on insects, so their ability to bite is what keeps them alive. Although the giant house spider’s bite can pierce human skin, the bite is only ten percent of a wasp sting and barely detectable for us.”

How did it get here?

Jensen says that the enormous amounts of imports with countless containers coming in are an obvious cause of the influx of big spiders.

He adds that it would be unwise to rule out climate change as an additional cause.

“We have in recent years seen an invasion of wasps and bumble bees in our country, species which in previous years were not present here, so it is fair to assume that climate change is also a factor.”

Unregulated imports “a disaster”

Jensen has, together with numerous other Faroese biologists, warned about the lack of control with imported goods.

“Our politicians don’t care about the hazards of unregulated imports of goods such as plants. Although this particular spider is harmless, the impact of unregulated imports can have disastrous consequences. In Norway, for example, the government has had to spend about half a billion Norwegian kroner on fighting killer snails simply because there were no rules about regulating imports.”

Advice for arachnophobes

His advice to the arachnophobes among us is to just ignore the giant house spider. 

“It does not seek out humans. It runs away the second it sees us. It’s as scared of us as we are scared of it, so as long as we don’t actively seek contact with it, it will leave us alone. So there’s no need to invest in a flamethrower.

“Think of it this way: if you see one of these big spiders in your home, it’s a sign that you have a healthy indoor environment. The more spiders, the healthier the indoor environment.”

Translated by prosa.fo