Paphos People

Today I found a spider in the garden.
Nothing unusual in that you might say!
True but it is rather unusual to find one that doesn't officially exist here.
I found the arachnid equivalent of an illegal alien.
In the words of Rolf....
"Can ya guess what it is yet?"
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I discovered
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A female.
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BLACK WIDOW
Got it in a jar, for anyone who might not believe me.
I recognised it firstly from it's shape and colour but confirmed my suspicions when I turned the bugger upside down and saw the unmistakable red hourglass on the under side.

Brian would you believe they have been in Cyprus some years now and were thought to have arrived in cargo.

They have found more in the East of the Island but a number have turned up in Paphos so they are breeding very well

I wonder how they are getting up this end of the Island ??
maybe using the service taxis , like Agis Express .. ?


I have been wondering for a few years now why the authorites
try to deny that these spiders are here .. they are not the only breed
that they refuse to recognise ???

Anyway Brian , can we have a picture ???

not you , the spider

Black widow on Cyprus?

No chance. It simply cannot be. In any case probate takes so long she would have had to return to the country of origin to sign on the dole.....

Brian I would take the opportunity to check that there is no nesting area within your grounds, I have heard that the bases of palm trees and other places of dark moistness are good for them, but I am sure you will google them and take the apropriate erradication measures.

We have had Black Widows and Brown Widows up here - no problem really, they just get on doing what they do and leave us alone - any come into the house they die - simples!!

chris

That's fair enough Chris.
However we have a sunken outside room/bar/kitchen. In said area there is a low teak bench.
This b'stard was under this bench right where you tend to put your hand when sitting on it.
We have visitors today. They could have got a nasty surprise.
I tried to keep her alive but I must have injured her when getting her into the Jar as she was dead this morning.
They are apparently quite delicate spiders.
They are also non aggressive I believe.
I have cleaned the whole area now and didn't find any evidence of others or any egg sacks, which are apparently pear shaped.
The web was unbelievably sticky. Like candy floss.
Be careful out there.

Don't misunderstand me - I appreciate they can be a tad dodgy, and yes, the egg sacs are amazingly sticky, but I find a blowtorch does the job very neatly

chris

yuk I hate spiders... hope none of them make it to my house

Just looking through the posts and then I realised the spider was in Kathikas where we are coming to live soon!!!!

Do you usually get many spiders up there?

Best I dont tell my daughter as I think she will go mad!!!

This one (Freddie) was higher up In Agious Demetrianos.

It probably bit you and paid the price.

Baseman

I don't think Ag Dem is higher than Kathikas, probably quite a bit lower. The spider in your picture is the local tarantula or wolf spider. I posted a couple of pictures earlier in the year. The strange thing about these spiders is that I never see any except in April & May.

Very much doubt the "quite a bit lower" but never mind.
Val didn't like Freddie anyway so I had to dispatch it as i was a bit reluctant to attempt handling it.

I can't find the heights easily on the web but as I live only a couple of miles away I know the village is slightly higher than Polemi, whereas Kathikas is a much longer steep drive uphill. I believe in Kathikas they receive cold weather payments but I have not heard they do in Ad Dem. Not sure about the spiders I don't think they qualify

For what it's worth Finding the Height above sea level is easy with Google earth. As is the Latitude and Longitude of any where you like.

Kathikas is around 100M higher than Agios Dimitrianos

Kthikas is around 650M ASL
Agios Dimitrianos is around 550M ASL



Oh and John having lived there I would have thought you'd have learned how to spell the name of the place.