IF you saw this chap in your home would you:
- A: run a mile;
- B: squat it with a newspaper;
- C: stamp on it;
- D: call Spiderbusters?
Hopefully, none of these.
The noble false widow spider has been villified in this country in recent years, but Richard Hill reckons its reputation is totally unjustified.
This female - scientific name steatoda nobilis, not to be confused with the deadly black widow which we don't get in the UK - has turned up in his garden in Blackmoor Road, Taunton.
The family spotted it late at night waiting for prey on its web, which he likens to "a tangled mess of scaffolding".
"Of the three types in the UK, this is the one which gets all the bad press as it has a bite like a wasp sting," said Richard.
"It's not aggressive though, so it won't try to fight you for your cider like wasps will."
He added: "We're leaving her alone as she causes no problems to us whatsoever.
"During the day she sleeps in a crack in the wall where she has made a funnel like structure and at night she sits on her web."
It is believed false widow spiders originally came into the country on a cargo ship which docked at Torquay and have slowly spread through the country.
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