Wattisham Airfield: Black Widow spiders found at Apache base

By Matt Hunter Thursday, September 27, 2012
11:23 AM

A COLONY of deadly Black Widow spiders has been discovered at Wattisham Airfield.

The spiders were found when a crate of equipment from the El Centro training base in California was opened.

The arachnids escaped into a hanger at the Apache helicopter base near Stowmarket.

A spokesman for the Army base said: “We are aware of an incident where some spiders were inadvertently returned from the USA. Despite fumigation in the USA it appears that some survived. They were all contained to one hanger and a contracted pest control agency has now destroyed them.”

The black widow spider is nocturnal and its bite, which affects the victim’s nervous system, can be fatal.