Is this spider dangerous? I found it on my child’s bed

Finding a spider where your children sleep is frightening, and it is right to ask. Most spiders that wander into homes are not a danger to people. But some parts of the world have spiders with a bite that needs a doctor, and nobody, including us, can tell you a spider is safe from a description. So treat this one as unknown: keep your distance, get a clear photo, and let someone who knows spiders where you live look at it.

What to do right now

1. Move children and pets out of the room. Do not touch the spider, and do not try to squash it by hand.
2. Photograph it from a distance. Use the zoom, good light and a steady hand. One from directly above and one from the side if you can, without getting close. A photo of where it was and any web helps too.
3. Contain it only if that is safe. If it is on a flat surface and you feel calm, put a glass over it, slide a stiff card underneath, and keep it covered. If it is fast, hidden in bedding, or you live where dangerous spiders are found, do not. Close the door, put a towel along the gap, and call a local pest controller or wildlife service.
4. Check the bed once it is gone. Take the bedding off slowly, shake it out over the bath or outside, and wash it. Look under the bed and along the mattress edge with a torch.

Our answer on catching a spider when you are scared of them has more on doing it without getting close.

Why ID apps give you three different answers

Many spiders look alike, and a phone photo loses the details that tell them apart: eye pattern, markings underneath, size. Light, angle and blur change the result, so the same spider can come back as three species. Most apps give a best guess without saying how unsure they are. Three photos and three answers is the app telling you it does not know.

For a reliable ID, send your clearest photos to a local source: a natural history museum, a university or extension service, a wildlife trust or a spider recording group. Many of them offer ID help online. The Shoo scanner can tell you a bug is a spider, but it does not name spider species, so it cannot answer this one. A spider that might be dangerous is a job for local experts.

Where you live changes the answer

In the UK, people often ask about the false widow. It can bite. Treat a bite like any other: clean it, watch it, and let a doctor or pharmacist decide if it needs treatment. In other regions, including parts of the Americas and Australia, there are widow spiders, recluse spiders and funnel-webs, whose bites can need urgent care. If you live somewhere with these, take any unknown spider seriously.

If someone has been bitten: wash the area with soap and water, use a cool compress and keep it raised. See a doctor or pharmacist if pain, swelling or redness spreads, if it blisters or darkens, if there is a fever or the person feels unwell, and always for a young child or an older person. Call emergency services straight away for trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, severe or spreading pain, sweating or cramps. Take your photo, or the spider in a sealed container, with you.

Worried about a mark on someone you love, like a parent? Let a doctor look rather than judging from a photo. Many marks that look like spider bites turn out to be something else, such as a skin infection or another insect, and those need different care.

Keeping spiders off the beds

• Pull beds a little away from the wall and keep bedding off the floor.
• Vacuum under beds and in corners, including webs and egg sacs, and empty the vacuum outside.
• Close the gaps they use around windows, vents and pipes. See how to keep spiders out and the spider guide.

Spiders rarely live in beds. They wander, and in many places you see more indoors in late summer and autumn, when males go looking for mates.