Spider discovery causes stir in Reykjavík home as Brynhildur Helgadóttir finds sister species to black widow in grapes

Brynhildur Helgadóttir discovered a sister spider of the black widow in a bunch of grapes yesterday, causing quite a stir at her home. The Natural History Institute is currently studying the creature, and Brynhildur hopes that it will be named after her.

While cutting grapes bought earlier that day, Brynhildur was startled when a light brown spider fell into her kitchen sink. Initially, she didn’t pay much attention, recognizing it as a non-native species, and washed it down the drain. However, she decided to examine the grapes more closely.

“I then saw, when I looked into the cluster of grapes, just a glimpse of the spider’s rear end, which turned out to be this brown widow, a sister species to the black widow.”

At first, Brynhildur thought it might be the black widow itself because the spider had a red dot on its back, similar to traits identifying the black widow.

“It had already made itself comfortable, clearly had eggs, and there was silk all around it. It had made a nice nest there. My emotions were quite intense when I realized… at first, I thought it was the black widow, so I called my husband, ‘There’s a black widow in the grapes!’ I was quite taken aback.”

When asked if she was scared, Brynhildur admitted, “Yes, it was rather unsettling. We have two small children at home, and it hit me that I had a venomous spider there. We laughed at times, but we were also stressed; it was quite an emotional rollercoaster.”

Upon contacting the city of Reykjavík, Brynhildur did not expect immediate action, but city staff arrived within 15 minutes to collect the spider. It was subsequently taken to the Family and Petting Zoo. A post on the zoo’s Facebook page noted that the spider belongs to a subspecies of the black widow, likely the Northern widow, which contains potent neurotoxin, although it is rarely deadly.

Brynhildur hopes the spider will be named Brynhildur and jokingly suggested they visit the zoo for free to see their former pet.