Brit tempted to 'burn house down' after finding huge insect with nasty feature

Some of us really struggle with insects.

The thought of one crawling around in your personal space can be enough to send shivers down your spine. And it's made even worse if the bug is big or bites!

That's exactly the problem one Brit faced when they found the "spider of nightmares" in their home. They were so terrified they jokingly considered "burning their house down" to deal with it.

On Reddit, the fearful commenter revealed they'd spotted the bug in their garden. They were about to release it back into the wild when they found out the eight-legged fiend wasn't very "friendly".

They realised they'd found a false widow spider, which can have a painful bite. The Redditor wrote: "I was about to set this guy free in my garden (as is customary), but thought I would Google it first as it was so interesting looking. So do I need to burn my house down now?"

He attached a photograph of the insect, adding: "Google says I caught a false widow; the spider of nightmares, in a country where I thought all spiders were friendly."

Commenters warned the spider's bite was similar to "being nipped by a wasp." Many also admitted the spooky species had given them sleepless nights.

One wrote: "I was bitten in the night by one a few years back. I was sleeping and woke up to something tickling my neck, in my half-asleep daze, I swiped at my neck but then it bit me. Swiped again and must have killed it because I then realised what dropped on to my collarbone and launched it across the room. It was all curled up on the floor. I was fine though, just scared to go sleep for about three months after!"

Another wrote: "Males bite is weaker apparently. I got bitten by one a few years ago right in the centre of my calf. I had a soft spot about the size of a marble for a few weeks and it took a few months until my leg felt completely right again."

A third said they thought they'd die after being nipped. They claimed: "Had one of these f***ers fall down the back of my shirt once, didn't realise it, or feel the bite, until it started getting itchy. Whipped my shirt off and the thing fell on the floor dead. I was convinced I was gonna die from all the horror stories online about them. It got red and blotchy, stung a bit, and itched like mad but as you said, it's like a wasp sting."