Spider facts
- Spiders are 8-legged arthropods with 3-4 pairs of eyes.
- There are 660 species of spider in the UK! The most common are:
- Giant House Spider – up to 120mm long, these are the spiders you will often find in the bath! They build sheet-like webs.
- Daddy Long Legs – aren’t strictly speaking spiders and are also know as crane flies.
- Harvestmen – are also not spiders, rather Opiliones; they grow up to 45mm and have a small round body with long thin legs.
- False Widow Spider – grow up to 20mm and have a distinctive dark brown abdomen with yellow stripes; although they can bite, they are not aggressive and the symptoms are not usually severe (likened to a mosquito bite).
- Money Spiders – are the smallest of our spiders being only 2-5mm long. They build hammock shaped webs.
- Cupboard Spiders – are often mistaken for False Widow Spiders because of their similar colouring, but grow to only 10mm in length.
- Spiders often appear to come indoors during the early autumn.
- Spiders in the UK very, very seldom bite humans. If they do, most people notice minimal symptoms (with incredibly rare exceptions: you have an allergy, or it becomes infected).
- Although their webs can be annoying, spiders cause no damage to property. Don’t forget they are important predators of flies and other pests
What you can do
- Vacuum regularly, moving furniture and lifting carpet runners, wall hangings and pictures.
- Look up! Use your vacuum attachment to clean corners, skirting boards and wall/ceiling joins.
- Frequently disturb the dark, quiet corners of your home.
If you have a spider problem, we will…
- Speak to you to find out why spiders are troubling you and offer advice on housekeeping to limit spider activity.
- In exceptional circumstances we will offer you a residual arachnicide treatment.