Eeeek! Giant 2½in spiders to bring an autumn of arachnophobia
THEY are scuttling into homes across the country – often terrifying the nation’s householders.
Supersized spiders are invading our kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, with (look away now, arachnophobes) more king-sized creepy crawlies than normal.
The sizzling summer temperatures and recent weeks of rainfall have created a boom in houseflies – meaning there is a banquet of food for the eight-legged beasties.
Kevin Higgins, of the British Pest Control Association (BPCA), warns the infestations are ‘the worst I can remember since the heatwave of 1976’.
He said: ‘The conditions have created the perfect storm for pests.
‘It has continued to be hot and humid this month but now there’s been some rain, which is the ideal combination for flies.
‘Food rots quicker, clothes get dirtier and smellier, and people forget to leave their bins closed. It only takes a few seconds before they are in there laying eggs on everything.
‘This brings spiders, who in turn have plenty of food of their own.’
House spiders are harmless because their bite is unable to pierce human skin.
Female house spiders can grow to more than 2.2in, while smaller males can be 2in.
September is the arachnid mating season, so we see more as they leave their webs to breed.
Chris Cathrine, West Scotland’s area organiser for the British Arachnological Society, said: ‘Although females are bigger they spend almost all of their lives on their webs. But the males have to leave theirs to find a mate, which is why it feels like you always see more in late August and September. Spider size is directly linked to how much food they have been able to get a hold of. If there are more flies, they will continue to their maximum size.’
House spiders spend 95 per cent of their lives indoors and the notion they migrate into the home from outdoors in autumn is ‘an urban myth’, Mr Cathrine added.
He said: ‘They’re in your house all year, they just become more active during mating season.’ Pest control firm Rentokil noted a 20 per cent increase last month in fly-related calls compared with the same period last year.
A spokesman said: ‘This year’s warmer summer has meant there is more food available for spiders to help them grow. This abundance of food means the giant house spider and lesser house spider are more likely to reach the upper limit of their size range.’
Wasp numbers have also exploded thanks to the heatwave, according to the BPCA.
Mr Higgins said: ‘We haven’t seen so many wasps for a long time. They have been a nuisance on a massive scale all over the UK.
‘The sheer numbers are mind-boggling.’
The Met Office said: ‘Humidity has been higher than last year from late-June to mid-July. Scotland has seen more rain in the last couple of weeks. It seems reasonable to assume these may be factors in the population boom.’