The common House Spider are beginning to invade homes as the weather becomes cooler with Autumn closing in on us. Domestic house spiders are the UK's biggest arachnid.
Dr Chris Terrell-Nield, an ecologist from Nottingham Trent University, said the spiders "can do zero to 60 in one second."
House spiders possess elongated bodies. Their body/legs ratio is typically 50–60%, which accounts for a body size of 7.5–11.5 mm (0.30–0.45 in) in females and 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) in males.
The coloring of an adult T. domestica is typically dark orange to brown or beige (maybe even grayish), with a common characteristic of striped legs and two dull, black, longitudinal stripes on the cephalothorax. The abdomen is mottled in brown, beige, and grey and has a pattern of chevrons running lengthwise across the top (similar to an argyle pattern).
Females that dwell indoors would usually live for over one or two years on the same web, with some residing for as long as seven years in rarely disturbed places (attics, basement or cellar parts, storage rooms, etc.). Outdoor females perish with cold weather and males rarely live for over a year. In late fall (autumn), an egg sac is made containing up to 50 eggs.
The House Spider is not a particularly aggressive species and will often retreat when confronted. As long as its web is undisturbed, the spider will usually retreat to the funnel tip and stop responding to any movement whatsoever.
To usher the spider into a container for removal, place open end in front of the spider and use the container lid if so equipped or similar object to push or corral the spider from behind. Since a spider's first reflex after being disturbed from the rear is to move forward, usually the spider will advance into the container placed in front of it. They rarely bite. If they do, the bite is painless.
- Photo: Spider in the bath at my home.
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