Spiders breeding season set to cause havoc in homes

Spiders are entering the breeding season. Picture: Tony Marsh/JP

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MILLIONS of sex-crazed spiders are set to invade homes across the country as we enter their breeding season.

The tail end of summer is when homeowners are mostly likely to see the eight-legged arachnids scuttling around in search of a mate.

After mating the females can lay up to 100 eggs at a time.

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While many people have a fear of the creatures, Prof Malcolm Burrows, Emeritus Professor of Zoology at Cambridge University, said they pose no threat to people.

He said: “There are a tiny number of British species that bite. The house spider very rarely bites humans and does little harm.

“The false widow spider got a lot of publicity last year - but not for its bite.”

Most of the spiders in the UK are the common house variety, which are an average of two centimetres in body length, about two inches in all when legs are taken in to consideration.

Male spiders live for about a year, but the females, which have a larger body, live up to seven years.

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