Why do spiders come indoors in the autumn?
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A perennial question on this site’s popular Ask the Ranger facility is “Where do spiders go in the winter?” (So much so that the answer is given on the same page and can be found here). At this time of the year, however, more direct approaches to The Ranger are common, as spiders start appearing indoors all over the place and startled home-owners seek advice from their nearest spider enthusiast. So The Ranger was prepared when Naturenet designer Cat posed the question “Where do spiders come from in the autumn?”, or, more specifically, why is Cat’s flat filling up with spiders?
On investigation it did indeed seem as though Cat’s place was a great attraction for one of the largest spiders in the UK – Tegenaria gigantea. In her bath was an impressive male spider; and further searching, urged on from a distance by Cat, revealed two more similar males hiding in the kitchen sink. These two seemed to have fallen out with each other, and despite having somewhere lost two legs each, were intent on combat.
Using suitable equipment it is usually possible to capture even the largest specimen safely, and all three of the spiders were put in a plastic box safely. But this still leaves some of those questions that The Ranger is often asked – and here come the answers. Why do spiders come indoors in the autumn? Not surprisingly, most spiders don’t like it in houses, as they are too dry and clean, with little food. But there are also few predators, so a few species have got quite used to houses, and some live hardly anywhere else. But in the autumn particularly, a range of species which normally stay outdoors start coming in. That is why they suddenly seem to appear from nowhere. The errant spiders are almost always males, who having reached maturity now set off in search of a female. Most will remain outdoors, but as they are quite adventurous some will by random chance end up in your house.
Why do spiders like the bath? Well they don’t particularly, but they can’t climb the sides. They may fall in just by chance, or they might be attracted by the moisture, but generally once in they can’t get out. This is especially true of large spiders which, unlike most small species, cannot walk up smooth surfaces, so that’s why big spiders end up in the bottom of your bath. Unable to run off and hide they are stuck there until you discover them. It’s often suggested that spiders come up the waste pipe – well, they might go down there but only if they have fallen into the bath in the first place, as they can’t swim up through the S-bend in your waste pipe any more than you can. So if you take a bath often enough there shouldn’t be any spiders down the plughole. If this still worries you just sluice the plughole out a few times, including the overflow. Spiders have no magic survival abilities and water will wash them away just like anything else. The easiest way to get them out of the bath is to drape a towel over the bath’s side, with enough towelling inside the bath to enable the spider to climb out. Then leave overnight. This technique, although humane, is not universally popular amongst those afraid of spiders as, obviously enough, it will not necessarily get the spider out of your house.
How do I get rid of spiders in the house? Tricky. They will probably just wander off again if you let them, and certainly by the time it gets at all cold most will be dead or dormant somewhere. But you can always transfer them to the garden with the Frankie Howerd technique (above) or even a specialist tool like the Spider Catcher. The Ranger has tried one of these out and it’s actually pretty good – hard to harm the spider and ideal for even the squeamish. There’s no point in using pesticides – it won’t do you any good to have that stuff in your house and as the spiders are coming in from outside even if you kill them indoors they will come back pretty much straight away. Better to keep your doors and windows shut, and get the cracks sealed up, then no more spiders can gain entry (and your house will be warmer too!).
So, what happened to Cat’s three spiders in the plastic box? The video above shows a moment from the very prolonged tussle of the two lively six-legged protagonists. Neither seemed likely to harm each other, and eventually The Ranger took pity and took them down the garden to release safely into the hedge. No doubt he’ll be doing the same for their progeny this time next year!
Have you ever seen a bird trapped in a spider web?
Look this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0yE8BuC1bA
I thought it was impossible!
In australia we get huntsman – big and beautiful! They eat everything else that walks the walls and have no interest in humans at all! We have poisonous spiders that can seriously hurt or even kill you. If you randomly kill the ‘friendlys’ then the others could get you! Get to know your spiders and then you’ll know which are the enemy.
British spiders can do no harm.
Even large spiders are delicate and are easily injured.
Best thing then is 2keep ur double glazed windows & doors shut 🙂 and now we know what to do when we get double glazed salesman at the door!lol:-D
I’m afraid of spiders because it feels like they will bite me. Some spiders have venom that might be harmful to our health.
Both me and my wife are terrified of spiders and our usual methods of getting rid are our 4yr old daughter, the dog or the hoover. One method I tried when the others werent available was a glass and a cd. This method doesnt work as the spider popped out the hole, so after reading above ill be buying a few post cards & sonic/plug device! Julie our advice is.. If its in ur bedroom.. Move house 🙂
A gigantic spider was on my bed walking towards me….I dived out of bed but by the time I grabbed a glass it disappeared…I search everywhere even hoovered around my bed but no sign….I am petrified it will come again tonight….where did it go so quickly??? I have checked my duvet, pillows, mattress floor walls….nothing. I slept downstairs and cant go back into my bed until it is found. 🙁 Clever little buggers aren’t they!!
i have noticed lots of spiders recently in the house. ive lived in the same house for 13 years and these last few months ive seen more than i ever have. they do scare me but not so much that i cant catch them humanely and pop them back in the garden. i usually use a glass and a bit of card and find this effective. i have two cats but they sit and just watch them. what freaks me out alot is the spiders seem to like my bed especially when im in it. i find that im starting to dream about them and i have had to make a huge effort to put this into perspective before it becomes real fear. its silly to be scared of something that is terrified of me.
“If you want to live and thrive, let the spiders run alive” – folklore
Fabulous article very informative. I am absolutly terrified of these big daddys,16 up to now since August. I have left the daddy of them all in my kitchen sink this morning and worrying all day how to get rid. Ive tried conkers,cant say Ive had much success,Ive got a cat but she wont go for the biggys,Im sorry to say that i useually drown them,but it knocks me sick to even look at them,definatly need hypno therapy.will end up getting a neighbour probably. feel very silly but really cant help it
Great article. It should be noted that many species of this particular group are now endangered because too many are being killed by people mistaking them for ‘dangerous’ or ‘poisonous’ or just being afraid of them.
I’ve studied the tegenaria gigantea for some years and found them quite fascinating, even though I’ve been bitten by them (they don’t hurt that much) and am afraid of spiders generally. Most of the specimens we see today are barely half grown. The full grown specimens are about the side of a dinner plate. I saw one once trying to hide behind a wall clock, it’s feet were visible around the edges. Scared the bejesu out of me.
Again, great article, but please remind your readers NOT to kill them. They larger they get the better able to reproduce they become. They are also beneficial to the environment and actively hunt steatodas (false widows), widow spiders and other undesirable creepy-clawlies.
Can I just ask why they’re suddenly so ginormous during “spider season”?
Usually more than spiders, it’s Scutigera Coleoptrata that appear back in my house in September.
Sadly no Tegenaria for me – I’ve got a colony of Pholcus phalangoides in the corner of the bedroom and they munch all the Tegenaria as soon as they appear!
I used to be terrified of spiders but decided to try and get over this irrational fear when I realised what amazing and helpful creatures they are. I can now pick up small spiders but still admit to shrieking when a large one surprises me!
nice page/blog thing , article…im allways finding giganteus in my house lol, and just gota defend them a little…these guys eat most things that would attack you in any way! and they dont attack humans, unlike the smaller ones..if im not mistaken ..same family but nicknamed wolf spiders? they are jumpy and can actually bite you….apparantly , but it never happened to me…
and they are definatly not black!! i got a macro picture of one on my wall and when i saw the pattern i was really impressed!
Then you have the orb spiders the little chunky ones that come in a myriad of colours
And back to the point…thank you for the towel idea 🙂
Also i thought it unusual that a spider could survive underwater so long…they have “book” lungs, which are open to the air and folded..like folded sheets of skin, and they can drown if the surface has too much moisture or water on it, as im a exotic animal hobbiest …and was looking at getting spiders, but i didnt because im afraid they will die!
I currently have the hugest spider on my bedroom wall. I have swiftly evacuated my room and sprayed it with the only insect killer in my ouse which is for wasps and flys. Please can you let me know if this will work as until it moves onto the floor or a lower down surface I can’t even reach it to get rid of it (and no I’m not going to let it roam free outside – I plan on killing it quickly and efficiently!).
I did not mind one then two spiders taking up residence on my ceiling until it crossed my mind that they may mate! Is there a specific time of year for that? One of them is working on a web.
Btw thanks for this web site, no pun intended!
ive seen about three spiders in my bedroom how can i get rid of them?
My Significant Other is convinced that the spiders she finds indoors are ‘indoor spiders’ and can’t put outside or they’ll die. Any truth in that? It would be great to know the little dears would survive outdoors, it would save me constantly scanning the carpet and having to put cups over them while I’m there – they give me the willies :O(
We DO need flies! They’re decomposers, they clean up the horrific mess we humans leave rotting everywhere, they help decompose animals that we kill with our cars. Spiders help control the flies and therefore are helping us out. Please try to be reasonable and bear in mind that in England at least, spiders are totally harmless to us. Don’t kill them, leave them alone. If you have an illogical fear (if you fear spiders in the UK your fear is utterly illogical) then face the fear, get over it! Get a grip!
I HATE SPIDERS!!!!!! I would even risk my life just to get rid of them i mean there not needed cause u dont need fly’s so u dont need spiders OH PLZ GET RID OF SPIDERS I BEG OF U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One other reason i hate spiders is as a child i had 2 sisters and 1 brother and we all had the same bedroom cause our house wasn’t very big and one night my brother Tom in the middle of the night woke us all up by screaming there was a giant spider in his bed and he had loads of bites all on his leg from it we immediately called pest control but by the time they got here the spider had done a runner turns out that the spider could have seriously hurt Tom and the rest of us in fact Tom was rushed to hospital so the bites were treated we then moved as soon as we could. SO I HATE SPIDERS!!!!!!
UGH i hate Spiders they drive me NUTS i hate them they r horrid. Ugh there horrid thin legs there horrid I HATE THEM!!!!!! Plz i beg of you tell me how to get rid of spiders once and for all!!! PLZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE THEM!!!!!!!
Ever since last Christmas, my kids and I have a movie night/slumber party downstairs. I get the couch and they get to sleep in their sleeping bags on the floor. There’s never been a problem until perhaps Aug/Sept when one of the kids got presumed spider bites several weeks in a row. We had to quit our little tradition…to the great dismay of the children. From reading these postings, sounds like spiders were coming indoors with the cooler weather (though I wouldn’t call Sept “fall” in the Pacific NW). When would be a reasonable time to risk trying it again?
hi, i am sooo scared of spiders i feel so ill when i see them, but i have founda prduct which is good spider stop out of betterware you can get it of the website, you just spray all round skirting boards and doors and you can use outside, it as clover oil in it which deters them and forms a barrier, really is good stuff i highly recommend it good luck
If you need to humanely catch spiders, maybe you need to get yourself a bugbuster – its my favourite gadget
See it in action on the video at http://www.buyabugbuster.co.uk
I hate spiders, although I’m not so afraid of the smaller ones any more. But the large, black, ugly beasties (as in the photos on this site) are a step too far and my preferred solution is the vacuum cleaner: Spider vs dual cyclone? The suction wins every time; it’s just another form of Darwinian survival of the least stupid. Got another critter only last night. My senses are always on high alert in August and September, since that’s when they start exploring.
Am going pretty nuts here …each night for the pat week have come eye ball to eye ball with two gigantua (?)(huge, hairy dark brown). I squash them instantly as I am absolutely terrified of them. Am much comforted by all the comments – my husband, Lawrence, is very unsympathetic and my cat, Sooty, not much use either! Off to get the cloves out….and to find a new nice husband that will fill in all the cracks. All the best to my fellow arachnophobes in distress this autumn! Charlie
Its true! To stop spiders entering your dwelling, position a few conkers on the windowsills of each room. Trust me I live in a very old house, prone to having plenty of spiders, as they can easily get up through the floorboards and cracks in the wall. Since getting my conkers out I havent seen a spider in weeks! Also crushing up a mixture of conkers, cloves and dried lemongrass is the ultimate spider repellant. Spiders are mingers but they eat flies and dont cause too much bother so surely its gotta be better than bopping them with a newspaper 🙂
We just moved into a rental house and it seems to be infested with spiders! They seem to always be coming from the curtains in the living room (which is really the only place we’ve seen them–crawling in the living room). I found a big one (like the ones in your photos) crawling on me this morning and after screaming bloody murder, getting it off me and kindly putting it in the garden I’m fed up of having to put them outside. My husband is terrified, and I’m not really scared of them I just don’t particularly like them. I don’t want to have to keep the windows closed on nice days this spring since we’ve been having some nice days!
why are they coming in at this time of year? Do they live in the curtains? Can I get rid of them? Any advice would be helpful!
The Ranger responds: It’s more common to find them in the autumn. Big ones have probably overwintered in the house, and now you’ve warmed it up have woken up. So if you do take them outside, they probably won’t come back (until the autumn of course!).
I’ve read about using conkers as a spider repellent technique – would love to know if it works. Also heard that spiders are repelled by the smell of cloves. I like the smell of cloves so that sounds like a very nice option. No need at present though as I have a cat and he effectively hoovers up any that come within 2 feet of the floor. Just seen a male T.gigantea on the wall at my office – hence my renewed interest. In my last house I used to get lots of really skinney, thin legged spiders – looked a little like harvest men but they were more wispy. I once watched one fight (and eat!?) a fairly hefty house spider. Wish i’d got it on video! Decided from then on that these ones were welcome to my ceiling corners.
hi i live alone with my two kids and went into the kitchen last night to come across a huge spider and im scare to death of them and i no its still in my kitchen somewhere and i dont no what to do please hel.i cant go near them or even use a hoover or glass im that scared
The Ranger responds:
Oh dear. You’d best get someone else in to give you a hand. Perhaps your kids can help – mine love spiders and have been known to help out their mother in that way!
Ive been going hot and cold reading all this and the goosebumps have been up and down like (can’t thing of an analogy that isn’t rude?)
Anyway, I just wanted to get to know my enemy so thought I would get answers to the questions mentioned i.e. why do spiders come in, in the autumn? The answer: in the autumn the spiders start coming in and that’s why they start to appear? Is it just me or is that not an answer?
I’m thinking, is it the spiders mating season? (do they have one?) do they just not like the cold? and where do they go in the winter? do they die or hibernate or stay in the walls? (I really don’t know anything) but, have found what this autumn did seem to work (unless we just brought it after all the terrifying sightings had already taken place and all the little beasts were already snuggled into their winter residence!!) but have not seen a spider since buying a plug in sonic/vibration spider repeller (well 3 actaully) the house glows blue from space but no spiders!!
I’m much happier now!
PS Thanks for the info
i had a bad problem in my last house with really big scary hairy spiders, i had never been scared of spiders until i saw those ones! i put lots of conkers in all of the corners and window ledges, cleaned all the surfaces with lemon cleaning stuff (apparently spiders taste with their feet and hate lemon) and used eucalyptus oil too (they ahte that too apparently). after that my boyfriend sealed any possible holes and craks they could be coming from and i never saw any since! have just moved house and now have a bit of a problem spiders with really long super skinny legs.
What a repellent idea!
If you threw the conkers at the spiders that would repel them.
is it true conkers work as a spider repellent?
if so would it repell those?
(bit scared of em to be honest)
The Ranger responds: I’ve never head of this idea but it appears that there’s some old wife’s tale about placing conkers in all four corners of the room. If you try it, do let us know how you get on!
I’ve got some massive spiders running around my living room lately. I guess they are coming out from the fireplace, as 90% of the time we see them in that side of the room. But, are the spiders coming down from the chimney, or up through the floor where the central heating pipes poke through?
The Ranger responds: search me. Could be either. It’ll be hard to block up the fireplace but easy to block the floor holes, so try that and see if they stop.
is there anyway of keeping spiders out of my house?i am absolutely petrified of them.theres usually bettween 2 and 4 spiders a night,and they arent small either.theyre big,and brown.damn,they make me cringe!
The ranger responds: Other than keeping the doors and windows shut and cleaning up the house, it’s hard to know what you can do. Certainly once the spiders are outside they shouldn’t want to come back in, although maybe they are coming in by accident.
Just wondering where water spiders go in the winter
The Ranger responds: very interesting question. The equally interesting answer is that they reinforce their little diving bells, seal up the entrance and become dormant. Then in spring they emerge.
I seem to attract spiders – I catch them on my neck, my arms, my face – inside & outside the house. My husband never seems to have them crawling on him. Is there a reason I attract them?
Someone told me that on average, people swallow about 12 a year while sleeping – is this true?
The Ranger responds: no.
The spider in the bath…. i had one similar looking to it, but it was MUCH bigger. Its entire size with spread out legs was as large as a dinner plate. this is not some imagination of someone scared of spiders, i kinda like them. But this one was that big i could’nt believe it, and didnt touch it as i had no idea if it was dangerous. Any idea what it was ? iwas going to ask my pet shop but my dog kinda found it a nice snack.
Six legged combatants? Arachnids have eight legs
The Ranger responds: watch the video, hobospider. Count the legs. They might have been born eight-legged, but these guys have lost a brace each – as it mentions in the article.
Hi, i’m getting a lot of spiders in the house…a few months ago a had about 12 tiny spiders in and around my bath.. the next day a had another seven…i had one on my pillow at night..and just had another crawling on my ear just as i was about to go to sleep..but these were not little ones…the first one was the size of a fifty pence peace..i’m getting so i cant go to sleep..for looking for spiders what can i do regards margaret
The Ranger responds: not sure about that – sounds like a lot of spiders. I don’t suppose they want to be in there either. Other than keeping the doors and windows shut and cleaning up the house, it’s hard to know what you can do. Certainly once the spiders are outside they shouldn’t want to come back in, although maybe they are coming in by accident.
I thought I was the only one that used the glass and postcard technique!! had a huge one in the bath 2 days ago. Just wondering, what are they (it looked like the one in the picture) are they dangerous(!), or are they scared and harmless or what!!??
The Ranger responds: It’s probably a species called Tegenaria duellica, and they’re not at all dangerous to us – although they’re probably quite dangerous to flies! You’re most likely correct in that a spider in the bath is more scared than anything else.
To get rid of spiders is easy. Cut the bottom off a plastic drink bottle (keep the screw top lid on), and cut the end off a plastic food carton tray. Place the bottle over the spider, slide the tray underneath, turn the whole thing over so that the spider falls into the bottle, and cannot get out. Then release in the garden well away from the house.
When hanging clothing out to dry keep them well away from ground level. If you have alleyways and paths nearby, keep them well swept. Remove old leaves, pieces of wood, and anything else where spiders can hide. Keep windows closed, especially if near trees or bushes.You could put a small pile of wood in the garden somewhere for spiders to go to.
Fascinating article! A non-humane alternative is to keep cats – they certainly keep the spider population down!
I laughed my socks off – what a great article. Not only Frankie Howerd but the theme from Rocky too!! Keep ’em coming.
Wow! Looks remarkably similar to the two I found in my house in Northern California (Only got pictures of one of them)
The Ranger responds: looks similar; it’s a large male spider for sure. However it doesn’t look like Tegenaria sp. because the spinnerets (where the silk comes from) are too small. So that’ll be some local US variety I guess. You’ll need to seek local advice for any better ID than that. Nice pics though – hope you weren’t too traumatised by your early morning adventure!
>>can’t swim up through the S-bend in your waste pipe any more than you can.
Balderdash. Last year I found an absolutely HUGE tarantula like spider (Umm… well, about 1.5 inches across, but it was big and hairy) and flushed it down the plug-hole in my bath which has a lift-out grating thing. I flushed it with HOT water for a minute to make sure it was dead and had gone round the S-bend. I put the plug in, ran a bath, soaked for 40 minutes, and when I pulled the plug out…the thing shot up to the surface of the water – legs wiggling like crazy.
I figure it has super-spider powers or had invented an insectoid rebreather system or something. Anyway, I’m still traumatised, and I’ve avoided washing since.
The Ranger responds: thought I could smell something… my vote’s on the overflow pipe – you gotta flush that through as well 😉