LEGS UP
Sex-crazed spiders are invading British homes to mate all winter – and you could have ‘thousands’ in your house right now
YOU may have more than a thousand spiders lurking in your house right now.
That's the shock claim made by one arachnid aficionado, who says an army of the creepy crawlies is currently prowling Britain's homes on a desperate hunt for love.
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It's spider mating season in the UK, and males that have been in hiding all year are now out in force in search of a mate, according to bug expert Richard Jones.
"The ones we see scuttling around in the house – they're usually the male house spiders," the author and self-proclaimed "bugman" told .
"The ones you see running across the carpet in front of you freaking you out, most often it'll be a male out on some sort of amorous pursuit."
House spiders are descendants of African and Mediterranean arachnids, and so are built for warmer climates.
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As a result, they prefer hiding in cosy homes over building webs in the garden.
The eight-legged freaks are born indoors where they lurk for most of the year, fattening up on bugs before breaking cover during mating season.
In Britain, this so-called "spider season" normally begins in the first two weeks of September and ends by the first week of October.
Richard said most UK spiders are nothing to worry about, as they can't bite humans.
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He said a spider's jaws are so small that nipping a human would be like trying to take a bite out of a basketball.
However, there are exceptions.
The terrifying false widow spider, found largely in the south of England, has been known to chomp on unsuspecting Brits.
We told last week how one young dad was left unable to walk and suffered weeks of agony after being bitten by the venomous beasts in Southampton.
But don't panic just yet – they'll only bite you if you really annoy them.
"They can give you a nip but only really if you pick it up between finger and thumb," Richard said.
"If you've got one running across you - or you hold it in the palm of your hand, then they're not threatened. They don't realise they're under attack and so they won't bite."
There are 650 types of spiders in the UK, and of those only 12 are harmful to humans.
According to Richard, even small and well-cleaned British houses may be home to 40 spiders at any on time.
That number skyrockets if you live in an older building, where thousands could be lurking at any one time.
"Old Victorian houses like mine - with lots of little cracks and crevices and places for things to get in - I wouldn't be at all surprised if we're well into four figures," Richard said.
Deadly animal sex facts
Here's some shocking facts you probably didn't know about animals who die for desire...
- If female ferrets don't have sex they will die of aplastic anaemia unless medical intervention occurs
- Some female spiders eat male spiders after they have finished mating with them because they want to use them as a form of nutrition to feed their offspring
- Both male and female octopuses die shortly after they have mated, the male dies a couple of months after and the female dies shortly after her eggs hatch because she starves herself to spend all her time protecting them
- Drone bees exist purely to have sex with the queen of their hive and then they die afterwards
- Female Pacific salmon die almost immediately after mating while the male salmon survive a little bit longer to protect the eggs
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