h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've always assumed that spiders live under the floorboards and come up through cracks and holes. There are certainly small gaps under the skirting board in my house. A spider only needs about 3mm to be able to squeeze through.

If they are 'house' spiders, where do they live when they are not in our houses?
I've never seen one like it in my garden, though there is a huge one in my shed So where do they come from in the first place?

I tried spraying one with hairspray once. It did'nt kill it, just made it go kinda white.....not a hair out of place either!

I'm sure us women have a built in spider detector Have you ever noticed, it does'nt matter how dimly a room is lit, or if you're glued to the tv. If there's a spider in the room you WILL spot it.

Does that mean we all have Spi-dar or spider-dar??

Thats a well posed question, where are house-spiders when they're not in the house?? Now Im worried!

>> but spiders have no business in my kitchen, they don't do the dishes or contribute to the upkeep of the house <<

I'd just like to point out that this is wrong. Spiders make gravy.

RF

Not in my house they don't Freddy.

>I tried spraying one with hairspray once. It did'nt kill it, just made it go kinda white.....not a hair out of place either!<

Well, that's halfway to my other half's accepted method of spider disposal, AKA airasol and a lighter. Bit excessive, I've always felt.

A few nights ago we were woken by my young daughter screaming that there was a horrible spider in her room. I listened as my wife sat next door on her bed, calming her down and telling her it was 'only a spider' and nothing to be that scared off and how if she was a big girl she wouldn't be scared 'You're big and the spider is small and it's only a silly spider isn't it, not worth making all this noise about is it? blah blah blah etc etc etc'. Then my little girl nodded and agreement and said, now quite calmly 'There it is mummy.' and pointed out the offending litle bugger running across the carpet which caused my wife to give out a panicked high pitched scream and jump under the covers with little girl. I had to go next door and catch the thing before either of them would stop screaming.

Last week in the front room the wife screamed as this massive house spider (and i mean big) run out from under the sofa, i threw my shoe at it (of course being the brave man i am), and the spider threw it back

As far as I can see, the leggy house spiders we get in Western Europe are Tegenaria gigantea. Apparently, they "wander in search of mates in the late summer and early fall". Perhaps this is why they've suddenly come into the house. I haven't been able to find out what they do in the wild yet.

Oh, and they can travel at 1.73 feet per second.

The male house spider is only one of a few spiders that stays with the female until it dies, normally after mating the female kills the male if it does not get away quick enough, but not with the house spider, the female doesnt kill the male, after its death the female feeds it to the babies, lovely

Finally I've found the answer to the original question, at least according to the Burke Museum Spider Myths page:

http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/comein.html

It says that house spiders never go outside. They live their entire lives in the nooks and crannies of your house. The reason they appear in the autumn is not because they've come in from the cold. It is because they are males out looking for mates.

Well they are wasting their time because there's no way I'm going to be mates with a huge hairy spider.

Mol
(on her own in the house this weekend ... gulp)

As far as looking for mates goes and the never going outside thing. Round here, the best place for them to look for mates is outside, because I throw them all outside!
If they're house spiders why don't they go and get their own houses instead of squatting in other peoples.

And another question, why is it that eveytime I come on this thread, a spider appears. I was just reading backlog when my bro's girlfriend noticed a huge one in the living room.

Now, there are currently 5 people in the house, two of whom are men, one of those is in the army. Who has to remove the fuzzy arachnid?? Me!!!!!

Life sucks!



Will

>> Well, that's halfway to my other half's accepted method of spider disposal, AKA airasol and a lighter. Bit excessive, I've always felt. <<

You shouldn't put a in your airasol.

RF

If you google for Tegenaria gigantea you can get some lovely pictures.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

I was a fool to follow that bit of advice, Gnomon.



Mol

OK, couldn't sleep, came downstairs and sitting on the sofa where I was an hour ago was a whopping great hairy beasty. House spider or no, hes now an honarary garden spider, 'cause thats where he landed.
I just want to know how many more there are staring at me, and willing me to go back to bed so they can get on with their spidery party or what ever it is they do.Oh it give you the shivers

Theres a big spider in my bath If it thinks i'm gonna share it can think again! I just hope its not too big to wash down the plug hole. I can't touch them even when they are dead.

Its no good washing them down, they'll come right back up again..ANGRY!!