Spiders - normal ?

somegem

I hate spiders - they give me the creeps.

The house I live in now (been here just over 2 years) has loads of those really thin ones - not sure what type they are, it creeps me out too much to google them.

They are all sizes, big & small but all really thin with round little bodies & long legs.

I must kill / hoover up 5 a day but there are always some in every room, lurking in the corners etc..

Is this normal? Do you think we may have an infestation? (if anyone says yes I am out of here

heartbreak_star

Why kill them? They're not harmful

Round-bodied arachnids with very long legs like you describe are of the opilione family rather than being spiders - they are usually known as harvestmen. They do not spin webs or catch food, preferring to scavenge.

Have you checked your loft if you have one? Five a day is not an infestation, but chances are if you have somewhere warm and dry there might be a few more up there.

(Sorry - arachnid nut here!)

HBS x

interstellaflyer

We live in the country, our house has loads of spiders in, they are long legged, but with long thin boddies, what kind are these? only noticed them over the last few years, we seem to get less of the usuall, big hairy things that you find in the bath.

I agree, you shouldn't kill spiders.

hazyjo

I think it's just a 'bad year for them'. I call them 'shed spiders' as they're the type you always find hanging in sheds. Yuck. I'm completely phobic and shout for them to be shoved out the window. They're awful, just awful. Thankfully they don't quite freak me out in the same way as 'normal (hah!) spiders' do.

They are absolutely everywhere at home this year. Driving me insane. Never seen so many. You shove one out the window and another appears in its place within 24 hours.

Jx

somegem

I know I shouldn't kill them but really I have a terrible phobia of them & I just can't live with them - its's me or them & I am loosing the battle

Our loft is converted so they aren't coming from there.

I say I get rid of 5 a day but I know there are loads more in the house & in every room.

I just can't remember having these types of spiders in others homes previously.

I am sat here twitching now with the thought of them !!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Enjoy the Mosquitos, gnats, fruit flies, silverfish and other lovelies the spider population would ordinarily be dealing with, then.


If it is that bad, this has to be in response to an abundance of food. Dealing with that will reduce the spider population without having to thunder down the hall like a Spider Grim Reaper.

MentalMinnie

Urgh! I HATE spiders, i was pysically sick when a large one dropped on my head in the garden a few years back.

marisco_2

We seem to have lots of spiders at the moment too. I dont kill them, I let the cat sort them out. I am so scared of them that despite this hot weather, there is one room in the house that has the window permanently shut. There is a huge monstrous looking spider sat right at the edge in the frame. It scared the living daylights out of me so I slammed the window shut when I saw it, probably braining it in the process, and wont open it

heartbreak_star

I'm the nutter who doesn't understand phobias remember :P (that's what someone called me last time I offered spider advice on a forum! ha ha!)

Or rather I faced the phobias I have. I deliberately drove alone in a thunderstorm and came back OK, and allowed my friend to put a daddy longlegs in my hands so I could feel they aren't that bad when they land on you.

I have a weird one with slugs though...I'm not scared of them but I upchuck on sight of one *bemused*

"Shed spiders" is actually a good name for harvestmen - they like dry, dark spaces so sheds are perfect. Big fuzzy spiders like kitchens and bathrooms as they prefer the humidity.

If it helps, OP, try and think of them as not-spiders...because they're not. The more you know about something, the less scary it is. And after a bit of reference to my uni notes, harvestmen are not by nature swarm creatures so it's probably not an infestation.

HBS x

somegem

Sorry I know it wasn't meant to be funny but I had to laugh at the spider grim reaper reference

Thanks HBS - knowing its probably not an infestation does help

somegem

HBS - My DS 2.5y is obsessed with slugs ! he will sit looking at them are ages - I think thats boys for you