Ladies, we have some bad news. Ireland is set to see an increase of monster spiders this autumn. We wish we were kidding, but we’re not. Actually, if you must know, we sort of feel a bit sick/terrified even writing this article.

You may have noticed that the eight-legged guests appearing in your house have been slowly but surely getting bigger and bigger over the past few weeks. Why is this happening? Well, we’re currently in the middle of a Tegenaria invasion.

The Irish Independence reports that a Tegenaria is a giant house spider. So basically, if you see something that resembles a tarantula in your bath or on your ceiling, chances are it’s a Tegenaria. Awesome, right? (If you need us we’ll be nervously scanning the ceilings of the Her.ie office…)

“They are a very large spider with a leg span of several centimetres and a body size of a fingernail,” said Keith Day, Emeritus Professor of Terrestrial Ecology at the University of Ulster.

“They can move fairly quickly and scuttle off when disturbed,” he added.

Unfortunately, we’re currently in the middle of giant house spider mating season, and those big scary males are making their presence known as they go about trying to attract a mate. Shudder. Our skin is crawling…

 

We're likely to start noticing larger spiders as they weeks go on...

“People noticing them at this time of year has a lot to do with mating. Males are moving around seeking females at the moment,” said Professor Day.

“They don’t seek warm dry houses. What they are really looking for are outhouses and cellars, because they like dark, damp, cool places, but they will come into houses too,” he added.

Have you recently played host to a wayward Tegenaria that was looking for love? More importantly, how are you when it comes to dealing with spiders? Can you get rid of them yourself or are you (like one member of the Her.ie team) so bloody terrified of the things that you’d actually pass out if you saw one?