With warmer weather, we keep our doors and windows open longer into spider season, and let more of the wandering males in. These scissor action Bug Tongs are the perfect way for children to collect larger insects and bugs which cannot easily be caught using a pooter. UK spider species usually have eight eyes, though some many have six or even less. You would assume this meant they have excellent vision, but they don't. With poor eyesight, spiders tend to rely on touch, taste and vibrations to move around and find food. Can you be bitten by a spider in the UK?

The great fox-spider likes warmer climates and is more common on the European mainland, particularly on coastal sand dunes in Holland and Denmark. There are around 650 species of spider in the UK, ranging from those with a leg span of just a couple of millimetres, to the 12cm leg span of the cardinal spider. Spiders are predators, and they use an impressive pair of fangs to catch prey, and to introduce venom. All spiders have fangs but not all spiders have fangs that are able to pierce human skin. Consequently, there are relatively few UK species that are able to bite us in any meaningful way. It makes me think how hard have we looked for it on our coasts? Have we been looking hard enough?” said Waite, who believes the spider could be more widespread than people think.

Segestriidae - Six-eyed spiders

For most, the bite from a noble false widow, is nothing more than a short-lived, nuisance, rather like a bee or wasp sting. For a very few people, a bite might develop into something more serious. A study in Ireland of confirmed false widow bites found that some required hospitalisation but this should not be cause for panic. Amongst the scaremongering we should always remember that spider bites are incredibly rare in the UK. The vast majority of us will never get bitten by a spider, and of those few that do, the vast majority will experience only very minor effects. Love them or loathe them, many garden spiders may be found inside the house as autumn progresses. If you're not keen on spiders, the smell of citrus such as lemon or orange is thought to repel them in a wildlife-friendly way.

S. nobilis has been in Britain for over a century, probably after being introduced in ship cargo from the Canary Islands or Madeira. The species has been expanding its range north in Britain since first establishing itself on the south coast. Hine says that part of the increase in sightings is due to greater numbers and wider distribution, but also because people are more aware of them.The Museum's Identification and Advisory Service gets a lot of reports of house spiders, the generic name given to a group of large, long-legged spiders in the groups Tegenaria and Eratigena. Males can have a leg span up to 120 millimetres, and they are usually brown and hairy with dull stripes on the body. Most species of spider in the UK live for a year or perhaps two. Those that live indoors with fewer predators are more likely to live for two or three years. The garden spider is the UK's most common orb web spider/Credit: Getty How many eyes do spiders have? When it comes to lists of common phobias, arachnophobia – the fear of spiders – almost always makes the top ten, and more often than not, the top five. Some have even argued that the fear of spiders, like the fear of snakes, is an innate fear – people are simply born with it thanks […] Autumn is the best season to appreciate spiders, when seasonal dew turns garden webs into a glittering display. The venom from most of the handful of UK species that can bite is less concerning than the puncture wound the bite causes. Fangs can introduce bacteria into the tiny wounds they create, so if you suspect you have been bitten by a spider it is best to clean the wound and use a local antiseptic treatment. Just as with a wasp or bee sting, antihistamines may help with the swelling and itching but if symptoms do not improve, get worse or develop into other symptoms then it is sensible to seek medical attention. Rarely, some people may be allergic to spider venom, with similar symptoms developing as with a bee or wasp sting allergy.

A large brown or grey spider with a leg span of up to 8cm. It chevron marked body maybe an impressive 16mm (incl head). It makes an untidy web with tubular retreat behind furniture or loose skirting, but also under logs and in hollow trees – its original habitat. Can scuttle up to 50cm per second. Zebra spider ( Salticus scenicus) The zebra spider uses its four pairs of large eyes to locate prey and its jumping ability to pounce and capture it. The scientific name, Salticus scenius, means 'theatrical jumper'/Credit: Getty This Opticron Hand Lens contains a high quality 23mm doublet lens, made of glass and provides excellent distortion-free magnification. The 10x magnification is recommended for general observations and this magnifier is the one most commonly recommended for all types of fieldwork. This well-illustrated guide includes all of the 34 families known to occur in Britain. Two identification keys are presented. The first uses morphological characters that are visible under low-power magnification; the second key, a tabular guide, includes a range of behavioural and ecological characters. Sections on spider morphology, biology, ecology and a glossary are also provided.There are 650 species of spider in the UK. What species of spider are found in the UK? Garden or diadem spider ( Araneus diadematus) Although commonly known as the 'garden' spider, the diadem spider can be found almost everywhere in Britain/Credit: Getty Hillyard, P. D. 2005. Harvestmen. Synopses of the British Fauna. Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. This excellent summary of our harvestman fauna provides accounts of the structure and biology of our 25 species together with easy-to-use illustrated keys and distribution maps.

Britain’s only subaquatic spider is reddish brown and grey, streaked, but appears silver because of an air bubble over its abdomen. It makes an air-filled silk-stranded diving bell in pond and stream weeds. Head and body 15mm. False widow ( Steatoda nobilis) According to the National History Museum, the false widow spider was first recorded in Britain in the 1870s, 'likely a stowaway on cargo ships from its native Madeira and Canary Islands.'/Credit: Getty A comprehensively updated edition of an identification guide that was named a Guardian Best Nature Book of the Year. How about the centuries-old method of using conkers to repel spiders? There's no evidence to say it works. There are many pesticide sprays that you can use to kill insects and spiders but we would not recommend the use of chemicals. At night, try not to leave windows open in rooms where lights are on – these attract insects, which then attract spiders.

Gnaphosidae - Ground spiders

Spiders are more visible in autumn because most of them are looking for a mate, having reached full maturity towards the end of their commonly one-year life cycles. However, the turn to colder and wetter weather will stop insects flying and stop the garden spiders feeding. False widow spiders