Arachnophobes, brace yourselves: spider mating season is upon us and that means millions of amorous arachnids are on the move.

Outside you’re most likely to see an orb-weaver, with the females resting at the centre of huge webs cast between plants (the smaller males lurk at the edge); and inside you’re most likely to see the aptly named house spider – which is actually two species, the common and the giant.

But even though the giant house spider can have a (hairy) leg span of up to four inches, the old adage that ‘it’s more scared of you than you are of it’ very much applies.

The Eratigena and Tegenaria species, to give the house spider its correct names, have venomous fangs with which to kill their prey, but even the largest spiders do not have jaws strong enough to pierce human skin. At the very worst they may nip a human finger.

Spiders are also a sign of environmental ‘health’ because they prey on other insects, but the use of pesticides, combined with our ever-changing weather patterns, has had an adverse effect on numbers.

So, the more spiders you see, the healthier your environment.

They are also good pest controllers, and they kill and consume many types of insects, including: Clothes moths and their lava (that may be about to ruin your most expensive coat or curtains); Houseflies (that carry 41 human diseases which they will readily transmit to our food and to our kitchen worktops); Fleas (that will make your life a misery if they live in your carpets, and keep re-infesting your pets).

Sadly, people all too often think it’s okay to vacuum up a house spider or smother it with hairspray or furniture polish, leading to a pretty miserable death. But did you know that using the ‘beer glass and card’ technique and putting a house spider outside may also kill it?

Releasing a house spider into the cold is almost certainly a death sentence because they have adapted over the centuries to indoor conditions – a steady climate, specific food types, and sparse water supplies.

Talk of a spider invasion at this time of year is overblown. House spiders will have lived in or around our homes all year round, but they have kept themselves hidden until now.

They start to creep out from under floorboards and loft spaces to find a partner in the autumn months. The males in particular are more active and therefore more visible, and approximately 80% of the house spiders you see will be male.

When the male finally finds a female, he will mate with her numerous times over the space of a few weeks until eventually dying and being eaten by the female.

The females can live for several years. According to research, 7.35pm is the most likely time to see a spider on the go during the mating season, followed by 6am in the morning.

If you can’t learn to love these eight-legged visitors, rather than kill them or relocate them outside try to deter them instead.

Spiders are drawn to clutter and mess where they can hide without disturbance, and so keep your house tidy and use a feather duster to remove cobwebs. There are also good natural repellents that spiders don’t like such as citrus, mint and cedar wood.

Put these oils at entry points to your home such as windows, and any crevices you may have in floor or skirting boards.

Best of all you could learn to overcome what is, after all, an irrational phobia – one that is, however, up there in the top three of the most common phobias (the other two being fear of heights and fear of public speaking). Spiders are our friends.