The wet and warm summer has prompted a baby boom of sorts among Ireland’s most venomous arachnid, the false widow spider, and as colder temperatures set in, the hatchlings, now grown to full size, are poised to find warm and secluded spaces to mate and breed.
And your house may just be the right place for these pesky intruders.
The species (Steatoda nobilis) is easy to identify: their abdomen is quite bulbous in appearance, creamy in color, with brown markings. Females are about 9.5 to 14mm in size.
Sightings of such creatures are expected to dramatically increase as winter takes hold, so do look inside your slippers before you put them on in the morning.
Just in case.