29/10/2026
While it is easy to be afraid of them, spiders serve a useful purpose in both the home and the wild.
Their presence provides natural pest control. They often feed on a variety of insects, such as flies, aphids, caterpillars, mosquitoes, and mites. Each of which can harm human health or the plants we grow.
So, in part, it's thanks to the UK's spider population that pest insects in and around our buildings don't grow unchecked. Especially the ones too small for farmers or gardeners to spot easily. The ones that live beneath leaves and partially bury themselves. Wolf spiders and jumping spiders, for instance, forgo web building in order to hunt these pests directly. Taking care of those that we miss could go on to start a new infestation.
Their work is part of why it is important to consider alternatives to pesticides, as these chemicals can unintentionally kill off the spiders defending crops and flowers.