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As autumn sweeps in, so too do spiders hoping to cosy up in warm corners of your home as they search for a mate.

And this year, experts have warned that these eight-legged creatures have got even bigger due to a mild summer and plenty of prey.

Now scientists have created an app to help arachnophobes better understand the larger-than-usual creatures that are invading their homes.

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Scientists have created an app to help arachnophobes better understand the larger-than-usual creatures that are invading their homes. The Spider in Da House app, for Android and Apple, provides information and photos on the 12 most common spiders

The Spider in Da House app, for Android and iOS, provides information and photos on the 12 most common house spiders.

This includes the rare spitting spider, a pale straw yellow arachnid with black markings and an extremely large domed head.

Its method is unusual, in that it constructs no web and moves extremely slowly and it is only seen in older houses and rarely active in the daytime.

Its enlarged head contains a set of modified poison glands that have evolved to produce a sticky glue. This is fired at the spider's prey, pinning it to the ground.

The app, created by Gloucestershire University and the Society of Biology, also helps users to identify whether the spider's sex. A common spider is the Salticus, or 'jumping spider'; often found on the walls of houses. The jumping spider is easily recognised by its squared off head and two very large eyes that almost fill its 'face'

Professor Adam Hart from the University of Gloucestershire said: 'By eating flies and other insects, spiders are not only providing us with a pest control service, but are important in ecosystems.

'They often feed on the most common species, preventing a few species from becoming dominant.

A more common spider is the Salticus, or 'jumping spider'; often found on the walls of houses.

The jumping spider is easily recognised by its squared off head, and two very large eyes that almost fill its 'face'.

It has the best vision of all of the spiders: seeing as well as we do and often looking up to examine humans. 

Unlike in most mammals, female spiders are often larger than males. 

The app, created by Gloucestershire University and the Society of Biology, also helps users to identify whether the spider's sex.

Males are readily distinguished from females because males have what look like a pair of long thin 'boxing gloves' protruding from the front of their head end.

These pedipalps, often just called palps, are used to transfer sperm into the female.

Experts have warned that we'll be seeing more large spiders in our homes in the coming months. 

Baby spiders explode out of the carcass of attacked spider

One of the spiders featured is the rare spitting spider, a pale straw yellow arachnid with black markings and an extremely large domed head (pictured)

The mild summer has meant the eight-legged creatures have had plenty to eat, and very few have perished.

With temperatures set to fall, experts from Sydney University have said the larger-than-usual house spiders will be heading indoors in the coming weeks to find a mate. 

Mr Lawrence Bee of the British Arachnological Society told the MailOnline that people often notice larger spiders this year as the cold weather drives them inside, with males hunting for females.

But he agrees that the particularly mild summer we've had, not too hot and not too cold, will have given spiders access to more prey.

'So they are appearing a little bigger than average perhaps,' he says.

He explained that there is a maximum size that most spiders reach, and its unlikely spiders in the UK will surpass this.

Experts say larger-than-usual house spiders will head into UK homes soon. Professor Hart of the University of Gloucestershire said that the mild summer meant that more prey was available than usual. This means more spiders could grow to a larger size

However it may be that there are a larger quantity of large spiders, rather than a select few spiders being abnormally large.

'I think it's more a situation where they are active this time of year,' he continues.

'People are seeing them when they are obvious, and there might be more of them because last winter was quite mild.

'The conditions have been better so there may be more around, and it's just the fact people are seeing them more and being aware of them more. This is particularly the case for house spiders. '

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A mild summer has given spiders more prey than usual (pictured is an Araneae spider spinning a web). Spiders often head inside at this time of year as males hunt for females. But Professor Hart said there is nothing to fear because they are a 'free pest control service'