Reason you should never kill a spider inside your home

When a spider has outstayed its welcome in your home, you might be considering snuffing it out.

An estimated three to 15 percent of the US population have arachnophobia - an intense fear of spiders.

The Cleveland Clinic explains that while the fear might seem reasonable, such a phobia is often irrational as the level of your fear doesn't usually match the actual danger at play.

But tell that to the ginormous eight-legged critter hogging up the hallway and inching closer to the bedroom when you're about to sleep as, for many of us, rationality goes out of the window when we're eye-to-eyes with the minibeast.

Indeed, launching a shoe at your uninvited guest or hoovering it up might be your immediate reaction as you rush to eliminate the threat ASAP.

However, there's one good reason why you shouldn't squish any spiders you come across in your home.

Do you kill spiders when they come into your home? (Getty stock photo)

The first issue is that we know spiders are carnivorous - not for human flesh, you might be relieved to hear, but for insects.

In fact, they gorge on the bugs that live in our homes by capturing them in their webs which, not only helps us maintain peace from the buzzing and dead bug carcasses, but scientists say the spider diet is a vital part of our ecosystem.

Although murdering Incy Wincy might give you some temporary tranquility, experts say to prepare for an influx of other bugs creeping and crawling their way in.

Pests like mosquitos, which carry other diseases, could make a comeback in your home if there are no spiders on the watch towers.

Spiders are our friends really (Getty stock photo)

Spiders also eat other spiders too, so you could end up with even more moving in pretty quickly after you ended the last one.

Pretty much every house is home to spiders - in the US, an average home can have 61 of the critters, if not more in the fall when it gets colder outside and it's typically spidey mating season.

The good news is that they like to hide out in our homes in hidden nooks and crannies in undisturbed areas, like bookshelves, the cupboard under the stairs or basements and garages.

If you do encounter one, it'll likely scuttle away to its hiding place.

That, and spiders are actually afraid of humans with some researchers finding that even past experiences the spider has had with humans can influence its behaviour.

They're actually more afraid of us (Getty stock photo)

Consider for instance those with pet spiders like tarantulas which 'learn' that humans are friendly.

It's also very rare that a spider would actually bite you and while the vast majority of spiders are venomous, their venom is often too weak to have much of an impact on humans - and their fangs are rarely strong enough to pierce human skin.

In reality, they really are small and defenceless little animals - other than the black widow and recluse types whose venom can actually cause damage.

Fortunately, they're really rare but if you do see one of these bad arachnids in your home, your best bet is to call professional pest control.

Now your regular run-of-the-mill spider doesn't seem so scary, does it?

And if you must remove them from your home, the classic method of using a glass and piece of paper does the trick.