Creepy crawly spiders coming into your home? Don't kill them, experts say.

Fall is the time of year when homeowners may be noticing more spiders scurrying across their kitchen floors and setting up camp by weaving complex webs in the dark corners of their basements.

Turns out, that as temperatures drop, our houses and the heating they provide are ideal places for eight-legged arachnids to find shelter, look for mates and hunt for prey to eat. Of course, unless you're an arachnologist, there's a good chance you don't particularly care to share your living space with the creepy crawlers.

The urge to grab the nearest shoe, book or other flat object to squish any spider you see may be hard to resist. But many experts – yes, even pest control businesses – caution homeowners to exercise a little restraint.

Here's why you may be noticing more spiders in your house, and why you should reconsider killing them.

This is the time of year spiders want to get inside your house

Though spiders are abundant from spring through fall across the United States, experts warn that more may be noticed inside our homes when temperatures start to drop and they seek out warm spaces to take shelter for the winter.

Fall is also the time of year that most arachnids reach maturity and are full-grown, which may account for why you're noticing them more often.

Our homes are rife with window sills and other small crevices in which spiders can hide, while trash cans and compost bins provide a plentiful food source of scavenging insects, said Lisa Gonzalez, a program manager at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, home to the spider pavilion where about 300 spiders of up to 15 species live.

What's more, structures like houses provide plenty of sturdy attachment points for their webs.

That is to say, our homes are great places for spiders to live, which means it's also where they're going to reproduce.

Late summer and early fall is typically when male webspinners, hoping to put their newly-developed sex organs to the test, leave their webs in search of female mates, said Anne Danielson-Francois, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The female spiders, depending on species, typically conserve their energy and remain at their spun homes, waiting on the males to come to them.

"They are not necessarily more abundant than in the summertime, but individuals are more visible because they are larger," Danielson-Francois said. "A small web might go unnoticed in your kitchen window, but once that spider has grown to full size and spins a web that covers a quarter of the window, you could not miss it."

Why experts say to leave spiders in your home alone

The rule of thumb, experts say, should be this: If the spider isn't bothering you, then don't bother it.

"If you can allow an eight-legged roommate, it can benefit you," Danielson-Francois said. "And they provide free Halloween decorations for your home, wherever you prefer them – inside or out."

So, what is the benefit of a mutual existence with a creature whose mere sighting inside a home sends many fleeing from the room?

It's because spiders are predators that keep insect populations in check. If left alone spiders provide free pest control, eating more obnoxious pests such as flies, said Allen Lawrance, associate curator of entomology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum located in Chicago and operated by the Chicago Academy of Science.

Even companies who make a profit by eliminating unwanted pests recommend that home owners leave spiders alone.

On its website, Orkin touts the advantages of having some of the creepy-crawlers around, writing that the arachnids can keep away (or feed on) pests that are actually harmful, like disease-carrying ticks and fleas.

"Spiders are also extremely beneficial to our ecosystem and control the number of bugs that destroy plants and crops, which is why scientists ask us not to kill them," Orkin writes.

In its own post, Romney Pest Control largely agreed, adding that the presence of dangerous spiders such as the brown recluse spider, whose bite often requires medical treatment, may require contacting a professional.

But what if you really, really don't want spiders around?

Arachnologists do acknowledge that many people are fearful of spiders and may not want them around. But there's no need to burn your house down to rid yourself of the critters.

The important thing, though, is to remember that most species of spiders commonly found inside homes – like cobweb spiders and cellar spiders (better known as "daddy longlegs") – are not dangerous.

"While all spiders do produce some venom to help capture and consume their prey, none of these pose any real threat to humans," Lawrance said.

While seeing spiders on a regular basis may be a sign of an infestation requiring professional help, a stray spider here or there is no cause for concern.

But for those who just can't bring themselves to tolerate the presence of spiders, they have a few options recommended by arachnologists and pest control companies alike:

• Inspect the perimeter of your home to ensure that all cracks are sealed, window screens are tight-fitting and no gaps exist below doors;

• Keep porch lights turned off at night to avoid attracting insects that spiders prey on;

• Spray a diluted vinegar solution around homes to keeps them away;

• Keep the inside and outside of your home neat and tidy, clearing away webs and the dusty environment that spiders prefer;

• Simply use a cup and piece of paper to capture and move the spider outside.

"Don’t feel bad for the spider, they can survive outside quite well," Danielson-Francois said. "With substances in their blood that act like antifreeze, some species can overwinter under tree bark or in leaf litter just fine."

Even Gonzalez said she removes widow spiders, which have venom that can cause problematic reactions if they bite, from her mailbox and underneath patio furniture.

"Every other spider I see in and around my house," she said, "is welcome to set up camp."

Editor's note: A version of this story was last published in 2023.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spiders may be moving in for winter: Why experts say to not kill them