Bugs

Your house (and any other house) contains 10-30 spider species, not just one!

Why, oh why, do people think any unfamiliar spider must be "new to the area" and presumed dangerous?

The spider you're trying to identify does not have to be one of the few species you've already heard of!

Don't trust physicians and pest control operators to correctly identify a spider; only an arachnologist has the required training and skill.

A picture that "looks just like" your spider does not identify it!

Please use inches or centimeters, not "silver dollars" or other coins, to describe the size of spiders!

The oft-repeated "spiders don't stick to their own webs thanks to oil on the feet" is wrong — the story is much more complicated.

Books say spiders don't eat solids but "suck the juices" of their prey. False! All spiders digest solids externally with vomited enzymes.

It's easy to tell males from females, so please don't call all spiders "he" or "him."