Researchers from the University of Cincinnati recorded the sound the ‘purring’ wolf spider, Gladicosa gulosa (pictured) makes using dead leaves in a bid to attract a mate.

I have personal interest in arachnophobia – the fear of spiders – because I am a spider expert, but also because my daughter has it. She is not alone. According to the American Psychiatric Association, phobias affect more than one in ten people in th ...