It is always wise to give serious thought whenever spiders are found indoors. Frequent notice of spiders inside a Langhorne home or office may be an indication of other pest control problems.
This can be critical, because the spider's biology prepares the arachnid to resist most of the ordinary pest control methods. Accordingly, controlling spiders frequently comes down to controlling their food supply.
WHAT DO SPIDERS LOOK LIKE?
With their exceptionally long front legs, agrarian sac spiders are relatively easy for experts to identify. They also have pale gray or tan bodies and a darker cephalothorax. Females generally measure between five and 10 millimeters with males being slightly smaller.
The broad-faced sac spider is equipped with an exceptionally large set of pincers that can make this arachnid look like it has 10 legs. A distinctive brown head and gray abdomen are paired with orange or red legs. Females may grow to a maximum size of 10 millimeters, but the maximum length for males is six millimeters.
Ivory or brown are common colors for the long-legged sac spider. These arachnids have a dark thorax and paler abdomen. The black feet are a distinguishing characteristic of the approximately 10-millimeter female and the smaller male.
The brown or yellow grass spider has a hard upper shell and a pair of stripes along the body's length. Turning the spider over reveals that the abdomen is darker than the back. Females are quite large, sometimes achieving lengths of between 10 and 20 millimeters, and the males are only slightly smaller.
The common house spider is readily identifiable thanks to its tan, brown and gray v-shaped stripes. These are seen on the body and the legs, and it may be possible to see darker rings encircling the ankles. On the abdomen is a black triangle, which may be most observable on the largest females, which may be eight millimeters long.
With an average length of 35 millimeters, wolf spiders are easy to distinguish from other species. They also are covered in dense hair which may be a dingy brown or gray, which helps them to hide in dark, dusty places. The back is adorned with the outline of a Union Jack.
WHERE DO SPIDERS LIVE?
Many spiders are found clinging to the undersides of boards, lumber, fallen trees or rocks. They may conceal themselves among leaf litter or beneath a windowsill. Similarly, spiders are drawn to dark, cluttered, dusty areas when they venture into human habitations. This means that they may be found in disused boxes or hiding behind a row of books on a shelf.
In fact, there are spider species that are almost never found outdoors. These include the common house spider. As their name suggests, this species is perfectly adapted to live inside human dwellings. Their webs are most frequently found on lighting fixtures or in the upper corners of rooms, windows or doors.
Other web-spinning spiders place their webs across the surface of lawns, soil or ground-covering plants. They are less likely to venture indoors.
WHAT DO SPIDERS EAT?
Spiders eat a wide variety of insects and arachnids. Frequently, the spider's dietary habits are dictated by its preferred habitat.
For instance, some web-spinning spiders are most likely to be found in places like trees or the upper corners of rooms. This makes them more likely to capture and consume flying insects such as flies, mosquitoes, moths and butterflies. Other web spinners place their webs across ground surfaces, making them more likely to catch hopping and walking insects such as beetles, grasshoppers and crickets.
WHERE DO SPIDERS LIVE?
While the grass spider is rarely found inside a man-made structure, the common house spider is most likely to be found inside commercial and residential buildings. They have simply evolved to thrive while in close proximity to people.
House spiders may spin a web across a light fixture or in the upper corner of a window because the light may help to attract prey. By contrast, the wolf spider does not spin a web, but they are attracted to the clutter and debris that is associated with buildings. Any dark, dusty place that offers plenty of hiding spots is attractive to wolf spiders.
The long-legged sac spider prefers to spin a sleep sac or perhaps roll up a leaf as a place to shelter when outdoors. These silken structures may be found indoors as well, usually along the seam where the ceiling and a wall meet. Both broad-faced sac spiders and agrarian sac spiders take shelter beneath yard debris, leaf litter or large rocks during the summer. Colder temperatures in the fall may force them to look indoors.
DAMAGE CAUSED BY SPIDERS
Large numbers of spiders living in a single locale can cause a huge mess with their industrious web spinning. Keeping rooms clean with an outsized spider population in residence is challenging.
Moreover, the spiders may be feeding on a pest population, like termites, that does cause a great deal of structural damage.
ARE SPIDERS AGGRESSIVE?
Reclusive spiders prefer to escape the notice of people in their area. Spiders can bite, but such attacks typically only occur when the spider has taken up residence in a shoe or the sleeve of a jacket. When someone tries to put on the garment, they receive a potentially painful bite. If it were not for such situations, spider bites would likely seldom take place.
DO SPIDERS CARRY DISEASE?
Most people experience little reaction beyond some redness and itchiness when they are bitten by a spider. No illness is transmitted from the spider to the human bite victim.
Nonetheless, rare bites from the broad-faced sac spider are vulnerable to secondary infections if the spider was feeding on a decaying arthropod immediately before biting the person.
HOW TO DETECT SPIDERS
Indications of a spider problem include:
• Needing to clear away multiple spider webs on a regular basis • Finding many insects and arachnids inside a building • Regularly encountering spiders indoors • Walking through spider webs when entering or exiting the building
HOW TO PREVENT SPIDERS
To help avoid spider control issues the following steps should be taken:
• Hire a pest management professional to perform regular treatments • Use screens on windows and doors • Keep doors and windows closed • Use yellow sodium vapor bulbs in outdoor fixtures • Get rid of clutter in and around buildings • Cover up cracks, gaps and holes in building exteriors
HOW TO TREAT FOR SPIDERS
Proper spider treatment involves the detection and elimination of all webs. If this is not done, spiders are likely to re-infest the structure. Generally, spider infestations should be treated by a pest control professional with the equipment and experience to get the job done safely and effectively.
At Newtown Termite & Pest Control, Inc., we do not take your spider problems lightly. That is why we use a multifaceted process including the treatment of wall voids, attics, and cracks and crevices throughout the premise with gels, dusts, and other specialized products.
