The majority of innocuous spiders live their whole lives ensnaring and devouring insects. You won’t need to spray or swat every bug they eat. It makes sense, though, if you wish to keep them out of the house—especially if you’re a brown recluse or a black widow.
Continue reading for practical advice and preventative techniques to help get rid of spiders and cobwebs when they arrive inside the home.
Biology of Spiders
Although they are sometimes mistaken for insects, spiders are truly arachnids, having two primary body sections as opposed to the three that all insects share, and eight legs as opposed to the six that other insect species have. Furthermore, almost all spiders have teeth to kill food and are carnivores.
While some spiders are active hunters that leap or dash to grab insects, others weave webs to aid in the capture of flying insects. While long-legged spider species like wolf spiders, daddy long legs, and brown recluse spiders sprint after their meal, short-legged spiders typically jump for their prey. Stated differently, the absence of cobwebs does not imply that spiders are absent from your house.
An insect’s lifecycle and a spider’s are very unlike. Up to 3,000 eggs can be laid by a female spider, and each egg contains an embryo that develops through all stages of larval development inside the egg sac before emerging as a small, fully grown spider.
The spiderling will consume nearly any organic material as it grows older, but it will quickly learn how to catch its own live prey. As it matures, the spiderling will moult many times, and its former exoskeletons are frequently visible in spiderwebs. The spider reaches maturity and is prepared for reproduction after five to ten moults, which often occur after many months.
Why Insecticides Are Ineffective
Because most insects use their legs and feet to clean their mouths on a regular basis, spray insecticides are easily carried to the insect’s mouth and consumed there. However, there is limited possibility of pesticide absorption from surface contact with spiders because they have lengthy legs that keep their bodies high above the surface and because any mouth contact is made with specialized pedipalp appendages that never touch the ground.
Not only do many spiders avoid going across surfaces where they may easily take up pesticides, but they also spend much of their time in delicate, lacy webs. Spraying is not a particularly effective way to get rid of spiders, unless you spray a contact insecticide directly into the spider’s face.
However, using a residual pesticide in the nooks and crannies that spiders scuttle through might not be entirely successful. Spiders may brush up against surfaces and get insecticides on their heads and mouthparts as they squeeze through small spaces.
6 Methods to Remove Spiders
1. Vacuum every crevice and corner
Use the wand attachment on your vacuum cleaner to thoroughly clean every inch of your house, even the wall cracks, at least once a season. Although you won’t eradicate every spider, you will undoubtedly reduce its population. Not only should you search for cobwebs, but also for tiny, non-web-using leaping and running spiders.
As soon as possible, empty the vacuum cleaner and throw the bag outside.
2. Transfer Spiders to New Residences
This approach might not be suitable for individuals who have a strong aversion to spiders, and it should be avoided if there’s a chance you could be handling a very toxic spider. However, if a homeowner is kind enough, they can relocate a spider to a less bothersome area by carefully trapping it in a jar or box.
You and your family won’t be bothered by the creature’s pursuit of insects if it moves to the garden or to an abandoned shed, barn, or other building. But be warned, when winter draws near, the spider can very likely look for another cozy inside location.
3. Beat the Spiders
Although they have a strong exoskeleton that can withstand minor strikes, spiders are more resilient than insects and can occasionally be killed with a fly swatter. Some spiders will need to be taken out with a strong, hard blow to a fly swatter, or even better, a rolled up magazine. Once the spider has been killed, carefully remove it without touching it before disposing of it. If you come into contact with the spider’s exposed skin, there is extremely little chance that you will brush across its teeth.
4. Handle fissures and clefts
Chemical insecticides sprayed widely are seldom particularly effective against spiders, and broad indoor usage is typically discouraged. However, you could have some success using a residual insecticide made specifically for spiders to treat the gaps and fissures that spiders use to enter. It will require persistence and frequent application, but there are a number of spray and powder treatments available that are advertised as ant and spider killers.
5. Apply Organic Pesticides
Numerous non-toxic, organic remedies are available to aid in your fight against spiders. The majority of these items are made using natural ingredients, such as peppermint oil. A direct strike to numerous spiders will kill them even with a salt-water solution. Certain organic insecticides that are effective against garden insects might not be effective against spiders at all.
A direct blow from the natural insecticide pyrethrin, a spider pest control, which is derived from chrysanthemum flower extracts, will kill spiders as well as other pests.
6. Make use of sticky traps
There are several sticky traps available to catch pests like spiders. Although the majority of these goods don’t have any attractant components in them, a spider may probably investigate if it notices flies or other insects fighting in a sticky trap. You will need to place a lot of these traps throughout your home, paying particular attention to regions where you have observed spider activity.
Sticky traps come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They might be box-shaped enclosures where the captured spiders are hidden from view, or they can be flat pads coated in a sticky substance. In cases when a glue trap works very well for capturing spiders, you have probably located a point of entrance. Locate any openings in the walls, place extra traps there, and then cover any cracks and holes with caulk or similar substance.
Why Do Spiders Exist?
Any area that offers them food will draw spiders, especially if it includes a lot of insects that they can trap in webs or hunt down. Because they like places that aren’t frequently cleaned or otherwise disturbed, spiders frequently call dark basements, attics, garages, and outbuildings home. Observing hygienic measures that lower bug numbers will likewise lower the spider population.
How to Keep Spiders Away?
Reducing the amount of food that running and jumping spiders have access to within the home is the best defense against them. Because they consume insects, limiting the number of insects in your home will typically drive spiders outside.
Because most spiders like to congregate close to sources of light, they are better able to catch flying insects that are drawn to light. Keeping lights off at night is a simple practice that can contribute to fewer spiders. Since spiders most frequently enter homes through cracks and crevices, you may significantly lower the number of spiders in your home by completely weatherproofing your windows, doors, walls, and foundation.