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Are The Spiders In My Hot Springs Home Dangerous?
October 15, 2021 - Spiders
Common house spiders live up to their name. They’re common, and they often live in your house. Fortunately, though common house spiders can sometimes be a frequent sight in your home, they can’t put you in any danger. While all spiders – including common house spiders – are venomous and have fangs to bite, house spiders’ venom is not potent enough to harm humans.
The worst thing you’re likely to experience from a house spider bite is localized pain and mild swelling. Still, just because house spiders aren’t dangerous doesn’t mean you want a house full of them. Spiders can be creepy, and they give many people the heebie-jeebies. The good news is there are things you can do about them.
Common House Spider Description
Common house spiders can be easily confused with a variety of different house spiders and garden spiders, but they are their own distinct species. Female common house spiders can be up to 8mm long, and males are around half that size. Both sexes of these spiders are typically brown or grey with chevron patterns on their legs and bodies. They have round, bulbous abdomens and long legs.
These spiders typically weave aerial webs to catch flies and other winged insects. They often weave sectioned webs, creating a thicker section for themselves so they can comfortably lay in wait. They may even introduce a leaf or two to their webs to create hiding spots. Sometimes, multiple house spiders may weave several webs close together. You may even find webs with more than one spider. If the pickings are easy and every spider is getting enough to eat, they will tolerate one another’s presence, as long as each individual maintains an appropriate distance.
Why Common House Spiders Invade Homes
Common house spiders don’t eat what people eat. They don’t need us for water. And they don’t even like being around us. So why do they come into our homes? Most of the time the answer is twofold. The shelter is one reason. Our homes have fewer predators, better hiding spots, and more comfortable temperature and humidity than outside.
Another big reason spiders come into your home is you have an infestation of their favorite prey items. If you have roaches, silverfish, moths, flies, and any number of other prey insects spiders find appealing, you’re going to see an uptick in spider activity. House spiders like dark, musty areas – the kind of places their favorite prey prefer. That means you’re more likely to see them in basements, attics, crawlspaces, and other places that don’t see a lot of light or human foot traffic.
House Spider Prevention
The best way to prevent house spiders – or spiders of any kind, really – is to exclude and exterminate their food sources. Spiders that aren’t catching any prey in the area they occupy will move on to a more productive spot. That means if you keep their webs empty, you can encourage them to move on without actually doing anything to directly exterminate them.
To prevent spider prey infestations, take measures like:
- Keep trash cans both in your house and outside covered with tight lids.
- Store all foods either in the fridge or airtight containers to mask their smells.
- Seal up potential entry points like holes and cracks in your home’s exterior.
- Put weather stripping in door sweeps and windowsills.
- Make sure window screens don’t have rips or tears.
If you keep seeing common house spiders in your home, you may already have another pest infestation you don’t know about. That means you may need outside help. Here at Advanced Pest Control, we’re the Hot Springs area’s premier pest solutions company!
We can not only help you get rid of your spider infestation, but we can also eliminate the primary infestation that’s causing it. So give us a call at (501) 430-3328 or visit our contact page to schedule your free estimate. We offer both residential pest control and commercial pest management services.
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