Spiders
There are many, many varieties of spiders in the area, and many individual spiders can be found in or on most structures. They fall into two general types – ground spiders and web spiders. Web spiders build some style of hanging web and feed on flying insects which have been trapped; ground spiders may build temporary webs, but they move from place to place frequently, feeding on insects on the ground.
None of the local web spiders can bite people – their fangs are not long enough or sharp enough to penetrate human skin. And of the ground spiders, only three of the local species could bite. Of these, only one, the Hobo spider, has a bite which could be considered poisonous – some people bitten by Hobo spiders have had a reaction similar to, but lesser than, a Brown Recluse bite. NOTE – Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders are NOT found in the area! In rare cases, individuals transported inadvertently from other climates have been found. These tend not to survive long.
Therefore, the spiders in our area are primarily only a nuisance pest. The large ground spiders tend to crawl into a building at grade level in search of insect prey, while web spiders build their webs virtually anywhere outside, most noticeably in the mid-summer through mid-fall.
Complete eradication of spiders in and on structures is rarely possible. The best that can usually be achieved is a high degree of control, reducing the number of sightings significantly.
The most effective method of spider control is a preventative treatment of the outside of the building with a residual insecticide. This kills the spiders which contact it fairly quickly, and they also tend to avoid areas where it is present. A treatment (of the foundation area, the eaves, around the doors and windows, corners, around exterior lights, and any exterior cracks and crevices) should drop the number of sightings by 85-90% on an average. Treatment should be repeated every 60-90 days, depending on the residual period of the product used. Inside treatments are somewhat impractical due to the accumulation of belongings and furnishing in most buildings -- but if necessary, all of the baseboard areas should be treated, after everything has been moved away from them. Repeated interior treatments are rarely needed, as long as exterior maintenance treatments are kept up.
