House Spider

The House Spider

House spiders are found throughout the world. It is a generic name for the different species commonly found in the houses. There are many recognized species of house spiders, although the most commonly found is the common house spider. They have derived their name from their common presence in human residents.

HOW TO IDENTIFY HOUSE SPIDERS

House spiders are usually brown or grey in color and are found behind furniture or in storage places or basements.

Appearance, Behavior, and Signs

Common House Spider. By Mad Max at English Wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 3.0

Female house spiders are about 5 to 8 mm in size, while male spiders are only about 4 mm. They have eight legs, like all other spiders, and have single lens eyes. Their body is divided into two major parts: the cephalothorax and the abdomen.

House spiders are quite harmless to humans but can be scary to see and cause discomfort by mere sight. Also, they keep making webs around your house until they find the perfect spot. So they give you extra cleaning work.

Basically, you can be sure of a house spider infestation if you see too many spiders in your house or spider webs.

HOW DO YOU GET HOUSE SPIDERS

House spiders visit your residence through the common doors used by all pests- cracks in walls, open doors, crack around windows, or any cavities. House spiders love to nest in dark and isolated places like the store room you don’t clean very often. They build webs around those places and usually come inside for food and shelter.

HOW TO GET RID OF HOUSE SPIDERS

There are many ways to get rid of house spiders in your home:

• One of the most common and easiest of them is to let the vacuum suck up the spiders, the webs, and the egg sacs. However, this can only be used if you have a small population of house spiders.
• Use a sticky glue trap to catch the spiders. This is one of the most effective ways to catch ground-dwelling spiders like the house spiders. But this is not effective to catch the egg sacs, so you will have to apply another technique to remove the eggs and webs of house spiders.
• Follow your mother’s ways and use a broom to wipe away the house spiders and their webs.
• Buy a commercial pesticide from a nearby local store, and spray it in the corners of your house. Make sure the spray is meant for house spiders, otherwise it will not be effective.
• Spray your house with peppermint oil. This is one of the best folk remedies to get rid of house spiders. Spiders run in the opposite direction because they cannot withstand the smell of peppermint oil. Thus, it is best to spray it on the openings to your house.
• Kill house spiders with a mixture of vinegar and water. Spray it directly on the spiders and their eggs. Vinegar contains acetic acid which is supposed to burn the house spiders immediately.
• Call a professional pest control team if the situation is very intense or you don’t find any home remedies effective.

House Spider Facts

• House spiders do not pose any danger to kids or pets
• The spider bite you got while sleeping wasn’t an actual spider bite. Most people tend to consider unknown bumps or bites to be spider bites. However, this has been proved wrong by scientists and researchers.
• House spiders cannot see large movements or light changes.
• They do not snack on your food, rather kill the insects that do. So house spiders are basically your friends.