Beneficial Spiders

Most experts agree that spiders can be found in two out of three American households, making them perhaps the most ubiquitous pests. Be that as it may, arachnophobia - the fear of spiders - is one of the most common creature-based fears on Earth. Despite the irrational fear that many people have towards spiders, they do actually provide quite a few benefits in a household.

They are predatory insects and feed on their own species and other insects. Their diets include cockroaches, earwigs, mosquitoes, flies, moths, and others. They have been known to feed on almost any household pest, and, left to their own devices, can prove to be surprisingly effective home pest control agents by themselves.

Moreover, these insects eat their own species, and can usually control their own populations in most instances. When two of these insects come face to face with one another, they engage in some sort of gladiator-like competition. The winner of these conflicts usually eats the loser.

In relatively closed environments like basements or attics, the population will occasionally shift from several small spiders to only a few larger ones for this reason. One particular species, known as the long-legged cellar spider, is known to prey upon black widow spiders, perhaps making its presence in the home more welcome.

In addition to their predilection for preying on other insects, spiders also have the capacity to curtail the spread of harmful diseases by preying on disease-carrying insects like cockroaches and mosquitoes.

Spiders often live about one to two years (if they aren’t killed or eaten first) and continue to reproduce throughout their lifetime. As is the case with many insects, they are most sexually active in the spring and summer, and their young will mature throughout the summer and fall. Given their often minuscule size, they can easily gain access to your home through tiny cracks and crevices. That said, spring and summer will likely be the most probable times that spiders might make inroads into your home.

There are a number of measures you can take to reduce the chances that spiders will enter your home. You can attempt to prevent the entry of spiders and other insects by caulking, sealing, or otherwise blocking possible points of entry. Obviously, it won’t be practical to seal every last nook and cranny of your home, but every little bit helps.

It’s a good idea to remove debris, plants, trash, mulch, woodpiles, and other detritus from around the edges of your home, and ensure that no such material directly touches the outer walls of your home; this will effectively reduce the number of places that these and other insects can hide, and will reduce the likelihood that they will crawl from these objects onto your home.

Since spiders will often nest in above-ground nests, it’s also a good idea to administer pesticides around outdoor corners and crevices where spiders are likely to take shelter.

If spiders or other pests have made unsightly appearances around your home or business, call Cantu Pest & Termite and schedule an appointment today with one of our friendly, experienced pest control experts.