When you think of insects and bug removal spiders are often one of the first pests to come to mind. Nothing brings on that surge of anxiety like seeing a spider one minute and gone the next. There is a lot about spiders that make you shudder just at the thought – just the look is unsettling, creeping in the dark corners of your home, lurking.
They build their webs in the recesses of homes and businesses, from hard-to-reach corners to little-visited areas of garages, attics, basements & cellars, and sheds.
While in some ways spiders might seem like a helpful pest controller collecting flying pests like flies and mosquitoes making it easier to enjoy your home, nothing will give a homeowner a case of the creeps faster than walking face-first into a spider web.
Whether it’s discovering a nest of webs buried in your garage or stepping on an egg sac full of hundreds of baby spiders, most homeowners would agree spiders are best left outside and far away from them and their home.
But how do you know the difference between a regular brand of cobwebs and a sign of a nest of arachnids making their new home in your basement? You ask the opinions of the qualified experts at General Pest Control, a dedicated local pest control provider in Kansas and Oklahoma. We’ve been taking care of insect and rodent problems since 1978; we know what it takes to protect your home.
6 Signs You Have a Spider Problem
Not sure if you need a pest control company quite yet? No problem, check out these 6 signs of a spider infestation to help you determine if you have a 1x visitor or a family of spiders moving in.
1. Webs
One of the most notable signs of spiders is the building of webs. Webs can normally be found in corners, along ceiling beams, chandeliers, hard-to-reach corners (perhaps behind furniture), and in open boxes and containers if they are available. Some homeowners often confuse cobwebs with spider webs, but there are a few differences to help you determine the difference.
Cobwebs are often empty, having collected dust or being made from tangled fibers collected over time, while spider webs are in active use or are currently being built, and often can be found holding egg sacs or wrapped up flying insects being stored for food. Cobwebs are little cause for concern, while spider webs are a sign you have an active infestation.
2. Egg Sacs
Often found in active webs or tucked in more protected spaces like containers or crawl spaces, egg sacs can contain hundreds of baby spiders in a single sac. Upon hatching, the babies will emerge to build their own nests and lay their own eggs, and just one sac left untreated can lead to a whole generation of spiders living in your home. No homeowner should be keen on sharing their space with hundreds of invasive arachnids.
Look for small white web balls within the small corners of your home or near an active spider web. For a quick solution, use a store-bought pesticide to contain the spread of spiders, but be sure to call an exterminator to thoroughly spray your entire home.
3. Excess Flying Insects
Spiders preferred food source is flying insects, and the more they can find the more inclined they will be to build a home there. Considered a natural indoor pest exterminator, spiders feed on things like flies, mosquitoes, and moths, though they will also capture roaches and earwigs if they can, and some have been known to eat slugs and snails. If you often have large populations of these insects in or around your home, you may unknowingly have attracted spiders to your home looking for a place to hunt.
When looking to determine if you have a spider problem look at places these flying insects often congregate – think about light sources around your home or corners of windows. Spiders can often be found making their webs in these high insect traffic areas.
4. Environmental Factors – Dark Muggy Spaces
In addition to a consistent food source, spiders take into account certain area factors when choosing where to build their home and lay their eggs. Spiders prefer dark areas with consistent access to food and hold a particular fondness for moist environments. They also prefer hiding and building their homes IN spaces that are hard to reach to protect their eggs and their food stores. This makes places like basements and attics the ideal spot to live in, and this is aided by the hordes of storage people keep in these spaces that make it even easier for spiders to set up a home for themselves. Think about the areas in your home that are dark, muggy, and often left untouched.
5. Spider Droppings
While a less obvious sign, a good indicator that you have a spider problem can be spider droppings. These are small block dots left in corners of your home from a spider. These often look like small black paint splatters, unnoticeable if you are not looking.
These small dots if left uncleaned can actually stain your baseboards or walls, but that is the least of your worries if you find these droppings around your home. If you find small black “paint slatter” within the corners of your home or within your attic it is a safe bet that you have a spider infestation.
6. Seeing Spiders
This might sound like an obvious sign, but it’s worth mentioning that if you see spiders, odds are they’re living with you. Some homeowners may think that finding a solitary spider in their home is just a coincidence, but finding one could mean that you’ve stumbled onto a potential breeding ground. It only takes two spiders to turn your home into a spider colony, with hundreds of babies running around before building their own webs and laying their own eggs.
Call General Pest Control to Exterminate Spiders
If you have seen more than 1 or 2 of these signs lurking around your house and you are growing in concern, don’t wait to call a professional spider exterminator. General Pest Control not only specializes in handling active spider infestations, but we also do the preliminary work of limiting food supplies and highlighting problem areas that can prevent future infestations at a much lower cost than it would take to clean up a full infestation. Contact the experts at General Pest Control today for all your pest preventative care and spider extermination needs.