Many people have nightmares about spiders. The thought of walking through one of their webs and feeling the sticky threads clinging to your hands and face gives most people a shudder right down to their bones. Our homes are supposed to be our sanctuary, so when webs start popping up all over your Bay Area home, the stuff of nightmares starts becoming a reality.
Three Common Spiders Spinning Webs In Bay Area Homes
Multiple spiders hang around the Bay Area. Many can prove challenging to identify. Paying attention to their characteristics and webs can help homeowners determine which ones are getting cozy in their homes.
Three common Bay Area spiders include:
- American house spider: This spider ranges from 1/8 inch to 5/16 inches in length; females' abdomens are round, and males are longer. They have a yellowish-brown dirty-white belly with several dark stripes that meet at an angle. They have eight eyes, and their fourth pair of legs has serrated bristles.
- Long-bodied cellar spiders: This spider ranges from ¼ inch to 3/8 inches. Their bodies are oval-shaped, their eight legs are incredibly long, and their colors range from pale yellowish to light brown or gray. They have eight eyes, and their abdomen is three times longer than it is wide.
- Black widow spiders: These spiders can measure between 1½ inches to 1 3/8 inches. They have shiny coal-black bodies with a red hourglass on their round abdomens. They have eight simple eyes and eight legs.
Just as each of these spiders has their own unique physical characteristics they also spin their own unique webs.
What Everybody Should Know About Bay Area Spider Webs
Spiders are famous for their impressive webs that are beautiful and strong. Between spider colorations and web types, homeowners can distinguish which kind of spider has established itself in their home.
Web designs and their uses are as follows:
- American house spider: These spiders create tangled webs in high humidity areas that are messy. Their webs are often found in corners near open doors, under furniture, in closets, in the corners of window frames, basements, crawl spaces, and garages. They sit in the corner of their webs with their legs pulled up until their web is disturbed.
- Long-bodied cellar spiders: Cellar spiders create irregular webs in high humidity and moisture-prone areas. Web construction is in dark, damp places such as windows, cellar ceilings, corners of eaves, basements, garages, and crawlspaces. They hang upside down in their web and wait for their prey.
- Black widow spiders: These famous spiders spin irregular webs at ground level that often have a silken sac (eggs) attached. They spin webs in dry, dark basements, crawl spaces, garages, and cluttered areas. Hanging upside down on their web, they wait for their prey.
If you are beginning to see an increase in spider webs around your Bay Area property there's likely an increase in other pest species.
What Is The Best Way To Prevent Spiders In The Bay Area
Lots of spider webs around the home are a sure sign that you have a spider problem, but homeowners can do things to keep spiders from taking over their homes.
Seven steps homeowners can use to remove harborage areas for spiders include:
- Clean and declutter attics, basements, and garages.
- Check items brought into the house, such as decorations, grocery bags, and boxes.
- Repair damaged window and door screens.
- Seal crevices and cracks in the siding.
- Vacuum spiders and webs – do not use a broom.
- Install door sweeps and weatherstripping around windows and doors.
- Eliminate underlying pest problems.
To keep spiders away it is important to both eliminate easy access points as well as minimize the amount of other pests in your home. Spiders move into properties in search of food so if you have insects living in your Bay Area home, spiders are likely to follow.
The Secret To Spider Prevention In The Bay Area
Bay Pest has been dealing with spiders for over 40 years. We provide both specialized and general pest control services to Bay Area residents. Bay Pest is considered the Bay's best in pest, so call us today for advice or assistance with spiders or their pest prey.