Get to Know Spiders – How to Tell if They’re Good or Bad
Spiders are a common household pest that you can find. Even though spiders are relatively harmless, most people don’t prefer to have them around. That’s because they fear spiders. This is why they try to get rid of spiders with a shoe or vacuum soon after spotting.
Even though spiders are harmless to you, they can create property damage. This is why you need to look for ways to get rid of them. Let’s learn more about spiders and see how you can get rid of them.
Different species of spiders
One of the most mysterious and misunderstood pests in the world is the spider. Over 45,000 species exist globally, with a variety of forms, sizes, and colours (including a few in Santa Fe). All spiders have the same physical characteristics, including eight legs, two body sections, and no wings or antennae. Following are the most common types of spiders that you can find in New Mexico.
Cellar Spiders
The cellar spider, often known as the daddy long legs spider, is a typical home spider. They are long-legged spiders that build webs in the crevices of damp basements or cellars. Cellar spiders can be controlled by removing their webs and reducing the humidity in the region since they are comparatively harmless.
House Spiders
The house spider, commonly referred to as the American house spider, is notorious for invading homes, garages, and sheds. Once inside, it loves to build its web in calm, dark places like closets, attics, basements, ceilings, and window frames where there are plenty of insects to consume and little human activity.
Wolf Spiders
Wolf spiders are hairy and feature a combination of orange, brown, black, and grey in their camouflage pattern. Their favoured habitats include gardens, fields, meadows, grasslands, beaches, and the borders of ponds and marshes. Other typical nesting sites include grassy areas, leaf litter, and tiny burrows or tunnels in the earth.
Black Widow Spiders
The black widow spider is widespread in both New Mexico and the United States. It is dark in colour and has a distinctive red hourglass pattern on its belly. It lives in quiet spaces like garages and sheds, outdoors behind rocks or fallen trees, and it spins a little silk web close to the ground. It only bites to defend itself since it is not antagonistic and prefers to flee when startled.
Jumping Spiders
Jumping spiders can leap up to 25 times their own height, are quick, have excellent vision, and move quickly. The courageous jumper is the most frequent jumping spider in Canada. They flourish in yards, fields, woodland areas, and gardens. By chance, they often end themselves inside by riding on things like clothes and plants. Jumping spiders hide within under furnishings, baseboards, mouldings, and cracks in wood floors.
What do spiders eat and drink?
Most spiders eat small insects
Spiders usually rely on small insects such as mosquitoes, earwigs, cockroaches, moths, and flies. According to recent studies, it has been identified that an average spider consumes around 2,000 insects per year. This is why having spiders can be quite beneficial in terms of pest control.
Who are the predators of spiders?
Spiders consume other spiders. When spiders clash, they often battle in the manner of a gladiator match, with the victor eating the loser. For instance, the Long-Legged Cellar Spider is one of the greatest spiders to keep around since it is known to destroy Black Widows. This explains why the population of common spiders can fast shift from having plenty of little individuals to having a smaller number of bigger ones in a matter of days.
Spider bites
Most spiders that you can find in New Mexico are not dangerous. Actually, only two of the most prevalent spider species—the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse—are toxic. On the other hand, non-toxic spiders have the ability to bite you and your family, leaving behind welt-like abrasions on your skin. Spider bites can be uncomfortable and unpleasant, and if they are not properly treated, they can be dangerous. When spiders are kept outside the home, the possibility of being bitten is decreased.
But it’s vital to keep in mind that spiders would much prefer to flee from people than actively seek out human contact. They only bite when they are in danger or feel threatened.
What problems do spiders cause?
Even though spiders are vital to our ecosystem, we nevertheless prefer to keep them outside of our houses for the following reasons.
- It is quite difficult to get rid of spider webs
Spiders build webs whether they are inside or outside, and these webs can make any house seem messy and unattractive. You can find yourself engaged in an endless struggle to get rid of these creatures since they like creating a lot of webs.
- They sped fast
Expect to see a lot more next month if you just see a few this month. They’ll start dropping from the ceiling onto your table quickly.
- The fear of spiders
People prefer to keep spiders outside of the home mostly due to the risk of spider bites. House spiders won’t intentionally attack people, but they will do so if they feel threatened. This typically happens when a spider is concealed in a shoe, bedsheet, or any other area where unintentional contact might happen.
Benefits of having spiders
Here are some reasons spiders are valuable to humans before you go crushing the next one.
- They help to stop the spread of illnesses
Disease-carrying insects and pests are common in homes. Spiders consume insects including fleas, cockroaches, flies, and mosquitoes that can transmit illnesses to people and animals.
- They help with insect control
Spiders are quite busy in looking for other insects to eat and in figuring out how to trap them. The number of insects in your house decreases when beetles, moths, flies, mosquitoes, wasps, and other insects are consumed. Consider spiders as an indication that additional insects are infesting your house. There can be a much greater population of pests nearby if your home has a lot of spiders.
How to Deal with a Spider Infestation
- Preventing the infestation
Preventing spiders from entering in the first place is the main strategy for getting rid of them. Cleaning your house reduces the number of insects that spiders use as meals. To keep pests out of your house, fix windows, doors, and screens.
Live spiders can also be captured and released outdoors using a glass container and a piece of stiff paper. If necessary, kill the spider with a fly swatter, rolled-up paper, or magazine. If you’re going to use a pesticide to get rid of them, be sure to check the label to ensure you’re using the appropriate substance.
- Hire an exterminator
Hiring a qualified pest control professional to handle the infestation is your best choice if you want to be sure that the spider treatment for your house is carried out successfully. The professional exterminators know how to identify a spider infestation and offer all the help you need to get rid of them.