Do you think you have a spider problem in your Virginia home? Creepy crawling spiders have two body sections, eight legs, and no wings or antennae. Spiders live outdoors where they can locate food, water, and shelter. You can find them in shrubs, bushes, holes in the ground, gardens, woodpiles, and rock piles. And then, you may see those common spiders of Virginia move indoors for the winter months. There they will build a web in your attic, closets, storage boxes, basements, and under just about anything.
The two most common spiders of Virginia are the wolf spider and the house spider. But many different species of spiders live in and around homes in Virginia. Some make webs, such as the cellar spider. Others, like the wolf spider, are free-roaming and make no webs. Here are some of the common spiders of Virginia.
- Cellar Spiders
- Wolf Spiders
- House Spiders
- Sac Spiders
- Orb-Weaver Spiders
- Black Widow Spiders
- And Brown Recluse Spiders
If you don’t know much about arachnids, please don’t attempt to capture and identify them. You may think you are cornering a harmless spider, but you may have a venomous spider instead.
Leave spider identification to the professional technicians working for James River Pest Solutions. Our team will quickly identify the type of spider infestation you are having. Then we will eliminate any threat the spiders and the pests they are feeding on pose to you and your family.
Getting to Know the Common Spiders of Virginia
Spiders will invade your home because other insects make a tasty meal for the busy spider. These spiders follow their food source and move into your space to build new webs to capture those insects. And as you probably know, some spiders bite, some cause allergic reactions, and others are deadly. Even if you have a more harmless variety of spiders creeping around, do you really want to live with them inside your home? James River Pest Solutions thinks not.
Here are descriptions of the non-venomous common spiders of Virginia.
Cellar Spiders
The cellar spider can be located hanging by its long legs upside down from the ceiling in attics, bathrooms, cellars, and other rooms. It’s a somewhat fragile spider that doesn’t pose much of a risk to people or pets. However, it breeds continuously. Therefore, on cellar spider can turn into an all-out infestation quickly.
Wolf Spiders
Wolf spiders are dark brown with yellowish markings or stripes. And they will grow to over an inch in length. Their legs are powerful and long, and their bodies are covered in hair. Indoors, wolf spiders stay on or near the floor, especially under furniture and along walls. While wolf spiders can bite, these incidents are rare, and they don’t pose a significant threat to humans. Wolf spiders hunt and trap prey using their speed instead of a web.
House Spiders
Typically, a house spider is a tiny yellowish-brown color with a dark chevron marking all over. And they are the most common type found in homes in Virginia. House spiders are most often found in ceiling corners, under furniture, and inside closets, basements, garages, and crawl spaces. Thankfully, they are not a threat to humans.
Sac Spiders
The sac spider is another long-legged arachnid with pale coloring and measuring about a half-inch in length. And, they like gardens and landscaped areas. Now, they can produce a painful bite if provoked, and different varieties of sac spiders can do localized skin damage. But many are not dangerous. When indoors, this spider stays hidden in the cracks and crevices of the home.
Orb-Weaver Spiders
Orb-weaver spiders vary in size and coloring. Unfortunately, they are often mistaken for brown recluse spiders. Orb weavers are brightly colored, have hairy or spiny legs, and a large abdomen. Interestingly, they create distinctive sheet webs up to three feet in diameter with an escape tunnel located in the back. Orb-weavers do not pose a threat to humans. However, they will bite if cornered, but the bite is no worse than a bee sting.
The Dangerous Spiders of Virginia
Most spiders are harmless, and in fact, beneficial because they prey upon other pests in and around your home. Most spiders have fangs too small or weak to puncture our skin. Those capable of biting humans generally will not do so unless they are harmed or feel threatened. Only two spiders pose a significant health risk in Virginia: The Black Widow and the Brown Recluse.
Black Widow
The black widow spider is venomous and shiny black with a characteristic red hourglass shape on its underside. They tend to stay hidden under rocks and in woodpiles. Additionally, they hide in familiar places around your home like eaves, empty boxes, and even shoes stored away and seldom worn. Black widows can be harmful to humans if bitten, but it is not fatal if treatment is received quickly.
Males typically do not bite, but females have been known to be aggressive, especially when guarding their eggs. Black widow bite symptoms include fever, elevated blood pressure, nausea, and sweats.
Brown Recluse
The brown recluse spider is brown and has a dark, violin-shaped mark on its head leading down its back. This venomous spider produces a painful bite when on the defensive. And these bites are very painful and often leave an open, ulcerating sore that must be urgently treated by a medical professional. Symptoms include fever, restlessness, and difficulty sleeping.
The brown recluse tends to stay hidden outdoors under rocks, in debris, and woodpiles. However, it will venture indoors and hide in shoes, underneath furniture, inside storage bins, around baseboards, and other concealed spaces. They are also found hiding out in attics, crawlspaces, and closets.
If you suspect a bite from either species, seek medical attention immediately. If you have a spider problem, James River is your solution. We’ll get rid of the existing spiders and then develop a plan for you to keep them out for good.
Keeping the Spiders of Virginia Out of Your Home
Step one to keeping spiders out of your home is a pest control solution plan for your home and property. Everything else you do will support the treatments your local pest control company is using.
Some of the things you can do to help keep spiders and their food supply from nesting in your home include:
- Keep your home, attic, garage, and basement clear and decluttered. And ensure that shoes and clothing are off the floor. Do not stack boxes on the floor or against walls. Spiders will use these areas for shelter. And remove compost piles, woodpiles, and other forms of clutter from your yard.
- Seal any crevices and cracks around your home. And check around pipework, under doors, around molding, and look for holes or dents where spiders can enter the house.
- Vacuum or sweep floors and carpets regularly. This includes spaces beneath furniture, underneath tables, and the insides of cabinets.
- Remove any sign of webs. Search for these cobwebs and more elaborate webs regularly, removing them when they are spotted.
- Create an uninviting environment for the insects that spiders feed on, and be sure to get the home treated regularly.
There are other suggestions your pest solutions company can help you with when they are inspecting the home and property. And that is why Virginians choose James River Pest Solutions for professional, comprehensive, and guaranteed pest solutions. Our professionals will work diligently to gain your trust and provide total satisfaction.
Let us show you why James River Pest Solutions is Virginia’s first choice for pest solutions.