The Ultimate Spider Prevention Guide For Chesapeake Homes

Most furniture items today require assembly. When you arrive home with your new furniture item, the fun begins as you unpack the box. The first thing you do is lay out the materials and check to ensure everything is there to build your new component. Then, you open the instruction guide and carefully follow each step. If you do as the booklet directs, you will have a beautiful, functional new furniture piece in your home. 

Guides are necessary and helpful. We need them to reveal what television shows are available to watch, to direct us on walking historical tours of locations, and to aid in assembling items. When spiders invade your house, you need Hawk Mosquito & Pest to guide you. 

We are a family-owned business that offers affordable spider control in Chesapeake. Our trained technicians will end the current infestation and show you how you can prevent a future invasion using Integrated Pest Management solutions. Because we are a Better Business Bureau A+ rated company, you can rest assured that you will receive quality service. Please continue reading this article as we give you information to guide you to a spider-free Chesapeake home.

Spiders Are Not Insects But Arachnids

It is easy to assume that any multi-legged crawling pest is an insect; however, that is not always the case. As arthropods, spiders and insects have segmented bodies, jointed legs, and an exterior skeleton (exoskeleton), but that is where the similarity ends. While both have multiple legs, spiders have eight jointed legs, while insects have six. Insects have a head, thorax, and abdomen, but a spider's head and thorax are fused to form the cephalothorax; like insects, spiders also have an abdomen. Both arthropod groups have an exoskeleton that protects their bodies. However, they must shed their outer shell (molt) at each growth stage to allow for growth.

Despite the similarities they share as arthropods, there are significant differences. Spiders do not have wings, stingers, or antennae; insects do not possess spinnerets or produce silk. When you look at an insect, it may appear to have two eyes, but they are not like human eyes; instead, each "eye" consists of thousands of independent photoreception units. Thus, insects are said to have complex eyes. On the other hand, spiders do not have complex eyes but have rows of six or eight eyes, each with its own lens.

The habits of spiders and insects also differ. Most insects forage on plant juices (mosquitoes), decaying organic materials (cockroaches), wood (termites), or blood (bed bugs, ticks, fleas, etc.); spiders are predatory animals that capture prey in their webs or by chasing them down. 

Even though spiders and insects are arthropods, spiders eat insects. One reason for a spider infestation is that a house has invading insects. You've probably noticed spider webs in the corners of your porch or a doorway. The house spider and orb weaver spiders build webs in areas with airflow to capture flies, moths, beetles, and other flying insects. Other spiders, like the wolf spider, do not create sticky snares but chase down cockroaches, pill bugs, ants, and other crawling insects. However, spiders will eat other spiders. 

Like some insects, spiders in Chesapeake have venom that they inject into their victim. Bees, wasps, and imported fire ants are insects that transfer their paralyzing fluid through a stinger, but spiders use hollow fangs. A bite from most spiders results in a temporary stinging sensation and a small bump; however, bites from a black widow or brown recluse can cause medical conditions if left untreated. Fortunately, spiders are not aggressive toward humans and will only bite when threatened. 

Although insects and spiders are arthropods, neither is a problem for Hawk Mosquito & Pest. We know the signs of a spider infestation and how to get rid of spiders in the house.

Spiders In The Home Can Be Problematic

Spiders outside your Chesapeake home are beneficial because they reduce the insect population around your house by consuming fleas, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes, ants, and other insects. However, when spiders enter your Chesapeake home, they can be problematic.

Spiders are a nuisance when they invade homes. Many spider species create webs in doorways, window frames, corners, and dark, secluded areas in the basement, attic, garage, crawl space, closets, and porch. Walking into a spider's web immediately elicits panic as you quickly brush the silk from your hair and off your face. Although most people fear spiders, some have an intense dread of spiders known as arachnophobia. Those who suffer from this condition experience shaking, sweating, fainting, and breathing difficulties when they see a spider on the wall or walk into a room with spider webs. 

Not only do we disdain having a spider's web filled with dead insects on our body, but there is the fear that the spider is in the web and will bite. Most spiders do not have fangs that can break human skin; those that can pierce the skin may cause a brief stinging sensation at the wound site. Fortunately, the only spider species in Chesapeake with venom that affects humans is the black widow spider. These 1 1/2 to 1 3/8-inch arachnids have a black body with two triangle-like markings that merge to form a red "hourglass" on the bottom of their abdomen. 

You will not walk into a black widow's web because they create their homes near the ground to snare crawling insects. Black widow spiders are not aggressive, but if you reach into a dark space where a black widow is in its web resting, it may bite in self-defense. 

Black widow spiders are so-named because sometimes the female kills the male after mating; they are not black widows because their bite is fatal for humans. However, if a black widow does bite, you will immediately feel pain from the effects of its venom. Over the next one to three hours, the pain will intensify and can last up to three days. Fever, increased blood pressure, sweating, and nausea are other symptoms that accompany the painful wound. Although it has been over ten years since someone died from a black widow bite, you should seek medical attention to prevent additional infections and ensure a safe recovery. 

You do not have to live in fear of spiders and spider bites when you partner with Hawk Mosquito & Pest. Our technicians know where spiders lurk in Chesapeake homes and how to eradicate them so you can enjoy your house without fear.

Easy And Effective Spider Prevention Tips

Spiders live around our homes and are a necessary part of the ecosystem. So, when Hawk Mosquito & Pest eliminates the spider problem in your Chesapeake home, you will want to ensure they do not return in the future. Here are ways to prevent spiders in your home:

• Seal foundation and roofline cracks with caulk
• Eliminate debris and clutter in the yard
• Cover garbage containers
• Prune tree branches and shrubs away from the structure
• Repair leaking plumbing fixtures
• Install exterior bugs or LED lights 
• Remove cobwebs from the exterior and interior of the home
• Reduce clutter to eliminate hiding spots
• Store firewood 20 feet from the house and elevate
• Vacuum the house regularly

Since insects serve as prey for spiders, they usually follow them into homes. Therefore, some items on our list are more for insects than spider control. If you can keep insects out of the house, you reduce the possibility of a spider infestation. When a Hawk Mosquito & Pest technician inspects your Chesapeake home, they can provide additional suggestions for your location. 

Professional Pest Control Is A Great Way To Keep The Spiders Away

When spiders follow insects into a house, they soon begin to reproduce, and within a short time, you may have many spiders living in wall voids, cracks, cardboard boxes, clothing, and debris in the home. The best way to end a spider infestation is to secure affordable spider control in Chesapeake from Hawk Mosquito & Pest. 

After we meet with you to listen to your concerns, we dispatch a trained technician to investigate your property. Our experienced technician will search for entry points, attractants, and spider hot spots. Once we determine the scope of the infestation and gather information, we create a custom treatment strategy using Integrated Pest Management (IPM)  methods. The IPM pest control method is an environmentally sensitive approach that uses minimal products to achieve maximum results and focuses on prevention. 

We begin our spider eradication process by treating the interior to destroy adult spiders and their offspring. Next, we move to your home's exterior, where we deweb the eaves and porch. We also treat the area surrounding the home to create a barrier to deter outdoor spiders from entering the house. One benefit of our treatment products is they eliminate spiders and are effective against many other pests that invade Chesapeake homes. Our recurring treatment plans ensure that spiders are never a problem again in your house. 

Contact us today to learn more about our spider and pest control programs and get a free quote.