What To Do About Spiders You Find In Your Virginia Beach Home

Most of the spiders you'll find in your Virginia Beach home are harmless spiders—but there are a few exceptions. It is helpful to know which spiders present a risk to your health. Join us today as we look at common spiders in our area, what to do about dangerous spiders and their bites, and natural methods to keep spiders out. If you need immediate assistance with a spider problem or you want to talk to someone in person about your spider concerns, remember that you can always jump to our contact page or give us a call. Hawk Mosquito & Pest provides spider pest control in Virginia Beach. We can help you figure out what to do about those spiders. 

Common Species Of Spiders Found In Virginia Beach

We have an amazing variety of spiders in our state and many of them live near the coast where it is more humid. Long-legged spiders crawl around in our garages. Tiny bulbous spiders make webs in between window panes and exterior screens. Mid-sized furry spiders appear in sheds and outdoor storage lockers. Scary alien-looking spiders crawl around in gardens, landscaping, and other vegetation. These spiders have scientific names such as castianeira longipalpa, Leucauge venusta, or Latrodectus mactans. So, how on earth do you figure out what spiders you have on your property? The good news is that you don't really have to know most spiders. The vast majority of spiders are mostly harmless to humans. They rarely bite and they have weak venom. While it may be fun to describe common spider species in Virginia Beach such as American house spiders, orb weavers, wolf spiders, funnel spiders, and crab spiders, it will only confuse the matter of determining what you should do about the spiders you find on your property. It is far better to focus on the two types of spiders that may harm you.

There are only two medically important spiders in Virginia Beach. They are the black widow spider and the brown recluse spider. All other spiders will only cause a wound that feels like a pinprick if they're able to bite at all.

Black widows are the worst in terms of the potency of their venom. You can get very sick from a black widow bite. While not life-threatening in the United States, where we have a robust medical infrastructure, the experience is certainly unpleasant. Black widows are entirely black, shiny, and have a red hourglass on the bottom of the abdomen.

Brown recluse spiders are the worst in terms of dangerous home-invading spiders. A black widow will prefer to stay outdoors—not so with the brown recluse. The brown recluse can survive quite well inside homes; there have been infestations found in the United States with more than 4,000 individual spiders! These small spiders are about the size of a quarter if you include the length of their legs. On the back of a recluse spider is a dark brown violin marking. The body is quite tiny so it is often difficult to clearly see this marking. Keep this in mind. A recluse spider is also visibly hairless; that should help you tell the difference between these brown spiders and other spiders that are brown.

If you find a black widow or brown recluse spider on your property, you may shrug it off. Virginia Beach residents are pretty tough. But, finding these spiders in your home is another story. Let's take a look at how concerned you should be about these potentially harmful spiders.     

Is It Dangerous To Have Spiders In My Home?

Spiders are mostly nuisance pests. Sure, they're creepy, and you may have zero tolerance for them in your home, but they rarely bite. The same is true of black widow and brown recluse spiders. They don't prefer to bite people, and exercising caution can significantly reduce the risk of getting a spider bite. Take precautions when you go into attic spaces. Be mindful of your surroundings. Shake out your shoes before you slide your feet in. Take a peek under your covers before sliding into bed. Move beds away from the walls and make sure blankets don't touch the floors. These steps can help to prevent the spiders in your house from biting you.

There is obviously a concern with having a black widow or brown recluse spider crawling around inside your home. While both are reclusive by nature, you can have an unexpected encounter in secluded areas, or direct contact with a spider that is crawling on clothing, towels, or inside footwear.

• Black widow spider venom causes flu-like symptoms that have the potential to increase in severity and require medical attention. But, keep in mind that black widows sometimes cause dry bites where no venom is injected into the wound. If you are bitten and show no medical symptoms (only localized pain), that is a good sign that you have a dry bite.
• Brown recluse spider venom can cause necrosis. It is best to always seek medical attention to track the spread of necrosis. Fortunately, few recluse bites lead to spreading necrosis.

While all spiders have fangs and venom and all spiders are predators, most won't bite you and some can't bite you. The few that will bite you can cause localized pain with a bit of swelling. Black widow and brown recluse spiders can cause localized pain and nothing more, but there is a potential for greater harm. Keep in mind the facts we presented here. It is not good to have dangerous spiders in your home, but you don't need to live in fear of spiders.   

Natural Ways To Prevent Spiders In Your Home

Spiders seem like mysterious pests, and you may wonder what on earth spiders are doing inside your home, but there isn't much to solving the mystery. All spiders are motivated by food and water resources. They're attracted to exteriors where food and moisture are found and they get into homes by way of available entry points. Here are a few key ways you can deter spiders.

• Manage trash to prevent smells that attract flies. Spiders eat flies.
• Remove objects near your home that provide hiding places for spiders. Any object that has a void is attractive to a spider, but they are particularly attracted to brush piles, stacked wood, stones, and other organic debris. 
• Replace exterior white lights with yellow lights. Insects are attracted to white light but are unable to detect yellow light. Reducing the number of insects will directly reduce the number of spiders.
• Keep your landscape plants healthy to reduce plant-damaging insects. Spiders eat plant-damaging insects and will create webs on your vegetation to capture them.
• Many spiders create egg sacs in their webs, and an egg sac can have hundreds of eggs in it. Removing webs and crushing egg sacs can prevent a large population of spiders outdoors and indoors.
• Examine your exterior and use materials to seal gaps around pipes and wire conduits. Fill in foundation cracks, fix broken window panes, and cover vents.
• If you have damaged door sweeps or weatherstripping on exterior doors, make repairs to these so that your exterior doors are sealed completely.
• Address pest control issues on the interior of your home as quickly as possible. When spiders get inside and find food sources, such as flies and crawling insects, they'll establish webs inside wall voids, your attic, boiler room, garage, and other secluded spaces.
• Take steps to deter interior insect problems. Store your pantry foods in sealed containers and check your food as you transfer items from store-bought packaging to your containers. Store fruits and vegetables in the fridge. Keep your home clean and free of food debris. Manage interior trash to prevent smells, and make sure it stays covered so that pests can't get inside and breed.
• Address moisture issues, such as leaking faucets. Both insects and spiders are attracted to sources of water, and it doesn't take much water to provide the hydration an insect or spider needs.

It is hard work to manage spiders, but these methods are all-natural and effective for ongoing maintenance of spider pressures. If more control is needed, routine exterior treatments and targeted control are necessary. 

Call The Pros At The First Sign Of Dangerous Spiders Around Your Home

Black widows and brown recluse spiders can make you uneasy, and for good reason. When you see either or these two types of spiders in your home, remember that help is available. Hawk Mosquito & Pest can track those spiders, treat infested areas, monitor spider activity, and put protection around your home to keep spiders from continuing to enter your home. We also can help you with some of the natural protection described above. Our service professionals apply professional-grade materials to seal openings spiders use and routinely sweep spider webs to remove spider eggs. When you want the highest level of service, we're the right choice. Reach out to us today to schedule a service visit for your Virginia Beach home or business. We look forward to helping you.