Pest Control Blog

Why Do I Have an Increase in Spider Problems?

September 2nd, 2020 by Rove Pest Control in Spiders

As summer progresses and eventually leads into fall, many people start to see an increase in spider activity and webs. While there isn’t just one simple and easy answer, the answer isn’t too complex. In this post, we will answer the question: Why do I have an increase in spider problems?

Natural Predator Progression

Spiders feed on other small animals such as insects, arachnids, and even rodents. The more food they have, the more they are able to sustain a healthy spider population. If their food source increases incrementally, the spider population will increase along with it.

This gradual increase occurs throughout the year until something is done to reduce the:

  1. food available to spiders
  2. spider population directly

Population Shifts

Sometimes an increase in spider activity is not tied to an increase in the overall number of spiders but relates to a shift in activity or position. In one instance, a storage unit facility installed floodlights to better serve its customers. They wanted to access their units at night. The light added additional convenience and security. Unfortunately, it was terribly convenient for the spiders as well.

Wolf spider

Floodlights attract flying insects, and spiders love to feed on such things. With the installation of the lights, the spiders hanging out in the wooded areas around the units quickly packed up their webs and moved to the luxury storage unit buffets.

If a population shift occurs, the remedy is reversing what caused the shift. In this instance, better light management was key. This included timers and motion detectors minimized the amount of food that was drawn in at a given time in a given place. Reducing the spider population after fixing the light issue became simple.

Moisture Matters

In the world of spiders, moisture is a key component. In fact, the presence of spiders in certain structural areas can be clues to home inspectors to dig a little bit deeper into that area for underlying moisture issues. Moisture provides great conditions for invertebrates to bread which feeds a healthy spider population. Reducing moisture in an area greatly reduces many spider species populations.

Open Doors

While a front door of a home or business could be the culprit for granting access to spiders, most spider doors consist of small entry points that increase over time. These may be developing gaps in seams of the construction or cracks that develop in the foundation and other areas. Focusing on exclusion will help keep both spiders and their beloved food source away from your comfy living and working quarters. This is especially true of the spiders that are wandering hunters.

Construction Effects

Whenever construction occurs in an area, local, tiny wildlife populations such as insects, rodents, and arachnids get displaced. Some increases in spider populations are simply a result of spiders from another area being chased out. If they have to relocate, you may find your home chosen as the next safe place to hang out and hunt.

Winds of Change

Some spider species use silk balloons to catch a breeze and carry them from a newly hatched egg to their home starting point. With these types of spiders, a sudden uptick may just be a result of the wind blowing your direction at the wrong time. If those newly landed spiders have a nice supportive habitat, they will unfortunately thrive.

What To Do About Spiders

Spider control is most efficient when it is a multifaceted approach. Things to consider include:

  • Exclusion
  • Moisture reduction
  • Identification
  • Light management
  • Dust applications
  • Liquid applications
  • Food source reduction
  • Monitoring and trapping

If you have questions regarding how to best approach spider control around you, reach out to the arachnid experts at Rove Pest Control. Trained spider technicians can help with identification and control plans. They can even take the entire process off of your plate of worries so you can focus on more important items.