Spider Identification
What are spiders?
Spiders are predatory eight-legged arachnids that are always on the hunt, often using their webs to capture prey. However, while they serve a vital role in nature, spiders can be a serious nuisance and even a health hazard when they share homes and other buildings with humans. Spiders can be difficult to detect in a home. Indoors, they like to hide in dark, quiet areas like closets, bathrooms, cabinets, or under furniture, in basements, in attics, and in crawlspaces. This often means that you might not realize you have a spider in the house until you run into a web - or get bitten. While spiders are an essential source of natural pest control in the wild, all the benefits they bring can quickly become offset when they infest a human residence. Read on to find out more about the spiders that call western Washington home, why keeping spiders at bay is essential, and how Guard Pest Control can help.
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Types Of Spiders In Western Washington
Brown Recluse
The brown recluse body is about 1/3rd of an inch in length with long, shiny, smooth legs. The top, front of this spider is marked with a dark brown, violin-shaped design. The back of its abdomen is tan or brown in color and bears no markings.
Like the black widow spider, the bite from this spider is venomous, which in extreme cases has caused death in humans. Brown recluse spiders prefer to live in quiet, undisturbed places and bites usually occur when humans accidentally come in contact with them while cleaning out under beds, in garages or while rummaging through boxes of old clothing.
Hobo Spider
Hobo spiders are about 7-14mm long and are light to medium brown in color with a dark stripe running down the center of its back. It gets its name from the presumed way it hitchhiked rides with humans in order to expand its population.
Hobo spider bites generally cause mild pain and redness and there is little evidence to prove that they are particularly dangerous to humans. However, they are reluctant to bite humans unless they feel threatened.
These creatures construct funnel-shaped webs to allow them to lie and wait for insects to wander near them, and sometimes build their nests in and around homes.
Yellow Sac Spider
As their name suggests, yellow sac spiders have a pale beige to yellow color, and can sometimes have a tinge of green. These spiders are active hunters, which means that they do not trap their prey in a web, but wander around at night searching for food.
You may find their retreats in your home, which are silken tubes or sacs that they hide in during the day. Yellow sac spider bites are painful and can cause a burning sensation in their victims. Because they are nighttime hunters, they will not typically come into contact with humans, but they will bite if provoked.
Black Widow
Black widows are notorious for their distinctive appearance and the danger their bites carry. They are roughly ½ inch in length, appearing oily black in color. Black widows have a unique identifying red mark on the underside of their abdomens, often resembling an hourglass.
Black widows are generally found outdoors, preferring dark, undisturbed corners in basement window wells, barns, garages, and other structures. Although it rarely results in death, the black widow bite is venomous and can be quite painful. The black widow spins disorderly webs typically close to the ground. While they appear chaotic, black widow webs are carefully constructed to effectively capture prey.
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