Spiders

Black Pest Prevention is a Charlotte, NC based spider exterminator providing residential spider control. As a professional spider exterminator, we see all kinds of spiders on a daily basis. Our spider control services cover a wide variety of these pests. Check out the information below for help identifying the type of spider infestation you may have, or give us a call to get treatment started!

Carolina Wolf Spider

The Carolina Wolf Spider is the largest wolf spider in the United States and was named the official South Carolina state spider in 2000. Like the tarantula, the Carolina wolf spider creates burrows underground rather than build webs. They are found in wooded and dry shrub lands, coastal forests but you are most likely to encounter them in your garden. Most wolf spiders are nocturnal, although some do hunt in the morning. You can use their eyes to find them at night because their eyes reflect light well. A great way of finding them is with a flashlight held at eye level to reflect light back from their eyes directly toward yours. A wolf spider’s diet typically consists of insects and other small spiders and they are a natural predator of mosquitos.

Adult males may wander indoors during mating season and as temperatures cool with the onset of the fall season, wolf spiders seek warmer habitats and have been known to enter homes, where they are found in windows, doors, garages, basements and houseplants. Sealing cracks around your home as well as caulking gaps around doors, windows, and eaves can prevent wolf spiders from making their way indoors. Spiders go where bugs go so changing your white outdoor lights to yellow bug lights can be very beneficial.

Southern Black Widow Spider

The Southern Black Widow spider is probably the most widely recognized of the dangerously poisonous spiders found in the Carolinas. Mature females are black with a red hourglass on the belly, easily visible as the spider hangs upside down in its web at night awaiting prey. This is a good time to use a flashlight and check for the red “hourglass” symbol that is distinctive to black widows. During the day, or when being disturbed, the spider usually hides deep in a funnel-like retreat beneath a boulder, inside a rodent burrow, or in a crevice. These are shy spiders, and if you avoid placing your hands where you can’t see, bites are unlikely. Black widow spiders are commonly found in protected places, such as under rocks, wooden boards and in dense plant growth. They frequently nest in electrical, water and telephone equipment boxes outdoors. Around and in homes, these spiders may be found in crawlspaces, beneath appliances, usually in corners that are dark and damp.

It is reclusive and seeks extremely protected spaces where it builds its retreat and commonly lives in close proximity to man-made structures. By day, the spider is safely ensconced in its retreat, venturing into the body of its web only under cover of darkness. The slightest disturbance of its web by a large animal sends it dashing back into its lair. Be careful handling objects that have been undisturbed outdoors for long periods, such as children’s toys and playground equipment, gardening pots, lawn furniture, buckets, trash cans, etc.

Moving debris, stacks of bricks, woodpiles, or any other clutter away from your home is a good prevention tool. Sealing cracks in foundations and around doors and windows also is recommended. A spiders diet consists of insects such as flies and mosquitoes which are attracted to white outdoor lights in huge swarms, so changing your outdoor lights to yellow bug lights can greatly help get rid your spider problem. Don’t take chances, let one of our pest control experts get rid of your spiders today.

Southern House Spider

The Southern House Spider is found throughout the Carolinas and is one of the most frequently found spiders in people’s homes. Although their presence is discomforting, house spiders do not possess medically threatening venom although males are frequently mistaken for brown recluse spiders. The females may live up to eight years.

Their webs may be located in dark locations indoors and often can be spotted inside homes in ceiling corners, around windows, beneath light fixtures, behind couches, under furniture, in corners of bookcases and behind doors. Sanitation is the best preventative measure for controlling house spiders as well as “cobwebs.” A vacuum with hose end attachment is probably the most effective and sure way to eliminate the common house spider. Likewise, caulking cracks around the exterior of your home will help prevent house spiders from invading. Still frustrated? Contact one of our pest exterminators today.

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