Spiders are a very prolific species – they are found everywhere except for Antarctica, and in every environment they are in, they play the essential role of keeping insect populations in check. Some of these spiders will prefer to live indoors rather than outdoors, so let’s take a look at what type of habitat they prefer when they are in the home.

Preferred spider locations

Spiders will enter the home in a variety of ways, but they usually follow the pattern of other pests, where they enter a building through gaps and cracks in the exterior walls. Once they are inside, the spiders will look for areas where they have access to moisture, food and shelter. Areas that are dark, damp and cluttered are ideal, but you will see species that lay cobwebs up in the corners of the room.

Black widows and brown recluses in particular prefer cluttered areas, often hiding in piles of clothes or inside shoes. In fact, that’s how most bites happen. Someone in the home goes through some clutter, clothes or tries to put on their shoes and there is a black widow or brown recluse inside. The person will press on the spider, which will panic and bite because it feels threatened.

Regular spiders will lay their webs and wait nearby for prey. It usually takes less than one day to set up the web, and the reason you have webs everywhere if you do not take them down is because the spiders will abandon any web that is not catching prey.

Getting rid of spiders in the home

Getting rid of regular spiders from the home is fairly straightforward – destroy their webs and kill them if you find them out in the open. You also have the option of using repellent products or insecticides. However, when dealing with dangerous species such as black widows and brown recluses, you want to be careful and get some professional help. A pest control specialist can remove existing specimens and then look for the nest and eliminate it, making sure to eliminate or try to eliminate all the spiders indoors. You may also come across a very large infestation in your home with multiple nests. In this situation, you will also need the help of a pro to remove all of them. Contact us today if you find yourself in either of these two situations.