Spiders set up where the food is, so webs in your door frames and eave corners mean there is a steady insect supply there. The two species worth identifying in North Texas are the brown recluse and the black widow. Everything else you find is harmless and is eating other pests.
What Do Spiders Look Like?
Brown recluse: uniform tan body with a darker violin shape behind the eyes, long thin legs, no pattern on the abdomen. Black widow: glossy black with a red hourglass on the underside, found in undisturbed dark places. Both avoid people.
- Common house and garden spiders: harmless, often beneficial, leave them outside
- Brown recluse: violin marking, hides in undisturbed storage, boxes and shoes
- Black widow: glossy black, red hourglass beneath, in woodpiles, meter boxes and under decks
- Webs around exterior lighting are a sign of the insect population that light attracts
Are Spiders Dangerous?
The vast majority are harmless. Brown recluse and black widow bites are medically significant and warrant a doctor, though both spiders are reclusive and bites are uncommon and usually happen when the spider is pressed against skin, in clothing or bedding.
Why Is My Yard Full of Spiders?
Food and shelter. Exterior lights draw insects, insects draw spiders, and eave corners and door frames give anchor points out of the weather. Cluttered garages and storage give recluses exactly the undisturbed harborage they want.
How Do You Get Rid of Spiders?
Treat the insects and the webs together: a perimeter barrier reduces the food supply, and the web pole sweep across eaves, soffits and door frames removes the anchor points. Switching exterior bulbs to warm or yellow tones draws noticeably fewer insects and therefore fewer spiders.
Web-Out on a web pole: treating the webs so they do not come straight back.
Barrier treatment plus eave and door-frame web sweep on every visit, from $35.99 a month.
See the Home Defender Plan
