Wolf spiders are one of the most common species of spiders in North America. Contrary to the name, they are solitary creatures and search for prey alone.
What separates them from other spider species is the way in which the female spider carries her eggs — in a sac attached to her spinnerets. The spiderlings climb onto the mother’s abdomen upon hatching and live there until they are large enough to hunt on their own. The mother may be carrying hundreds of offspring at a time.
While you might be tempted to squish one of these spiders with your broom, think again. If your target happens to be an egg-carrying female, it might release hundreds of spiderlings onto your floor. If you encounter a wolf spider in your home, trap it using glue boards and get rid of it. Glue boards are available at farm supply stores. Alternatively, trap it using a glass and paper and release it outside.
If the infestation is serious, contact a pest control professional for the best possible treatment.
Wolf Spider Identification
It’s crucial to identify wolf spiders correctly before you can formulate a response. Using a magnifying device can help you take a closer look once you've captured the spider. They have the following characteristics:
- They range in size from 10 to 35 mm.
- They have eight eyes arranged in three rows.
- They have eight legs, two body parts (cephalothorax and abdomen) and fang-like mouthparts called "chelicerae."
At times, what you identify as a wolf spider might actually be a more dangerous species, such as the black widow or the brown recluse. While it can be difficult to differentiate one from the other, wolf spiders are typically more free-roaming. Black widows like to stay close to their webs. Brown recluses inhabit attics, wall voids and other spaces seldom visited by humans. If you’re in doubt, contact a pest control professional to identify the spider and take appropriate measures.
Prevention Is the Best Defense
Wolf spiders live by the thousands in leaf litter and grassy areas. According to the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, the most common shelters include retreats (holes or tunnels) in the soil. Other sanctuaries include protected areas, such as under boards, stones and firewood. Occasionally, they venture indoors.
The University of Kentucky recommends the following measures for controlling spiders in your home:
- Clean and vacuum the house thoroughly.
- Reduce clutter in undisturbed areas such as closets, garages, basements and attics.
- Move firewood, building materials and debris away from the house.
- Clip shrubs, vines and tree limbs from the side of the house.
- Install tight-fitting window screens and door sweeps.
- Install yellow or sodium vapor light bulbs in place of incandescent bulbs outside entrances. These lights are less attractive to night-flying insects, which attract spiders.
Implementing these measures in your home can help lessen the chance that you'll have to face your arachnophobia. To learn more about wolf spiders and how to keep spiders away, visit Terminix.com.
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Wolf Spiders: The Best techniques to Get Rid of Them
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Wolf spiders are large, active, and ugly and never a welcome presence in a home. However, they have a way of finding themselves in homes and settling in for the long haul. As a result, you need to understand how to get rid of wolf spiders in the house, as well as knowing how to prevent these pests from ever getting into your home and bothering you in the first place.
Wolf Spider Prevention Tips
In many ways, the best manner of controlling a spider invasion is to prevent it from ever happening. These tips are designed for people who haven’t yet noticed wolf spiders in their house. These techniques are pretty simple and don’t require any specialized help, as long as you fully understand what you are doing:
- Remove Weeds Around the House – Wolf spiders often flock to leafy and weedy areas because they can hide here and find prey quite easily. Remove weeds from around your home, rake up leaf litter and mulch, get rid of mulch and yard debris around the house, and wolf spiders are less likely.
- Exclusion Techniques – Inspect the outside of your house for potential areas where spiders may invade, such as pipes and holes in the wall. A wolf spider needs an opening no bigger than a dime to get into your house. Use caulk, screens, and other methods to seal up these areas properly.
- Minimize Outdoor Lighting – Like other pests, spiders are often attracted to lights, and outdoor lights may end up attracting wolf spiders. Cut down on the number of lights you use or switch to sodium-vapor lighting to get the effect that you need to keep spiders out of your house.
- Add Plans to Your Home – Some plants naturally repel spiders and other types of vermin. In particular, lavender is a potent plant that shouldn’t cause many difficulties for your home but drive away spiders. Eucalyptus, lemongrass, and peppermint also repel spiders from a house.
Follow these tips, and you should have minimal difficulty with wolf spiders. However, if you already have wolf spiders in your home and are sick of seeing them, there are a few steps that you can take to get them out.
Effective Ways to Control Wolf Spiders
The following non-natural treatment methods are among the most effective ways to manage wolf spiders without issue. Make sure that you spread these items in areas where you’ve seen them, such as holes where they may hide in your house or areas where you’ve seen them before:
- Pesticides – Many store-bought pesticides can be purchased to eliminate wolf spiders without any issue, as long as you spray them in areas where they feed.
- Traps – These simple traps capture spiders with various smells and baits that get them to come inside and end up dead.
- Non-Pesticide Sprays – Baits and sprays may attract wolf spiders into the open, making it easier for homeowners to kill them with little difficulty.
- Spider “Dust” – Some products utilize a dust-like surface that you can scatter throughout your home to kill wolf spiders in your home.
Most of these products can be purchased at a garden shop or online from the manufacturer or related vendors. Ensure that you check the exact products you use and always read the instructions thoroughly.
Natural Ways to Get Rid of Wolf Spiders
Many home owners prefer natural methods for pest control because they are safer and often cheaper than other methods. Thankfully, there are several different techniques that you can use to get rid of wolf spiders. For example, you can:
- Mix peppermint oil with dish soap and water and spray the wolf spider’s home
- Spread diatomaceous earth around your home and where you’ve seen the spider
- Sprinkle small amounts of boric acid in areas where you’ve seen wolf spiders
- Use tobacco spray around the house and a spider’s living area to kill or repel them
- Place bowls of saltwater near where spiders live to attract them to drink
All of these simple natural steps are very safe to use, though boric acid shouldn’t be used if you have young kids or pets that may examine it out of curiosity. Best of all, many of them are things that you may already have around the house or are readily available in many shops.
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