Termites Control

Black Widow
Description: Male 1/8" (3-4 mm), Female 3/8" (8-10 mm); Black. The male's abdomen is elongate with white and red markings on the sides. The female's abdomen is almost spherical, usually with red hourglass mark below or with 2 transverse red marks separated by black. The legs of the male are much longer in proportion to the body than those of the female. Spiderling are orange, brown, and white, gaining more black at each molt.
- Food: Insects.
- Web Irregular mesh with a funnel-shaped retreat, built in sheltered spots.
- Life Cycle Female rarely leaves web, stays close to egg mass, biting defensively if disturbed. Pear-shaped egg sac, 3/8-1/2" (8-12 mm) wide, is pale brown. Female stores sperm, producing more egg sacs without mating. Spiderlings disperse soon after hatching. Some females live more than 3 years
- Habitat Among fallen branches and under objects of many kinds, including furniture, outhouse seats, and trash.
- Range Massachusetts to Florida, west to California, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas; most common in the South.
- Despite its reputation, this spider often attempts to escape rather than bite, unless it is guarding an egg mass. Males do not bite. After mating, the female often eats the male, earning the name "widow."
Brown Recluse Spider
Characteristics – Size: May grow to have a body about 5/8-inch in length and a leg span of about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Color: Usually light brown but may be darkers in some specimens.
- The key identifying characteristics are the six eyes arranged in three pairs at the front of the head area and the fiddle-shaped marking on the back. The brown recluse spider is often called the "violin" spider or "fiddleback" spider because of the distinctive fiddle-shaped marking on top of its cephalothorax (head end to which the legs are attached).
- Behavior – Like most spiders, the brown recluse spider does not seek to bite people. The bite is usually accidental. The spider crawls into a shoe, into clothing or into a bed and a person then puts on the clothing or lies on the spider in bed. The spider, being trapped, has only one defense - and that is to bite. Unfortunately, the bite of this spider produces a nasty result in people, such as open, ulcerating sores. Left untreated, such bites often become infected and significant tissue necrosis can occur. It is always best to seek medical attention, preferably from a dermatologist, if you think you may have a spider bite. This is especially true in areas where brown recluse spiders are common.
- Habitat – Any corner inside or outside is suitable for brown recluse spiders to construct their webs. These spiders are more common in garages, crawl spaces, and basements, as these areas are less disturbed and tend to harbor more insects.
- Tips for Control – If a home has experienced brown recluse spiders, the occupants can reduce the chances of bites by following the recommendations below:
- Clothing can be stored in sealed plastic bags inside drawers or inside plastic storage compartments hanging in closets.
  Shoes should be stored inside plastic shoeboxes.
  Clothes that have been left on the floor, in a clothing basket, or are otherwise exposed should always be shaken well and inspected before being put on.
- Avoid keeping clothing on floors. Beds should be moved out so they do not touch walls or curtains. Bed skirts around the box springs should be removed from beds, and bedspreads that come near or touch the floor should not be used. These items allow spiders easy access to climb onto the bed. Persons living in infested homes should get into the habit of inspecting bedding prior to climbing in.
Daddy Long Legs
Description: 1/8-1/4" (4-6 mm). Long thin legs. Body reddish brown. Legs dark with prominent paler coxae. Eyes on black turret; 1 eye to right, 1 to left
- Food : Small insects and decaying organic matter.
- Life Cycle: Female thrusts ovipositor into soil to deposit eggs. When warm weather arrives, young creep out and grow slowly. Normally they mature in summer, then mate without courtship. 1 generation a year.
- Habitat: Fields on tree trunks and open ground.
- Range Throughout North America.
- On cool afternoons adults often climb trees or sides of buildings, seemingly to benefit from residual heat of the sun. A warm knothole may attract dozens of daddy-long-legs, which stand close together with legs interlaced all night.
Wood Spider
The giant wood spider (nephila maculata) can be found from Japan all the way down to Australia and West to India. In parts of Papua New Guinea tribespeople consider it a tasty snack. In Japan they're called "O-jyorou gumo", "gumo" meaning spider, "O" meaning big and "jyorou" meaning "femme fatale". The large yellow spots under the legs are a distinguishing characteristic of this species.
- The Giant Wood Spider eats mostly small insects and sometimes part's of dead animals. It catches its prey with its spider web and eats them after they are dead. The Giant Wood Spider grows between four and six inches long, and one through two inches wide. It is mainly black and has yellow spots on it.
- Not surprisingly, they're the largest spiders in Japan. They might be big, but with their webs stretched to a diameter of one meter between the trees it would have been easy to accidentally walk straight into one as they sat in the middle of their web. It might be a furry little critter, but very few people would want to get that cuddly with it!
- It belongs to the golden orb weaver family, which is why its silk is yellow, and this silk is the strongest of any spider. The web is about a meter across, and sometimes small birds or bats get caught in it.
- They're said to be docile but, yes, the spider is somewhat poisonous, and the bite's said to be painful because of the size of the fangs.
Yellow Sac Spider
The yellow (golden) sac spiders, genus Cheiracanthium are members of the spider family Clubionidae (sac spiders): Members of this family build a sack-like, silken tube in foliage or under bark or stones as their lair. In nature Cheiracanthium species are usually found in foliage, but some species are found inside houses and around other human developments. These spiders are relatively small (10 mm body length), and are yellowish in color; they are difficult to distinguish from one another, and species identification requires examination by an arachnologist.
- Yellow sac spiders are among the least known clinically significant spiders, but they are indeed capable of causing a painful bite with development of a necrotic lesion (not as severe as the brown recluse or hobo), and can sometimes produce systemic effects as well. They are very prone to bite defensively (more so than any other significantly venomous U.S. spider), and some bites in humans have occurred in unusual places, such as in automobiles and swimming pools. It is likely that many U.S. cases of necrotic arachnidism ascribed to the brown recluse spider outside of its natural range, are actually yellow sac spider bites
- Yellow sac spiders which have been implicted in human poisonings include C. brevicalcaratum in Australia, C. inclusum in the United States and southwestern Canada, C. japonicum in Japan, C. mildei in the Mediterranean and the United States, C. mordax in Australia, the Central and Southwestern Pacific, and some parts of the United States (including Hawaii), and C. punctorium in Europe. In the United States inclusum (indigenous) and mildei (introduced) are the species most likely to be found, and the most likely to produce bites: These two spiders have a wide distribution in the United States, and precise ranges for them have not been defined. They tend to be transported easily, particularly in agricultural products such as grapes; in some areas (such as southeastern Idaho), it appears that grocery store grapes shipped from vineyards in central California are a principal means of introduction.
- Cheiracanthium mildei was first identified as a cause of necrotic arachnidism in 1970, when it was linked with skin lesions in the Boston, Massachusetts area (where it is the most common spider found in houses); it is also common in houses in New York City, and may well be the cause of recent "brown recluse bite" rumors circulating there. In the late 1970's and early 1980's mildei produced a significant number of bites in the Provo, Utah area. C. inclusum has been reported responsible for bites in Georgia and southwestern Canada; bites by this species are probably far more common and widespread than this however, and it is likely that more reports will surface as Cheiracanthium species become better known as clinically significant spiders.
- Bites by yellow sac spiders generally produce instant, intense stinging pain, not unlike that of the sting of a wasp or hornet. This may be followed by localized redness, swelling and itching; these manifestations may or may not evolve into a necrotic lesion, but when that occurs healing is usually complete within eight weeks. Systemic effects are usually not severe, but when they occur may include chills, fever, headache, dizziness, nausea, anorexia, and sometimes shock. Treatment for the local lesion should follow the same protocols as outlined for the hobo and brown recluse spiders: Likewise, corticosteroid therapy may be beneficial when systemic effects are present.