Pest control is the single most effective way to address unwanted pests. You can seal your entire home. You can cut your grass. You can remove all water and food from your property. You’re going to get pests on your property, unless you utilize pest control technology.

But even pest control isn’t quite perfect, especially against one particular type of pest: the spider. Pest control is a GREAT way to control spider populations, but no matter how hard you try, you are likely to still see a spider or two on your property every once in a while.

Why?

Let’s talk about what makes spiders particularly difficult to kill, and what can be done.

About Spiders and Pest Control

Although the term “pest control” encompasses a LOT of strategies that we complete here at ExtermPRO, including several tactics that we use to address spiders (which we’ll talk about more in a little bit), we are primarily talking about the act of placing a pesticide of some kind around the property line, creating a barrier that pests cannot cross.

For almost all pests, this works. That is because pests have specific entrance points they are likely to take, and then they crawl over the pesticide, it gets into their exoskeleton (skin-ish), and they dry out and die. It is highly, highly effective.

But spiders represent a challenge. If they crawl over the pesticide correctly, they are likely to pass away as well. But spiders:

• Do not walk like other insects. They have very large legs with protected feet that make it less likely they come into contact with the pesticide.
• They do not require the same entrance points. Most pests have similar behaviors, like walking along corners. Spiders can come in from any angle, any hole, anywhere. They walk on walls and although they do like corners, they don’t enter from them.
• Their bodies are different. They do not groom like other insects and they have little hairs that offer additional protection.

So while spiders still can, and often are, killed by the same pest control techniques, they are less likely to be able to target *all* spiders. They may still find entrance points from places that cannot be hit by pest control, like roofing tiles, gutters, and more.

So What Can Be Done?

The problem, of course, is that spiders are often one of the pests that people fear the most. Finding out that your pest control may not properly protect against spiders can be a bit upsetting.

But that, of course, is why we do a lot more to protect against spiders AND recommend homeowners do additional tasks that make a big difference. On our end, we:

• Provide interior protection for those that need it, helping increase the amount of contact that spiders have with pesticides. This service is typically by request (because not everyone wants pest control in their property) but it is always available.
• Remove webs/eggs and treat hiding areas around the home. If we see worry spots, or we see any webs and eggs that might be present, we’ll treat them and make sure that spiders aren’t breeding in and around your property.
• Seal larger entrances. There are often spaces that are visible to the naked eye that spiders can crawl through, and either we can seal them ourselves or a contractor can to provide extra protection by making it harder for pests to enter.
• Recommend additional options for the things we cannot do. If you have a tree on top of your home, for example, trimming the tree and gutter cleaning can be incredibly useful, as it clears a place that spiders congregate and breed.

Even though spiders are more resistant to pest control pesticides, they are not impervious, and there are many other things we can do to make sure that pests are not a significant problem on your property.

Lastly, pest control prevents spiders BY preventing other pests. Spiders seek out food. If you have no pests, there are no pests for spiders to seek out. They are nature’s best natural pest control, and so if you can remove other pests from your property you’ll have less spiders as well.

It’s also important to remember that, of all pests – and as scary as spiders can feel to some people – they eat hundreds, sometimes thousands of bugs a year. As a pest control company, they are our friends. So if you do see a spider, at least outdoors, consider leaving it alone. It may single handedly be the reason that you have fewer pests.

Any more questions? Reach out to our team or let us know if you’re ready to get help for your pest control needs! We’re excited to provide pest control throughout Northern Virginia, starting in Gainesville and the surrounding area.