The Beneficial Garden Spiders

Spiders are fascinating creatures, spinning intricate webs to catch their prey. They must patiently wait for dinner to fly by or drop in their web and then they go in for the attack. These spiders are beneficial in the garden because they keep down the number of pests and flies, however, if your garden is exploding with a high number of these spiders, this infestation can be troublesome. It makes gardening difficult when you are running into them constantly. Though garden spiders prefer your shrubs and flowerbeds, an overabundance of garden spiders can often make their way inside your house and then you need the help of expert spider control.

General Information

Garden spiders are sometimes called “cross spiders” and that is because their legs have a unique pattern to them. Their legs are grouped into 2, forming an X shape around their body. The most common garden spiders have yellow and black markings on their abdomen and are anywhere from .20 to 1 inch in length. These spiders are found all over the United States and are considered orb-weaving spiders, building their webs on low shrubs. The center of their web has a bright white, zigzag pattern, which is one telltale characteristic of a garden spider’s web. She will sit in the middle of her web, waiting for prey to come by and attack. The female will lay anywhere from 1 to 4 egg sacs before winter and this sac then matures over winter and hatches in the spring. Each sac has anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 eggs inside. Can you see the potential problem if these egg sacs hatch anywhere close to your front door?

The Signs of an Infestation

The most obvious signs of a garden spider infestation are seeing the actual spiders scurrying all over the inside or outside of your house. While these spiders do prefer your garden, they have been known to come inside in search of food or a mate. If you have a garden spider egg sac hatching close to your doors and windows, thousands of tiny spiders looking for a safe place could potentially squeeze through cracks in your doors and windows and comes inside. It is unnerving to find many tiny spiderlings everywhere because as everyone knows, these tiny spiders will grow into giant, scary adult spiders. If you are finding garden spiders all over your flower beds, while these spiders are beneficial in your garden, it is important to control their numbers. Each of these spiders lays 1 to 4 egg sacs that then hatch and too many garden spiders is definitely problematic.

Treatment

To control garden spiders, it is essential that you schedule year round spider control. This is especially important with all types of spider control, not just garden spiders. When it comes to the life cycle of spiders, it is important to treat all stages. Simply taking care of the adult spiders during the summer and fall will not help you when those egg sacs hatch in the spring and the whole thing starts over again. You need spider control for every season and stage of that garden spider’s life cycle. Call Pointe Pest Control today for routine spider control to take care of the garden spiders in and around your house. We are happy to help you achieve a spider free home.