ABOUT SPIDERS
There are more than 40,000 spider species across the world. All spiders are arthropods. They have 8 legs, normally 4 pairs of eyes and no antenna, which sets them aside from insects
Spiders are carnivorous predators who can only take in liquid food. Their venom enables them to change their prey into a liquid substance they can eat.
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Spiders produce silk, an elastic, adhesive material that they use to spin their webs. To date, no man made material has ever been able to match the strength and flexibility of spider silk. Spiders spin their webs to catch their main food sources: insects and other spiders.
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Moisture-loving spiders can be found in crawlspaces and basements. Others prefer dry, warm areas like corners, attics and vents.
Spiders are awesome...
In their own
environment...
Not yours.
BLACK WIDOW SPIDER
A red hourglass shape on its abdomen is the telltale mark of the black widow. The vivid red marking signals danger to predators and attackers.
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These solitary spiders are shy in nature and favor dark secluded areas such as crevices, wood piles, basements and garages. Black widows build irregular, sticky webs near ground level.
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The female black widow often kills and eats the male black widow following mating. Egg sacs of spiderlings are found beneath stones and in natural debris, as well as in rodent nests.
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Most notable is the poisonous bite the black widow can impart to humans. It's best to call a professional if you see evidence of black widows at your home.
BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER
Brown recluse spiders are, as their name suggests, reclusive. They live in dark corners, under boxes and under furniture.
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These spiders are non-aggressive, but will give a potentially lethal bite if disturbed or accidentally touched.
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Normally nocturnal by nature, the brown recluse spins a sticky, loose and irregular web for its daytime lair and egg holder. Brown recluse spiders can survive for months without food or water.
Its head and thorax shows a dark brown violin-shaped spot, with the head of the violin pointing toward the abdomen.
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This is not a spider you want to tangle with — instead, leave it to Axiom professionals who can solve your spider issues.
CELLAR SPIDER
Often confused with the harvestman daddy longlegs, the cellar spider also has very long legs and bides its time in damp basements, crawl spaces and cellars.
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Adaptive and predatory, the cellar spider is known to travel to other spider webs and pretend to be a trapped insect. When the web-owning spider discovers and attempts to catch it, the cellar spider attacks the unsuspecting arachnid.
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Cellar spiders tend to live near other cellar spiders, creating a profusion of webs for homeowners.
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Generally considered a nuisance to homeowners, it's best to call an Axiom pro if you see evidence of cellar spiders at your home.
CRAB SPIDER
So named for their crablike appearance and movements, crab spiders also mimic crabs by using their strong front legs to grasp prey.
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Adaptive and predatory, the crab spider uses camouflage to capture their prey. Amazingly, crab spiders can resemble fruits, grasses, flowers or even bird droppings. Some are like chameleons and can change colors completely.
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Crab spiders give their prey a poisonous bite to render them immobile.
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Generally crab spiders are not seen and remain outdoors. It's best to call an Axiom pro if you see evidence of crab spiders inside your home.
FUNNEL WEB SPIDER
Do not confuse the funnel web spiders found in America with the poisonous Australian or Sydney funnel web spiders found down under. Our U.S. spiders are from the Agelenidae family and are generally not a threat to humans.
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Funnel web spiders will build their dense webs between two pieces of grass or board, or siding -- basically where ever there is a location to make the funnel-shaped webs this spider needs to wait for their prey.
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These spiders produce horizontal, flat webs with a funnel-shaped tube that leads to the spider's protective hiding place. Once insect prey falls onto the web, the fast-moving funnel spider comes out of its tube and carries its prey back to its lair.
GARDEN SPIDER
Garden spiders weave the amazing geometric webs most normally associated with spider webs. The highly visible, complex zigzagging X pattern web alerts birds to its presence so they don't fly through it.
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These spiders are orb weavers that spin in a circular motion. To help them spin their complex patterns, orb-wearing spiders have 3 claws on each foot, which is one more than typical spiders.
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Not to be upstaged by its intricate webs, the female garden spider also has striking coloring with yellow, brown and white markings on its back.
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This spider species may eat and re-spin its web each night.
GROUND SPIDER
Ground spiders do not use their webs to to trap their prey, instead, they hunt and chase prey along the ground. They spend their nights foraging relentlessly for insects that crawl.
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When temperatures drop, you might find these spiders inside your home, as they escape the cold.
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Inside your home, these spiders prefer dark places to hide -- like under furniture, in shoes or in closets.
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If you see these spiders in your home, it's best to call an Axiom pro who can eliminate their food sources.
HARVESTMAN DADDY LONGLEGS
Daddy long legs are not really spiders at all, but rather are their own part of the arachnid family called harvestmen. Actually, they're more closely related to scorpions.
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Forget what you've heard — daddy long legs are not the most poisonous creature on the planet. In fact, they don't even have any venom or any fangs to impart it.
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Named harvestmen because they are seen in large numbers around harvest time, During the fall, harvestmen might clump or cluster together.
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This species likes humid areas and will spend daylight hours under eaves, in basements and crawlspaces. At night they search for food by choosing a leaf on which to sit.
HOBO SPIDER
The hobo spider is known to hitch rides with humans to move its distribution across the nation. Only in the U.S. since the 1980s, the hobo spider is now well established in 6 western states.
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You can spot the hobo spider by its broad funnel-shaped web -- open on both ends. The hobo spider sits at the back of the web awaiting prey. The web is not sticky, but the insect prey becomes tangled in the web before it can escape.
Not great climbers, you'll find hobo spider webs close to ground level, in flower gardens, along house foundations and beneath rocks.
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Male hobo spiders will wander seeking mates from June through October. If you find them in your home, call and we'll send our technician right out.
HOUSE SPIDER
If you have cobwebs around your home, you can blame the house spider, who might make and abandon a multitude of webs before it finds the perfect location for catching prey.
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A male and female house spider pair might co-habitate in the same web for long periods of time. And females are known to build their webs in close proximity to one another.
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These spiders live in close proximity to humans and are not aggressive, even allowing a human hand to touch their web. But they are afraid of larger foes and will move behind an object or "play dead" for several seconds if necessary.
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Generally considered a nuisance to homeowners, it's best to call an Axiom pro if you see evidence of house spiders.
JUMPING SPIDER
Jumping spiders don't use webs to catch their prey. Instead they jump over 50 times their body length to attack insects and other spiders that are their food source.
And jumping spiders don't have muscles that allow them to achieve this noteworthy jumping. Instead they use hydraulics in their legs to propel themselves forward with force.
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Jumping spiders also have the best eyesight of any spider in the arachnid family. They have 8 eyes, 4 in front and 4 on top of their head.
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Generally considered a nuisance to homeowners, it's best to call an Axiom pro if you see evidence of jumping spiders at your home.
This tiny spider looks like it's outfitted for war with its flattened body and spines that stick out of its abdomen. If you see them in their webs, they might appear to look more like a thorn or a seed caught inside a spider web.
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Coloration can differ. The abdomen can be white, orange or yellow with red markings. Males are so small they typically go unnoticed and they are not nearly as colorful as females.
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Spiny orb weavers eat small insects captured in their web. Webs are normally built in shrubs, trees or in the corners of windows and at barn doors.
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These creatures live near nurseries, so they might find their way to your home through potted plants.
SPINY ORB WEAVER SPIDER
TARANTULA
Part of a family of spiders called Hairy Mygalmophs, Tarantulas are nighttime hunters who pounce on their prey — including beetles, grasshoppers and other insects.
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Tarantulas have dense body hair that they use as a defense mechanism. They can actually shoot their abdominal hairs into insects, spiders, frogs and lizards in an attempt to subdue them.
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Tarantulas don't normally spin webs, except to create doors for their underground homes. In fact, the web they do weave is more of an alarm system than something that will capture prey.
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Tarantulas do bite with their long needle-like fangs, but they rarely bite humans, unless provoked.
WOLF SPIDER
Wolf spiders are powerful and agile solitary hunters. Some lie in wait for their prey while others will chase their prey over short distances, pouncing on it when they catch it.
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Known for their excellent eyesight, wolf spiders have eight eyes distributed in three rows.
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Part of what makes wolf spiders excellent hunters is their ability to camouflage themselves in woodland and forested habitats or suburban gardens. Most are wanderers without permanent homes.
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Wolf spiders do not spin webs, therefore you'll only know you have them in your home if you see them.
YELLOW SAC SPIDER
The yellow sac spider is relatively small at 1/4" in size for both males and females. You'll often find these spiders outside during the daytime in their flattened silk tubes that proliferate around gardens, woodpiles and timber.
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As the weather cools, the yellow sac will move inside homes, where they can be spied at the apex of ceilings and walls or in corners.
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Yellow sac spiders are nocturnal and they actively hunt their prey, rather than using their web to capture insects or other spiders.
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Yellow sac spiders do bite humans when they become trapped between your skin and bed sheets, clothing or shoes, or if you provoke them while gardening.