Pest Library
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All it takes is one pest sighting to ruin the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.
House Spider
Lactrodectus spp.
House spiders can make housekeeping a hassle. These spiders create sticky webs to trap their prey, which also collect dust and contribute to cobwebs that may be taking over those hard-to-reach corners.
RISK LEVEL:
LOW
MEDIUM
HIGH
Risk is defined as how much damage each pest can be to you, your family, or your home
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| Class: | Order: | Family: | |
| Arachnida | Araneae | Theridiidae | |
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| Size: | House spiders (American house spiders, domestic spiders) have an adult female body length of about 3/16 to 5/16 in (5-8 mm), including abdomen. The adult male is smaller. |
| Color: | House spiders have a yellowish brown carapace. Abdomen is dirty white with a few dark spots, or sometimes even a triangular spot, to almost black with several dark stripes in a V-shape, like army sergeant stripes. Male has orange legs, female has banded yellow legs. |
| Characteristics: | Rounded abdomen in female; elongated abdomen in male. |
| Geographic Range: | The American house spider, house spider or domestic spider is found throughout the world, and is common throughout the United States and Canada. |
| Food: | |
| Biology: | Female lays 250 eggs in a brownish silky sac with a tough, papery cover, about 1/4 to 3/8 in (6-9 mm) in diameter. It usually is placed in the middle of the web, but it may be moved to a warmer or cooler place. There may be more than one sac in a web at the same time. She may produce up to 17 sacs in her lifetime. Eggs hatch in 7-10 days; 1st instar spiderlings stay in the sac until after the 1st molt. 2nd instars come out, ballooning down; there are 6 or 7 molts to maturity. Adults live 1 year. |
- Look for webs built in corners or low-traffic areas.