Controlling Spiders Around the Home
From a biological standpoint, it is rarely necessary to control spiders. However, if it is desirable to get rid of spiders in the home, a combination of sanitation and pesticides should be effective. Pesticides alone, without some effort to remove or modify favorable spider habitats, will not be effective.
Remove rocks, wood piles, compost piles, old boards, and other sheltering sites adjacent to the home. Eliminate migration of spiders into homes by caulking cracks and crevices around the foundation. Make sure all screens and doors are sealed tight. Keep crawl spaces free of debris and limit boxes and other potential hiding places from basements and other dark storage areas. Regularly vacuum or brush spider webs. The elimination of other insects that are prey can limit spider development.
Occasional spiders can be removed by hand (wear gloves or grasp the spider with a tissue) or with a vacuum. Sticky traps, used to control cockroaches and rodents, can capture spiders when placed along baseboards or other migration areas.
Residual insecticides can be used to control spiders when applied to corners and other sites where spiders tend to breed. Household insecticide products containing various pyrethroids (bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, permethrin, tetramethrin) are commonly available for this purpose and should be applied in accordance with the label’s instructions. Total release foggers, containing pyrethrins, probably will have little effect on spiders.
Where spiders and webbing occur in nuisance numbers on the outside of buildings they can be washed off with a forceful jet of water. Reduction of outdoor lighting, or replacing lighting with yellow or sodium vapor lights that are not attractive to insects, can limit spider web building. Dark colored siding seems to be less attractive than white siding to the insects on which spiders feed