About Orange County

ALL ABOUT SPIDERS AND SPIDER PEST CONTROL

Spider Control Facts
Have Arachnophobia?  Contrary to the 1990 Steven Spielberg movie made popular by John Goodman as the "Exterminator" and Jeff Daniels as the "Doctor" most spiders are harmless.  The only distinguishable feature is that Spiders have a characteristic appearance which is easily recognized by most people. They possess eight legs which immediately separate them from insects, which have only six legs. Spiders lack wings and antennae. Their bodies have but two regions - a cephalothorax (fused head and thorax) and an abdomen. Young spiders, or spiderlings, resemble the adults except for size and, sometimes, coloration. All spiders have a pair of jaw-like structures, called chelicerae. At the end of each is a hollow, claw-like fang. Each fang has a small opening in the end through which venom is injected into the prey. Spinnerets, located at the tip end of the abdomen, are silk spinning glands used for web making.

Many species of spiders are common household pests in the United States. Certain common household spiders spin webs over lamps, in corners and in basements. This creates an unsightly situation but causes no real harm. Remember that every "cobweb" was made by a spider. Although all spiders use venom when they bite and kill their prey, the black widow and the brown recluse spiders are the only North American species consistently dangerous to humans. Even though there is generally little danger of complications from spider bites, you should advise all spider bite victims to take the spider specimen with them (if possible) when consulting their physician.

Under most conditions outdoors, spiders are considered beneficial because they feed on insects. However, they are undesirable to most homeowners when indoors, and the unsightly webbing spiders use to catch insect prey usually outweigh this beneficial behavior.

Many spiders are associated with moisture and, therefore, are found in basements, crawl spaces, and other damp parts of buildings. Others live in warm, dry places so are found in sub floor air-vents, in upper corners of rooms or in attics. Most species hide in cracks, darkened areas, or other retreats which they construct of silk.

Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals that have two body segments, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. They are classified in the order Araneae, one of several orders within the larger class of arachnids, a group that also contains scorpions, whip scorpions, mites, ticks, and opiliones (harvestmen). The study of spiders is called araneology. All spiders produce silk, a thin, strong protein strand extruded by the spider from spinnerets most commonly found on the end of the abdomen. Many species use it to trap insects in webs, although there are also many species that hunt freely. Silk can be used to aid in climbing, form smooth walls for burrows, build egg sacs, wrap prey, and temporarily hold sperm, among other applications. All spiders except those in the families Uloboridae and Holarchaeidae, and in the suborder Mesothelae (together about 350 species) can inject venom to protect themselves or to kill prey. Only about 200 species, however, have bites that can pose health problems to humans. Many larger species' bites may be quite painful, but will not produce lasting health concerns. Spiders are found all over the world, from the tropics to the Arctic, living underwater in silken domes they supply with air, and on the tops of mountains. In 1973 Skylab 3 took two spiders into space to test their web-spinning capabilities in zero gravity.

Spiders, unlike insects, have only two body segments (tagmata) instead of three: a fused head and thorax (called a cephalothorax or prosoma) and an abdomen (called the opisthosoma). The exception to this rule are the assassin spiders, whose cephalothorax seems to be almost divided into two independent units. Except for a few species of very primitive spiders (family Liphistiidae), the abdomen is not externally segmented. The abdomen and cephalothorax are connected with a thin waist called the pedicle or the pregenital somite, a trait that allows the spider to move the abdomen in all directions. This waist is actually the last segment (somite) of the cephalothorax and is lost in most other members of the Arachnida (in scorpions it is only detectable in the embryos).

All spiders have eight legs, although a few ant-mimicking species use their front legs to imitate antennae, which spiders lack. Their eyes are single lenses rather than compound eyes, ranging from simple light/dark-receptors to eyes rivaling those of a pigeon (some jumping spiders). They have pedipalps (or just palps), at the base of which are coxae or maxillae next to their mouth that aid in ingesting food; the ends of the palp are modified in adult males into elaborate and often species-specific structures used for mating. Since they have no antennae, they use specialised and sensitive hairs on their legs to pick up scent, sounds, vibrations and air currents.

Spiders usually have eight eyes in various arrangements, a fact that is used to aid in taxonomically classifying different species. Most species of the Haplogynae have six eyes, although some have eight (Plectreuridae), four (eg., Tetrablemma) or even two (most Caponiidae) eyes. Sometimes one pair of eyes is better developed than the rest, or even, in some cave species, there are no eyes at all. Several families of hunting spiders, such as jumping spiders and wolf spiders, have fair to excellent vision. The main pair of eyes in jumping spiders even see in color. Net-casting spiders have enormous, compound lenses that give a wide field of view and gather available light very efficiently. However, most spiders that lurk on flowers, webs, and other fixed locations waiting for prey tend to have very poor eyesight; instead they possess an extreme sensitivity to vibrations, which aids in prey capture. Vibration sensitive spiders can sense vibrations from such various mediums as the water surface, the soil or their silk threads. Also changes in the air pressure can be detected in the search for prey.

Spiders have an open circulatory system; i.e., they do not have true blood, or veins to convey it. Rather, their bodies are filled with haemolymph, which is pumped through arteries by a heart into spaces called sinuses surrounding their internal organs. Spiders have developed several different respiratory anatomies, based either on book lungs, a tracheal system, or both. Mygalomorph and Mesothelae spiders have two pairs of book lungs filled with haemolymph, where openings on the ventral surface of the abdomen allow air to enter and diffuse oxygen. This is also the case for some basal araneomorph spiders like the family Hypochilidae, but the remaining members of this group have just the anterior pair of book lungs intact while the posterior pair of breathing organs are partly or fully modified into tracheae, through which oxygen is diffused into the haemolymph or directly to the tissue and organs. This system has most likely evolved in small ancestors to help resist desiccation. The trachea were originally connected to the surroundings through a pair of spiracles, but in the majority of spiders this pair of spiracles has fused into a single one in the middle, and migrated posterior close to the spinnerets.

Spiders can only eat their food in liquid form. For this purpose predigestion is carried out both internally and externally to liquefy the tissues of their prey. Some spiders do this by spitting up digestive juices onto prey while chewing it with their chelicerae. The resulting liquefied "soup" is then sucked up by the spider. Dense combs of hairs around the mouth filter out solids while the spider ingests the liquids. Undigested or uneaten parts of the prey are later discarded. Some spiders do not chew their food, but inject digestive fluids from their stomachs directly into the body of the prey to liquefy the inner tissues and organs. The spider then sucks out the liquefied tissues, eventually leaving the empty outer exoskeleton of the prey. Many spiders will store prey temporarily. Web-building spiders that have made a shroud of silk to quiet their envenomed prey's death struggles will often leave them in these shrouds and then consume them later. Spiders are capable of digesting their own silk, so some spiders may eat their used webs. When a spider drops down on a single strand of silk and then returns, it will generally rapidly consume the strand of silk on its way back up.

The abdomen has no appendages except from one to four (usually three) modified pairs of movable telescoping organs called spinnerets, which produce silk. The suborder Mesothelae is unique in having only two types of silk glands — thought to be the ancestral condition. All other spiders have the spinnerets further towards the posterior end of the body where they form a small cluster, and the anterior central spinnerets on the tenth segment are lost or reduced (suborder Mygalomorphae), or modified into a specialised and flattened plate called the cribellum (parts of suborder Araneomorphae), which produces a thread made up of hundreds to thousands of very fine dry silk fibers resulting in a woolly structure that traps prey. The cribellate spiders were the first spiders to build specialized prey catching webs. Later some groups evolved (called ecribellate) that use silk threads dotted with sticky droplets to capture prey ranging from small arthropods to sometimes even small bats and birds.

Lifespan
Many spiders may only live for about a year, but a number will live two years or more, overwintering in sheltered areas. The annual influx of 'outdoor' spiders into houses in the fall is due to this search for a warm place to spend the winter. It is common for female tarantulas to live up to twenty years.

The spider life cycle progresses through three stages: the embryonic, the larval, and the nympho-imaginal. The time between when an egg is fertilized and when the spider begins to take the shape of an adult spider is referred to as the embryonic stage. As the spider enters the larval stage, it begins to look more and more like a full grown spider. It enters the larval stage as a prelarva and, through subsequent moults, reaches its larval form, a spider-shaped animal feeding off its yolk supply. After a few more moults (also called instars) body structures become differentiated. Soon, all organ systems are complete and the animal begins to hunt on its own; it has reached the nympho-imaginal stage.[4] The exuvia of a spider after moulting The exuvia of a spider after moulting This stage is differentiated into two sub-stages: the nymph, or juvenile stage and the imago, or adult stage. A spider does not become sexually mature until it makes the transition from nymph to imago. Once a spider has reached the imago stage, it will remain there until its death. After sexual maturity is reached, the general rule is that they stop moulting, but the females of some non-araneomorph species will continue to moult the rest of their lives.

Spiders reproduce by means of eggs, which are packed into silk bundles called egg sacs. Spiders often use elaborate mating rituals (especially the visually advanced jumping spiders) to allow conspecifics to identify each other and to allow the male to approach and inseminate the female without triggering a predatory response. If the approach signals are exchanged correctly, the male spider must (in most cases) make a timely departure after mating to escape before the female's normal predatory instincts return. Pisaura mirabilis guarding her egg sac Pisaura mirabilis guarding her egg sac Bird dropping spider with its unusual egg sacs Bird dropping spider with its unusual egg sacs Sperm transmission from male to female occurs indirectly. When a male is ready to mate, he spins a web pad upon which he discharges his seminal fluid. He then dips his pedipalps (also known as palpi), the small, leg-like appendages on the front of his cephalothorax, into the seminal fluid, picking it up by capillary attraction. Mature male spiders have swollen bulbs on the end of their palps for this purpose, and this is a useful way to identify the sex of a spider in the field. With his palps thus charged he goes off in search of a female. Copulation occurs when the male inserts one or both palps into the female's genital opening, known as the epigyne. He transfers his seminal fluid into the female by expanding the sinuses in his palp. Once the sperm is inside her, she stores it in a chamber and only uses it during the egg-laying process, when the eggs come into contact with the male sperm for the first time and are fertilized; this may be why the vivipary has never evolved in spiders.

Very unusual behaviour is seen in spiders of the genus Tidarren: the male amputates one of his palps before maturation and enters his adult life with one palp only. The palpi constitute 20% of the body mass of males of this species, and since this weight greatly impedes its movement, by detaching one of the two he gains increased mobility. In the Yemeni species Tidarren argo, the remaining palp is then torn off by the female. The separated palp remains attached to the female's epigynum for about four hours and apparently continues to function independently. In the meantime the female feeds on the palpless male.

Sacrificial males
Spider cannibalism It is a common belief that male spiders, which usually are significantly smaller than the females, are likely to be killed after or during mating, or sometimes even before mating can occur. Even in some species of widow spiders, which are named exactly for this belief, the male may live in the female's web for some time without being harmed. However, in over 60% of cases the female of one species, the Australian redback spider, kills and eats the male after it inserts its second palpus into the female genital opening[6] Males that 'sacrifice' themselves gain the benefit of increasing their paternity relative to males who do not get cannibalized since they feed the female that will lay and tend the resulting fertilized eggs. In many other species, males are sometimes killed by females. In at least some of these cases it's likely that the males are simply mistaken as prey. The risk of this happening is greater if the female is hungry. To counter this, some male spiders offer a "bribe" to the female, in form of a fly or other prey, prior to the mating.

Ecology
Spiders have a great range of variation and lifestyle, although all are predatory. While spiders are generalist predators, in actuality their different methods of prey capture often determine the type of prey taken. Thus web-building spiders rarely capture caterpillars, and crab spiders that ambush prey in flowers capture more bees, butterflies and some flies than other insects. Groups of families that tend to take certain types of prey because of their prey capture methods are often called guilds. A few spiders are more specialized in their prey capture. Dysdera captures and eats sowbugs, pillbugs and beetles, while pirate spiders eat only other spiders. Bolas spiders in the family Araneidae use sex pheromone analogs to capture only the males of certain moth species. Despite their generally broad prey ranges, spiders are one of the most important links in the regulation of the populations of insects.

Webs
Some spiders spin funnel-shaped webs; others make sheet webs; spiders like the black widow make tangled, maze-like, webs; and still others make the spiral "orb" webs that are most commonly associated with spiders. These webs may be made with sticky capture silk, or with "fluffy" capture silk, depending on the type of spider. Webs may be in a vertical plane (most orb webs), a horizontal plane (sheet webs), or at any angle in between. Most commonly found in the sheet-web spider families, some webs will have loose, irregular tangles of silk above them. These tangled obstacle courses serve to disorient and knock down flying insects, making them more vulnerable to being trapped on the web below. They may also help to protect the spider from aerial predators such as birds and wasps. The spider, after spinning its web, will then wait on, or near, the web for a prey animal to become trapped. The spider can sense the impact and struggle of a prey animal by vibrations transmitted along the web lines. Other species of spiders do not use webs for capturing prey directly, instead pouncing from concealment (e.g. trapdoor spiders) or running them down in open chase (e.g. wolf spiders). The net-casting spider balances the two methods of running and web-spinning in its feeding habits. This spider weaves a small net that it attaches to its front legs. It then lurks in wait for potential prey and, when such prey arrives, lunges forward to wrap its victim in the net, bite and paralyze it. Hence, this spider expends less energy catching prey than a primitive hunter such as the Wolf spider. It also avoids the energy cost of weaving a large orb-web. The diving bell spider does not use its web directly in prey capture, but has modified it into an underwater diving bell. Even species whose ancestors were building spiral orb webs have given rise to spiders who no longer make webs, for instance some Hawaiian spiny-legged spiders (genus Tetragnatha, family Tetragnathidae) have abandoned web construction entirely. Some spiders manage to use the 'signaling snare' technique of a web without spinning a web at all. Several types of water-dwelling spiders will rest their feet on the water's surface in much the same manner as an orb-web user. When an insect falls onto the water and is ensnared by surface tension, the spider can detect the vibrations and run out to capture the prey.

.Tangleweb spiders A spider on its web. A spider on its web. Members of this group (family Theridiidae) are characterized by irregular, messy-looking, tangled, three-dimensional (non-sticky) webs, also popularly known as cobwebs, generally low and anchored to the ground or floor and wall. They are commonly found in or near buildings; some build webs in bushes. The spider generally hangs in the center of its web, upside-down. Prey is generally ground-dwelling insects such as ants or crickets, in addition to small flying insects. These include the infamous black widows, the minute happyface spider, and thousands of other species.

Orb web spiders Nephila clavata, a golden orb weaver Nephila clavata, a golden orb weaver Spiders in several families (eg., Araneidae, Tetragnathidae, Nephilidae) spin the familiar spiral snare that most people think of as the typical spider web. On average, an orb-weaving spider takes 30 minutes to an hour to weave a web. They range in size from quite large (6+ cm) to very small (<1 cm), but all are quite harmless to humans, beyond the shock entailed from walking into a face-height web and having a large spider dangling from your nose. Many of the daytime hunters have a 'ferocious' appearance, with spines or large 'fangs', but they are almost invariably inoffensive, preferring to drop on a dragline to the ground when disturbed, rather than bite, which can nevertheless be quite painful.

Other types of webs Some (the Linyphiidae) make various forms of bowl- or dome-shaped webs with or without a flat sheet or a tangled web above or below. Some make a flat platform extending from a funnel-shaped retreat, with generally a tangle of silk above the web. The common northern hemisphere 'funnel-web', 'house' or 'grass' spiders are only superficially similar to the notorious Sydney funnel-web spider, and are generally considered to be quite harmless. Some of the more primitive group Atypidae may make tubular webs up the base of trees, from inside which they bite insects that land on the webbing. These spiders look quite ferocious, but are not generally considered to be particularly dangerous to humans.

Poisonous Spiders
Black Widow Spider / Brown Widow Spiders

Widow Spiders

The black and brown widows are widely distributed over the warmer portions of the United States. Females are easily identified because of their globular, shiny black or brown abdomen with two reddish or yellowish triangles on the underside. These reddish or yellowish triangles form a characteristic hourglass marking. The abdomen is about 1/4 inch in diameter but may be as large as 1/2 inch when the female is full of eggs. Males are much smaller and lighter-colored, with light streaks on their abdomens.

Left - Female Black Widow Spider         Right - Brown Widow




Brown Widow w/Multicolored Top

The widow's web is an irregular mass of fibers with a small central area to which the spider retreats while waiting until its prey becomes ensnared. These webs are frequently constructed underneath boards, stones, or the seats of outdoor privies. They are also found along foundation slabs, behind shrubs and especially where brick or wood siding extends close to ground level. This spider does not usually enter residences.

Widow spider venom contains toxins that are neurotoxic (affects the nervous system). The severity of a person's reaction to the bite depends on the area of the body where the bite occurs; the person's size and general sensitivity; the amount of venom injected; depth of bite; seasonal changes (in venom potency); and temperature. The bite produces a sharp pain similar to a needle puncture. The pain usually disappears rapidly. Local muscular cramps are felt 15 minutes to several hours after the bite, spreading and becoming more severe as time passes. The venom then grows weak, tremors develop, and the abdominal muscles show a board-like rigidity. Respiration becomes spasmodic and the patient is restless and anxious. During this period, a feeble pulse, cold skin, labored breathing and speech, light stupor, and delirium may be noted. Convulsions and death may result with some victims,  especially if the person is sensitive to the venom and no treatment is received. An anti-venom specific for the black or brown widow is readily available to most physicians.

Brown Recluse Spider

The brown recluse spider, (loxosceles reclusa), can also inflict a very dangerous bite. The initial pain associated with the bite is not intense, and is generally less troublesome than a bee sting. Within 8 to 12 hours the pain becomes quite intense, and over a period of a few days a large ulcerous sore forms. This sore heals very slowly and often leaves a large, ugly disfiguring scar.

Brown Recluse Bite and Infection
Warning - Pictures Are Graphic !






          Subject Unknown - Infection Time 6-8 weeks.

The brown recluse is soft-bodied and secretive species found in homes and other outbuildings. The adult body varies from 1/3- to 1/2inch in length, with the arrangement of the legs producing a larger overall size of 1 inch diameter or greater. The body is yellow to dark brown, and has a rather distinctive darker brown violin shaped mark on the top of the cephalothorax.  Recluse Spiders are often colored tan, but can be dark brown to almost white in appearance.

            
Brown Recluse Spider                            

The Brown Recluse Spider has been widely reported in the southern, western, and mid western United States, and is a particularly serious pest in Oklahoma, Missouri, and surrounding states. It is usually found indoors, particularly in bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, garages, basements, and cellars. In homes with forced hot-air heating and air conditioning and often above-ceiling ductwork, brown recluse spiders are commonly found harboring in or around the ductwork or registers. They may also be present in attic areas or other locations above the ceiling. They are also commonly found in cluttered closets or basements, and in outbuildings where miscellaneous items are stored. The web is not elaborate and is best described as an off white to gray, nondescript type of webbing. The spider is not aggressive and usually retreats to cover when disturbed. Most bites occur when a person crushes the spider while putting on old clothes that have been hanging in a garage, or by rolling on the spider while asleep in bed.

The best method of treatment for Brown Recluse Spiders is to first carefully inspect all areas (using leather gloves and flashlight) that are suspected of harboring them.  

As previously mentioned the Brown Recluse Spider is usually found indoors, especially in bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, garages, basements, and cellars. They may also be present in attic areas, or other locations above the ceiling. They may also be found in out-buildings. Their web is not very elaborate and is best described as an off-white to gray, nondescript webbing. Most bites occur when a person crushes the spider while putting on clothes that may have been hanging for some time, or by rolling on the spider while asleep in bed. Gardeners should wear gloves and be especially alert when handling leaves or bark mulch.

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Non Poisonous Spiders

Tarantula's, Jumping Spiders, Wolf Spiders and Garden Spiders are victims of a so-called spider phobia and are considered to be armed and dangerous simply because the possess the same spider shape and characteristics as the brown recluse and black widow.     They are hairy, large and formidable, but their bite is less harmful than a bee sting.  Some people, however, are extremely allergic to spider venom, so if you are bitten and have an adverse reaction, don't hesitate to see your physician immediately.

Tarantula

Many people have tarantula's as pets.  Although this may sound fun to some people, tarantula's although shy and timid most of the time will bite if angry or provoked. 

Tarantula

Garden Spider

The garden spider is sometimes called a yellow sac spider - although the yellow sac spider is a completely different species.  The garden spider weaves a beautiful web and is the best looking of all the spiders.

Garden Spider

Wolf Spider

We're not sure that the wolf spider looks like a wolf.

Wolf Spider

Hunting Spider

The hunting spider hunts for insects, not people.

Hunting Spider

Jumping Spider

Jumping spiders can jump, as most spiders can, although nobody is for sure how far or high.

Jumping Spider

Daddy Long Legs

Daddy Longlegs are not true spiders.  They are spider like arachnids, belonging to the same class (arachnid) as spiders, ticks, scorpions, and mites.  Daddy Longlegs, also known as Harvest Spiders, belong to a different order than spiders, that of Opilliones.  Spiders belong to the order Araneae. The daddy long legs get it's name because their legs can grow to be over 12" long.  (April Bailey)

Daddy Long LegsWorkers