All about Spiders

Spiders are not actually insects, as most people believe. They belong to a class of animals called arachnids and arthropoda phylum. They have eight legs and chelicerae (mouthpart) that are modified into fangs to inject venom. They can grow a new leg, if they lose one. The spiders are predators that use their venom to catch the prey. The most common preys include grasshoppers, butterflies, flies, crickets, bees and moths.

The anatomy of spiders is different from other arthropods; they do not have extensor muscles in their limbs. Instead, they extend them by using hydraulic pressure. The spiders have eight eyes and they do not have wings or antennae. The body part of the spider is divided into two sections – the abdomen and the cephalothorax. The appendages in their abdomen can be modified into spinnerets.  They have six types of silk glands in their abdomen, which is used to produce silk. They use the silk to build webs and to capture prey. The cephalothorax is a combination of head and thorax. It also contains a pair of chelicera, a pair of palps, 4 pairs of legs and a number of small eyes.

Spiders build webs in trees, webs, storerooms and along rock walls. Most of the spiders are nearsighted and they use the hair on their body to sense the presence of other animals and to feel their way around. They have a unique behavior; if the webs get dirty, they make a new one easily and they do not waste the old one. They roll the old web up into a ball and eat it.

The garden spiders build an unusual web, which is cartwheel in shape called orb wheel. They spin a zigzag line of silk across the middle of its web, which is called trap line. The web silk is sticky in nature so that they can catch their prey. When any insect gets caught in the web, they feel the movement and capture the prey immediately.

Black widow spider is recognized easily by the hourglass shaped mark on its abdomen. The venom is fifteen times stronger than the venom of a rattlesnake. The bite can produce nausea, muscular aches and paralysis of the diaphragm in humans. The average lifespan of a black widow spider is one to three years. The female and male spiders have a shiny, globular abdomen. Some species of black widow spiders have a series of red spots and two crosswise bars on their underbelly. The male spiders are smaller than the females and have red and yellow bands over their back. The female spiders sometimes kill and eat the male spider after mating. This unique behavior gives the insect its name.

Crab spiders do not build webs, but they capture their prey by sitting on or among the flower, bark, fruit or leaves. Some species can change their color between yellow and white to match the color of the flower and catch their prey.

Wolf spiders are agile hunters. They have eight eyes arranged in three rows; the bottom row consists of four small eyes, the top row has two medium-sized eyes and the middle row has very large eyes. The wolf spiders are found in coastal areas and inland, including shrub lands, wet coastal forest, suburban gardens, woodland and alpine meadows. The wolf spiders are usually harmless to humans, but their bite may be painful.

The lifespan of spiders depend on the species. Some spiders have a lifespan of less than one year, while some others live up to twenty years. They are source of food for birds, fish and small mammals and so they have limited chance of reaching a ripe old age.

Spider Removal

It can be unpleasant to find a spider inside your home.  A spider sting can be extremely harmful and painful. It fills a human body with poison which can lead to many health complications.

One of the important things you need to understand about spiders is that they tend to hide in remote places which are beyond your imagination. This makes finding a spider a very hard task. On many occasions, people get rid of spiders and tend to relax not realizing that there may be a couple more hiding in safe places. These spiders usually get out in the night for hunting.

It is therefore highly recommended that you take help from a professional or an expert and get rid of spiders as you do with most of the other insects. One of the things that you can do on your own is to clean up the spider web. You can make use of a sweeper to get the web cleaned. One of the aspects that most people are not aware of is the fact that spiders hate the smell of eucalyptus plant. If you have one in your home, you can keep the spiders effectively away.

There are plenty of different spider repellents that you can make use of in order to get rid of them. Using ammonia is highly recommended as it is natural and there is no need for you to worry about the secondary or side effects.

Apart from these technical ideas for getting rid of spiders, there are plenty of other ideas which are far more creative and innovative used by many people around the world. One such idea is to keep a cat as a pet at home. For those of you who were not aware of this, cats are extremely good spider catchers. They are very quick and have a feeling of hatred against spiders. Hence they catch them as soon as they see one. Many people keep couple of cats at home just because they help them keep their home spider free.  

We have already learnt a few tricks as to how we can get rid of spiders from our homes. But what about the spiders which hide in places where we are not able to reach? Most of the spiders hide in wood products like cardboard or wardrobes. They even have a tendency to hide inside clothing items. One of the best things you can do in such a situation is to get rid of as much cluster as you can from your home. You can also place sticky traps in areas like closets and basements so that you are able to catch any wandering spider.

One of the most important things to be remembered is not to panic when you see a spider or when you venture into getting rid of it. The above ideas and suggestions can be used effectively with a calm disposition to get rid of spiders and their webs. As you get rid of the spiders, ensure you get rid of their eggs too. People are so relieved to be free of spiders that they forget the eggs. Eggs eventually mature into more spiders. So, eradicate them as well.

It is highly recommended that you get in touch with a spider removing expert or a professional, especially if you spot a black widow spider in your home. This spider is extremely dangerous and can be very harmful for your health if it bites you.

The chemicals that are used to spray on the spider webs are easily available in most of the pest stores and are not very expensive. You can even buy them online.