Brown Recluse Spider

How to Control Them

Brown Recluse Links: Overview | Bites | Spider Control

Common Questions:

• How can I identify a brown recluse spider?
  
• Where in the U.S. are brown recluse spiders and the desert recluse spiders found?
  
• How can I treat a brown recluse or desert recluse spider bite?

Ways to Control Spiders in Your Home and Workplace

Outdoors

• Remove or reduce trash and rubbish from your home or workplace (eg. woodpiles, boxes, plywood, tires, empty containers, etc.)
  
• Keep the outside perimeter of the house free from tall grass, weeds or shrubs especially near the foundation.
  
• Wear protective clothing, including gloves and covered shoes, when working outdoors.
  
• Always check items that have been stored in the garage or in a shed or outdoors for spiders, webs or sacks before bringing item indoors. Keep items like gloves or shoes in zip lock bags or sealed containers.

Indoors

• Keep beds away from the walls.
  
• Don't store boxes or any items under your bed.
  
• Keep dust ruffles or bed skirts from touching the floor.
  
• Don't store shoes on the floor or any clothes, towels or other linens (always shake out shoes and clothes before using).
  
• Store sports equipment like roller-skates, gardening clothes, gloves, ski boots in plastic bags that are tightly sealed with no holes.
  
• Vacuum under furniture, closets, under heaters, around all baseboards and other areas of the house to eliminate habitat.
  
• Keep screens on windows and fix or replace screens with holes or that don't fit snugly.
  
• Seal doors with weather stripping and door sweeps.
  
• Seal cracks and access holes for electrical conduits or plumbing.
  
• Remove spider webs and egg sags when found.

Pesticide control Pesticide control of spiders only works on direct contact. So if you see a spider and spray it you can terminate it. You can also spray any egg sacks and crush them to kill eggs. Spraying the baseboards will not keep spiders away or kill them when they crawl in an area that has been sprayed. Spiders do not absorb chemicals through their legs or feet as ants, roaches and other insects do.

Sticky traps placed along the baseboard of the house can help catch spiders and also help you determine their population. Pesticide control for other bugs or insects will help reduce the food source for the spiders and help reduce the spider population in your house.

Sources:

National Library of Medicine EPA

"BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER," Michael F. Potter, Urban Entomologist, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky