Who doesn’t love Fall? Whether you’re a fan of football or pumpkin spice, brisk walks through the changing foliage or cozy evenings by the fire, there’s something for everyone. However, it’s not just humans that like the change in season–our creepy crawly critters also love the drop in temperature. Here’s a look at some of the spiders you may encounter this Autumn.
American House Spider
The American House Spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) is a common pest found all across North America, including Washington. They are classic cobweb spiders, preferring to build webs in hidden corners across your home such as basements, closets, and crawl spaces. While not harmful to humans, their unsightly webs can cause quite a fright if encountered in dark recesses.
Hobo Spider
The Hobo Spider (Eratigena agrestis) is considered by many to be aggressive. It builds funnel-type webs and is often mistaken for wolf and brown recluse spiders due to its brown coloration. For many years, it was considered venomous and dangerous to humans; however, it was recently removed from the CDC’s list of “dangerously venomous spiders.” Of course, just because they’re not deadly doesn’t relieve you of the irritation of an average spider bite.
Cross-Orb Weaver
The Cross-Orb Weaver (Araneus Diadematus) is found all across the world, even being named the “European Spider of the Year” in 2010. It is a very-well researched spider and it even has it’s own Oscar-nominated short documentary called “Epeira Diedema” by Italian director Alberto Ancilotto. When threatened, it may bounce up and down in the center of its web.
Giant House Spider
The Giant House Spider (Eratigena atrica) is most often found indoors in October. While leg span varies, some have leg spans of up to 4 inches. They are often found first thing in the morning in bathtubs and spouts searching for water, able to get in but unable to get out. They compete with Hobo Spiders for household alpha spider, with one account even claiming to see a Giant House kill a Hobo without eating it. It even held the Guinness World Record for fastest spider with a top speed of 1.73 ft/sec until it was ousted by the wind scorpion spider 1987.
If some eight-legged friends or any other pest finds comfort in your home this season, contact Eden Spokane today. We’ll work with you to keep your home just that–yours and yours alone.
Serving the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene Metro and surrounding areas since 1986