There are many pests in the San Francisco Bay & Monterey area that come into your home to eat the foods you eat, even food that has been sitting in the trash for a few days. Spiders don’t like your food. It is rare for a spider to eat the things humans eat. They prefer to hunt prey and eat what they catch. But leaving human food out and unprotected could be why spiders are in your home. When insects come into your home to feed and reproduce, they become the food that attracts spiders. Let’s take a look at this and other reasons insects might be in your home, and subsequently, why you have spiders.
Pantry Foods
Many pests eat pantry food. If you don’t pour paper and cardboard packaged items into sealed containers, you can have issues with pantry pests, ants, roaches, and many other pests that spiders eat.
Fruit
If you leave fruit on display, you may get a fruit fly infestation. This is because the eggs that fruit flies lay on fruit can hatch when the fruit is left out at room temperature. We recommend putting fruit in the fridge to avoid this. This can make your home less inviting to spiders. Keep in mind that, after you get rid of the fruit flies, the spiders may remain to find other food or water sources.
Crumbs
While spiders don’t eat crumbs, they love to eat ants and other insects that eat crumbs. When scout ants come into your home in search of food, they’ll come up empty-handed if you keep your home clean. When spiders come into your home in search of ants, they won’t find your home to be a good hunting ground.
Drains
Your drain has rotting organic matter in it. Some insects will crawl or fly down into your drains and feed on that sludge. They may also reproduce there. A drain fly is a good example. If you start to see lots of tiny moth-like flies in your kitchen, it won’t be long till you start seeing spider webs and spiders. It can be difficult to keep your drain clean enough to prevent issues with drain flies, but maintaining working screens on your doors and windows is a good preventative measure. Those screens will also resist spiders directly.
Moisture
Bugs need moisture. If you have leaky faucets that leave water droplets in your sinks, tubs, or showers, those little droplets can be an attraction for bugs and spiders alike. Repairing plumbing issues doesn’t just make life nicer and lower your water bill, it is an essential step in making your home undesirable to pests, especially pests that require high humidity like silverfish and centipedes.
Openings
Pests get into your home because they can. Whether it is an ant, cockroach, centipede, spider, or something else, tiny openings in your exterior will invite them in. Rotting wood is strongly attractive as it is associated with moisture and humidity. If you have areas of your home that are rotting, it is important to get these areas fixed, or fill holes in with caulking until you have the money to make a full repair. Here are a few other common entry points spiders and pests use to get into homes.
Damaged screens, gaps around screen frames, and damaged door and window frames.
Damaged seals around window and door frames.
Damaged weatherstripping or door sweeps.
Damaged caps on ventilation outlets.
Damaged or missing weep hole protectors.
Damaged concrete, brick mortar, and other building materials.
Gaps around pipes, wire conduits, and other exterior wall and foundation penetrations.
Exterior Attractants
More bugs and spiders around your home will ultimately create more opportunities for them to get inside your home. There are many ways you can resist pest activity around your home. Here are a few of our best suggestions:
Rake leaves and other debris away from your home.
Remove sources of wood on the ground.
Make sure exterior trash is covered and contained.
Clean your gutters to reduce moisture near your home.
Reduce exterior lighting or switch to yellow lighting, which is less attractive to insects.
Trim landscaping and remove weeds and other unnecessary vegetation.
Address conditions that lead to standing water.
Exterior Pest Control
The best way to maintain a spider-free home is to create a home that is resistant to insects and bugs. The team at Smith’s Pest Management can assist you with this. Our residential pest control process works to reduce and eliminate pests before they can get into your home and before they can invite spiders to come near to your home. Our service team members also reduce cobwebs around your home. This directly works to control spider populations as one cobweb can have hundreds of eggs. If you have questions, or you’d like to begin service, reach out to us. We are here to help!
