Spider Control issues

[Thoth]

Fell a little bit odd posting this but I need help in exterminating spiders. But my apartment in overrun with 2 species of cobweb spinning spiders mostly Steatoda triangulosa and Achaearanea tepidariorum. It not a couple of adults here and there but as sit typing this I have spiderlings descending upon me from the ceiling. I go to sleep and wake up next day and end uo walking through webbing on my way to the bathroom. I'll go away for a week my apartment will be covered in cobwebs. They get in all my enclousures.

So I need a way to get rid of them (or bringing them down to manageable levels). Catch and release is not an option (mainly because I don't really see them but rather the webbing)

 

[Widowman10]

bug bomb!!!!!!!

haha, just kidding that would be pretty hard to pull off with all your enclosures, huh?

i've never had this problem (dang it...), but maybe someone who has can help, sorry. maybe releasing natural predators?! hahaha, who knows...

 

[rmlee]

You could try some "Cobweb Eliminator" along with some glueboards.

Patch any holes in the walls, caulk all cracks and crevices.

 

[Thoth]

You could try some "Cobweb Eliminator" along with some glueboards.

Patch any holes in the walls, caulk all cracks and crevices.

I will put do glue boards, but as attractive as the Cobweb Eliminator I would literal have to wash down every surface in my apartment, a little too much to be feasible.

 

[Widowman10]

I will put do glue boards, but as attractive as the Cobweb Eliminator I would literal have to wash down every surface in my apartment, a little too much to be feasible.

hmmm, if you end up doing this, please post of your results, i'm interested in knowing how it goes.

 

[Ted]

lots of house geckos?

 

[arrowhd]

I've been using "sticky traps" to keep the local resident recluse population under control. You can pick up a three pack of them at local Wally world for under $5. I wouldn't say they have eliminated the problem but it has helped. I put one in the closet and two under my bed. This is the most common place I find them. Just make sure to keep them away from dogs, cats, wanted spiders, etc.

 

[Stylopidae]

Geckoes...maybe a fan?

 

[Thoth]

I have a fan going and decent air circulation in my apt. it doesn't seem to help much.

I have thought about the house geckoes, but I live over a dentist office. The dentist is also the landlord. Not a fan of my animals (actually deathly afraid) and has threaten if anything gets down into his office, he'll have an exterminator come in immediately and spray down the building. He's phobic enough to do. So thats out.

 

[Stylopidae]

What about Caco and Buthus's pirate spiders?

They don't spin webs and make a living by killing and eating other spiders while they're still in their webs. They breed pretty readily, too so as long as there's food they should still be around.

Phlocus do the same thing sometimes, but will also spin webs.

 

[rmlee]

I will put do glue boards, but as attractive as the Cobweb Eliminator I would literal have to wash down every surface in my apartment, a little too much to be feasible.

I've never used the eliminator stuff.
My living room has webbing on the ceiling that's a pain to reach so I was hoping to pick some up from ace hardware but they didn't have it.
I would be annoyed to have it all over the place to since it isn't always easy to vacuum up.

Just an idea but you could test out vacuuming the webs in the corners of the ceiling and then spraying that stuff there?
I'm assuming these spiders normally put there webbing in these areas and if they couldn't maybe they would end up on the sticky boards while searching for a better place.

Either way, hopefully you'll find a bunch stuck to a board in one area and be able to narrow down where they might be coming in at.

I think my problem area for the Recluse spiders ended up being the large gaps under my baseboards which I filled with Great Stuff foam.
I've found only 1 grass spider and 1 Triangulosa on sticky boards in about 2-3 months.
I was ticked that I couldn't free the Triang from the board since I've read they will eat the Recluse. lol

Good luck to ya, I'm sure you'll find a good way to control them.

 

[cacoseraph]

what the fun are all those spids eating!?

THAT would be what i would address... otherwise you are potentially bandaiding a bullethole

What about Caco and Buthus's pirate spiders?

They don't spin webs and make a living by killing and eating other spiders while they're still in their webs. They breed pretty readily, too so as long as there's food they should still be around.

Phlocus do the same thing sometimes, but will also spin webs.

buthus did all the work. i just wander around making jokes, for the most part.

the pholcus would presumably be easier to acquire and easier to "get away" with as far as the land lord not being pissed... but it would be AWESOME to see the pirates do biocontrol. ooh. probably pholcus would be only choise due to like, moral considerations of unleashing pirates onto a new area. pholcus are already everywhere, like.

 

[Thoth]

what the fun are all those spids eating!?

THAT would be what i would address... otherwise you are potentially bandaiding a bullethole

buthus did all the work. i just wander around making jokes, for the most part.

the pholcus would presumably be easier to acquire and easier to "get away" with as far as the land lord not being pissed... but it would be AWESOME to see the pirates do biocontrol. ooh. probably pholcus would be only choise due to like, moral considerations of unleashing pirates onto a new area. pholcus are already everywhere, like.

I haven't the slightest idea what they are eating. Each other perhaps. I mean short of a fruit fly break out last week and the occasional escapee cricket, my apartment is rather bare of free range insects. Even looking at and around their webs there is nothing in terms of prey item carcasses, outside of the fruit flies from the outbreak last week, which has been eliminated (apparent scotch is an effective bait for traps).

Whatever they are eating they are breeding prolificly, just cleaned out a dozen eggsacs, eggs visible in all, out from under my day gecko enclosure.

I'll see if I can catch a pholcus locally, having a bit of a warm spell so things are probably still active. I don't think the landlord would freak if h saw a pholcus, he'd just assume it came from outside (his thing are the snakes, ts and lizards, i.e. non-local fauna). Though what to I get to get rid of the pholcus after they take over.

 

[cacoseraph]

I haven't the slightest idea what they are eating. Each other perhaps. I mean short of a fruit fly break out last week and the occasional escapee cricket, my apartment is rather bare of free range insects. Even looking at and around their webs there is nothing in terms of prey item carcasses, outside of the fruit flies from the outbreak last week, which has been eliminated (apparent scotch is an effective bait for traps).

Whatever they are eating they are breeding prolificly, just cleaned out a dozen eggsacs, eggs visible in all, out from under my day gecko enclosure.

I'll see if I can catch a pholcus locally, having a bit of a warm spell so things are probably still active. I don't think the landlord would freak if h saw a pholcus, he'd just assume it came from outside (his thing are the snakes, ts and lizards, i.e. non-local fauna). Though what to I get to get rid of the pholcus after they take over.

if things play out like normal you would just end up with conglomeration webs of pholcus which are fairly easy to sweep up.

i still think finding out what they are feeding on is probably going to be moderately important. i mean, i'm sure they are somewhat preying on each other... but the system needs to have energy poured into it from an external source or it would be solving itself as less and less energy is available.

onething i just did at my new apartment was to go around the base of the whole building with orthoboric acid powder, 99% pure. is about as poisonous as table salt (ld50 of like 2700 compared to NaCl of like 3300) but it is probably VERY bad to use around cats (damg footlickers). it wiped out the spider population... i mean devestated it... but the roaches (which were my actual target) were barely stunned. since the spids are predators they bioaccumulate like mofos... something that you might be able to use against them if you are tricky enough.

actually a bioaccumulation strategy seems like it has the potential to be the like... least invasive, if you see what i mean?



side note:
have you ever read any of the Dangerous Journeys stories by Gary Gygax? (main character is a wizardpriest of Thoth)

 

[8+)]

but the system needs to have energy poured into it from an external source or it would be solving itself as less and less energy is available.

Off topic, but I have the hardest time convincing people that this is the big flaw with "The Matrix"!

It's going to be getting cold soon, and even indoors, bugs seem to slow way down, especially up north I'd imagine. You may not need to do anything but wait, and deal with it next year?

 

[BishopiMaster]

You could try tokay geckos, provided you dont mind loud lizards with razor sharp teeth

 

[Thoth]

You could try tokay geckos, provided you dont mind loud lizards with razor sharp teeth

Actually own a pair, thing is I think these things are too small to interest them (my large female can go through 2 dozen crickets in a sitting).

Still don't seem to find anyfood source except that of few fruit flies or escapee crickets.