SPIDERS  Link to Hobo Spider identification web page

How does bugaboo treat for spiders?

Depending on the season and degree of infestation the treatment varies.

If only on the outside:

   We do a Perimeter treatment around the house.

   Includes around doors and windows

   Includes nearby shrubbery and trees

In inside and out side:

   Do outside as described above

   Do crack and crevice treatment inside

   Install pheromone sticky board traps throughout house

What kind of chemical do you use to spray with? 

   We use both synthetic and natural pyrethrins.

   We use no strong bombs or sprays (No Dursban or Diazinon) 

   On the outside we use a material called Talstar, which has an active ingredient call ed Bifenthrin (.2%)

   Bifenthrin is a member of the pyrethroid chemical class (a synthetic Pyrethin) 

I think I have Hobo spiders; how can I tell?

 The Aggressive House Spider / Hobo

Spiders are predators which feed on insects and most of the time are quite beneficial to our environment. Except for webbing and egg sacs, spiders will not damage a house or its contents.  Three species of European House Spiders occur in the Pacific Northwest, where they are among the most common spiders in and around houses. The three of genus Tegenarra are the (1) T. domestica   (2) T. agrestis (hobo spider) and  (3) T. Gigantea. These three are known as the funnel-web weaving spiders.

 Until recently, these spiders were considered wholly beneficial. There is now good reason to believe that one of them, the Hobo spider, is responsible for a number of human spider bite cases involving annoying skin lesions and, occasionally, serious illness. Most of these bites were previously blamed on the "Brown Recluse" which, however, is not known to occur anywhere west of Nebraska. Hobo spiders are common and widespread in the Pacific Northwest, but bites are relatively rare; most bites occur when the spider is pressed against the skin and unable to escape. If Hobo spiders are abundant in and around a home, some control measures may be appropriate.

 Indoors, spiders can be found under and behind furniture, furnaces, and appliances; in storage areas, basements, attics, and unused cabinets; in cracks around windows, moldings, and ducts; and anywhere else that is not dusted regularly. Typically, the largest Hobo spider populations are in sub-area crawl spaces under homes and decks. Outdoors, the spiders webs and eggs will be under logs and boards, in piles of junk, bricks, blocks, lumber, or firewood, among disused yard furniture or tarps, in trash bins, outdoor stairwells, window frames and wells, porch super structures and ventilation structures.

 Control: Treatments in and around homes, apartments or commercial buildings are targeted towards doors, windows, vents, outside stairwells, window wells, along foundation, under lip of siding and inside spot areas where deemed necessary. Spider control is a process to reduce interior sightings.100% control usually is difficult to achieve because spiders can walk over the top of a surface that has been treated with insecticide and not accumulate sufficient amounts to affect them. Thermo fogging crawl spaces is beneficial.  Exterior ground maintenance with reduction of heavy dense vegetation will help reduce exterior spider populations thus reducing the pressure of interior infestations. A new sticky board with a pheromone attractant has been used very successfully to monitor and capture hobo spiders.

 Identifying Spiders

The most reliable way to distinguish major spider groups is by arrangement of the eyes on the "head" region of the spider. On the large spiders, this eye arrangement is readily visible. A hand lens or magnifier may make the job easier in some cases.

1. Eyes in 3 rows, arranged in 4, 2,2 pattern (Wolf spider & Jumping spider, which include the Hobo spider)
2. Eyes in 2 rows of 4 (most spiders)
3. Eyes in 3 pairs (Brown recluse and relatives)

Using the eye arrangement is much more accurate when trying to identify Brown Recluse spiders and spiders which have been squashed. 

Also funnel-webs (which include Hobo spiders) are large spiders ( ½ inch to 1 ¾ body length ) with glossy dark brown to black carapace. The abdomen is usually dark plum to black and not patterned. Males often have a ventral spur or swelling midway along the second leg which is pointed in Atrax and blunt or absent in Hadronyche. Spinnerets usually obvious, finger-like and at the end of the abdomen. The eyes of funnel-webs are closely grouped.

MALE HOBO SPIDER                       FEMALE HOBO SPIDER

What about other kinds of spiders?  Go to you  http://www.bugaboopest.com/spiders.htm  

Intruder HPX is an advanced generation pyrethroid (Cyfluthrin) insecticide that contains no organophosphates or  carbamates. It is affective against cockroaches, ants, spiders, crickets, silverfish, sowbugs, pillbugs, millipedes, centipedes, firebrats, earwigs, bedbugs; wasps, bees, flies, yellowjackets, hornets, gnats, mosquitoes, moths.  Several types of beetles including; carpet, Confused, red Flour, drugstore, cigarette, sawtoothed and merchant Grain  and Lesser Grain Borers. It is available in a 17.5 oz aerosol can for just $ 22.00 each (item no. A-009) or a case of six for 95.95 (item no. A-010) 

How much does the treatment cost? 

• We give a free telephone estimates via phone  (360) 254-7731 (360) 834-5244, (503) 289-0576     fax 360 834-2845,      or email alan@bug-guy.com

Copyright © 2001 [Alan Luke]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 10/15/11. Home