Most people have a dire fear of spiders whether poisonous or not. Spiders are able to live in almost any climate and are not constricted to one kind of habitat. Spiders can live anywhere they can find food like fields, woods, swamps, caves and deserts. To help reduce the potential for spider inhabiting your home clean up any areas that are cluttered or would otherwise be protective of spider habitat. Remove or cut back shrubs, grass, etc, from the exterior. If a web or spider is spotted, remove the web by using a broom or vacuum for example, and thoroughly but carefully inspect around the noted area to make sure there are no additional webs or spiders. Be sure to throw the vacuum bag in an outside trash receptacle if a spider is vacuumed. Contact your local pest control company if a problem persists and you want a professional opinion of control.
Spiders are arachnids, a group of arthropods that also includes scorpions, harvestmen (Daddy Long Legs), mites, and ticks. Approximately 3,500 species are known to inhabit North America. Spiders, like insects (also a group of arthropods), have jointed legs and a hard external or outer skeleton. Spiders have four pair of legs, with a body divided into two regions the cephalothorax and abdomen. Insects have three pair of legs and the body divided into three regions: head, thorax, and abdomen. Spiders have no wings or antennae, but have enlarged, sharply pointed jaws called fangs.
All spiders are predators. They feed on a wide variety of insects and other soft-bodied invertebrate animals. Spiders attack and subdue their prey by biting with their fangs to inject a poison. As predators spiders are beneficial. Spiders are beneficial to humans because they eat harmful insects. They eat grasshoppers and locusts which destroy crops. Spiders also eat flies and mosquitoes which carry diseases. Spiders feed mostly on insects but some capture and eat tadpoles, small frogs, small fish and mice. Most females are larger and stronger than the males and in some cases they eat males.
All spiders spin silk, but the silk is used in a wide variety of ways. Most spiders construct a silken case to protect their eggs, but not all spiders make a web. A few use silk threads much like a parachute to aid in dispersal on wind currents such as a balloon spider. Spiders spin webs so they can catch insects for their food and even larger and stronger insects cannot escape. Web spinning spiders spin webs to catch insects. Others lie and wait for insects to come.
All spiders are poisonous, but not all should be feared because some are too small or possess poison that is too weak to harm humans. Most have a toxicity level high enough to kill insects and other small invertebrate prey. Only a few have bites that are dangerous to humans. However, the bite of these few species can cause serious medical problems and possible death under certain circumstances. Spiders are not naturally aggressive to humans but bite when they or their egg sacs are threatened. The most dangerous spiders to humans in North America are the widow spiders (usually known as black widows), the brown spiders (also known as the fiddlebacked spiders or brown recluse), the tarantulas, the sac spiders, and the funnel-web spider.
