Wolf Spider Prevention Tips

Wolf Spider Prevention Tips

Have you seen a wolf spider? Would you know one if you saw one? There are actually around 200 species of wolf spider found in North America, and they don’t all look the same. The most common wolf spider we see in Tennessee homes is brown with two dark parallel lines on the back of its head. This spider is sometimes mistaken for a grass spider, and your grass is actually where it prefers to be. But, all too often, it finds its way into places it does not belong, or even particularly want to be, because, unlike the grass spider, wolf spiders don’t hang out in webs and wait for their food to come to them. In fact, they don’t make webs at all. They prowl for their food.

Wolf spiders are drawn to moist or humid areas, and places where they can get a meal. This will bring them into garages, sheds, and basements in search of crickets, cockroaches, beetles, flying insects, and more. While it may be nice to think about having a creature taking care of these other pests in your home, it is better to have all the pests removed from your home.

The bite from a wolf spider is not medically important, but it does hurt, and it can leave you with a red, itchy welt. For those who are allergic to the venom of a wolf spider, it can take several days for this wound to heal. In all cases, it is possible to get a secondary infection if a wolf spider bite isn’t properly treated.

Wolf Spider Control

  • Reducing insects around your home can reduce wolf spiders. Make sure all exterior trash is sealed, and consider replacing outside lights with yellow insect-resistant bulbs, or simply keep them off.

  • Removing vegetation that is near your exterior walls can deter these spiders from exploring where you don’t want them to be.

  • If they get on your wall, it is important to make sure they don’t find an entry point. Repair or replace any damaged or missing screens on your home, and use a caulking gun to fill in any holes that have developed in your exterior walls.

  • Remove clutter that is next to your walls.

  • Make sure your doors have working door sweeps.

  • Reduce the humidity in your basement and other areas these spiders may explore.

  • Have a professional pest controller give your home year-round protection.

There are a lot of bugs that try to get into Tennessee homes this time of year, and wolf spiders are one of them. Make sure your home is protected with a year-round, seasonal pest control you can trust. Find out about our Power, Power Gold, and Power Platinum pest plans, and how they guard against over 30 common household pests.

You can probably live with wolf spiders–but it nicer to live without them. Get your quality of life upgrade today.

All You Need To Know About Wolf Spiders

All You Need To Know About Wolf Spiders

Perhaps the first word that comes to mind when discussing a wolf spider is that they are very intimidating. The wolf spider is quite large in comparison to other spiders, ranging upwards of an inch or more not counting the legs. The wolf spider will bite when feeling threatened; however, their venom is rather weak and not harmful to humans. The most you can expect to experience is usually no more than some redness and swelling, but nothing more serious than that has been reported.

The coloring of the wolf spider results in a rather camouflaged appearance of brown, grey, tan, and black with some darker markings. This helps them when hunting their prey as well as protecting them against predators. The wolf spider can be found in almost any corner of the world as long as there is a good supply of insects available for food.

Wolf spiders have incredible night vision and do most of their hunting in the dark. They do not spin webs for which to catch their prey but rather depend on their size and strength to overpower insects. The wolf spider burrows into the ground rather than nesting in a web. Even then, the female will carry her egg sac with her rather than leaving it unprotected.

Mating time is quite risky for the male as they are sometimes killed by the female after the mating has taken place. Those males who do survive will often mate again. The mated female will lay approximately 100 eggs which she will encase in a sac that she carries with her. When the eggs are developed and ready to hatch, the female wolf spider will rip the egg sac open and release her baby spiders. The spiderlings will then climb onto the female’s body and stay with her for a couple weeks until mature enough to be on their own.

With their reproductive ability, wolf spiders can populate a home rather quickly. Even though they have a tendency to burrow into the ground, they will come inside from time to time. Although their bite is not dangerous, it is recommended that professional help is called on for eradication. While there are prevention tips that will help prevent an invasion of wolf spiders, contacting Russell’s Pest Control is advisable for control of a wolf spider infestation. Our Power Programs, designed to prevent and protect, will protect you from wolf spiders plus 30 or more other household pests with guaranteed year round pest free protection.