Wolf Spiders: A True Halloween Horror

A wolf spider sits on a stepping stone near some grass

You may enjoy the sweets and scares of Halloween, but things get all too real as soon as you see an actual spider in your home. For most the instinct is to grab the nearest and heaviest object and use it to squish the eight-legged invader. The urge will probably be even stronger if it’s a particularly big spider. But what if we told you that stomping that spider without looking may result in a rippling onslaught of baby spiders by the hundreds?

This isn’t the plot of a cheesy horror movie – it’s a very real possibility when dealing with the wolf spider. So how can you identify this particular arachnid, and what can you do to keep it from getting into your home?

Wolf Spider Habits and Appearance

Wolf spiders range in size, from 1.5″ to 4″ depending on the climate they’re found in. Their bodies are made up of two parts, the cephalothorax and the abdomen, along with a set of fang-like mouthparts called the chelicerae. Because of their appearance, they’re often mistaken for other, more dangerous species like the black widow or the brown recluse. Wolf spiders are unique in that unlike these sister spiders, they’re free roaming and don’t make webs.

While being far from the fastest runners in the world, the wolf spider can skitter to capture prey at two feet a second. They eat larger insects like roaches and grasshoppers, and other smaller, less fortunate spiders. And since they don’t have a web, the mother wolf spider chooses instead to carry her young on her back. From eggs in a sac to a cluster of spiderlings, this hardworking single mother keeps her hundreds of children close at all times. So, if you kill or attempt to disturb the mother, these babies will scatter in every direction.

You can avoid turning your home into a daycare of scared spider children. All you need to do is take a few simple precautions.

Getting Spider-Free

Spiders, wolf spiders included, like to hide in a place where they won’t be disturbed. When out in the wild, wolf spiders love to nest under tree roots or in the cover of fallen leaves. If they were to get inside, they’ll prefer to stay amongst the cluttered, quiet corners of the house. That’s why we suggest vacuuming on a regular basis, along with keeping your closets, basement and attic clear of clutter. Doing that will make it so spiders have fewer places to hide and set up shop.

Outside the home, you can create a similar effect by moving piles of firewood and debris away, if they’re against the side of your home. You can also trim shrubs and any tree branches touching the roof. Spiders do not choose to come into your house by chance. If you make it inconvenient for them to get in, they usually won’t. But if all that doesn’t work, you can count on Southern Pest Control to solve your spider problem in no time.

Southern Pest Spider Control

We provide long-term spider control for homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We can send an expert to your home that will find entry points that spiders can take advantage of and seal them up.  Once we finish, you’ll be able to enjoy your scares through the safety of a television screen – and have a happy, and spider-free, Halloween. To get started, contact us today!

Our Top 10 Interesting Spider Facts

Finding spiders around the Mississippi Gulf Coast - Southern Pest Control

Finding spiders around the Mississippi Gulf Coast - Southern Pest ControlHere at Southern Pest Control, we believe that the more you learn about spiders, the less you’ll fear them. Most spiders want nothing to do with us and just want to go about their day! We have dealt with many different spider species around the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and along the way, we’ve learned a lot about the quirks and habits of each. Read on for our ten favorite spider facts!

10 Facts About Spiders

  1. Most spiders can’t hurt you: Although all spiders have venom that they use to kill their prey, most spiders don’t have enough venom to do any considerable harm to a human.
  2. Spiders are all over: Research shows that you are likely no more than 10 feet away from the nearest spider at any point!
  3. There are thousands of kinds of spiders: Over 35,000 have been documented across the globe. Spider experts expect to uncover many more species as the search for new spiders continues.
  4. Spiders give presents: During the courtship process, the male spiders of some species will wrap a fly or other small insect in silk to give to a female as a gift. However, some spiders have been observed wrapping leaves or other junk to fake a gift!
  5. Spiders can dance: Another element of some spiders’ courtship routines is a flashy dance to catch a female’s attention. Their dances often involve frantic scuttling and arm-waving.
  6. Female spiders eat their mates sometimes: This can happen either before, during, or after copulation. Sometimes a female spider will kill a male for an unsatisfactory courtship attempt, and sometimes they will kill them after copulation to save their body for their offspring to eat.
  7. Spider silk does many things: We often think of spider silk as the material they make their webs from, but different spider species also use their silk to build nests, tunnels, paths for transportation, and even as floats to glide through the air on.
  8. Silk beats steel: We often think of spider webs as flimsy, but this is only because of the density of the webs that spiders spin. Spider silk is actually 5 times stronger than steel!
  9. It’s a liquid: What’s even more impressive about the strength of spider silk is that it only becomes solidified when it comes in contact with air. It starts as a liquid in their spinning gland.
  10. Spider muscles only retract: Spiders can only pull their legs back in, not extend them out with the same mechanism. To do so, they pump a special fluid through their legs. This fluid also enables them to jump great distances.

Spider Control Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast

While we hope that our spider facts have given you some reasons to change your mind about spiders, we understand that having a spider infestation can be stressful, no matter how harmless your spiders are. If you need help getting rid of spiders in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region, reach out to your local spider exterminators at Southern Pest Control. Contact us today for a free quote!