Spiders: how to watch for and prevent them at

your workplace

When and where spiders emerge

As a pest control provider in south-central Kansas, I am asked every summer if there are a lot of spiders this year. My answer usually goes,"Yes, there are many spiders this year, but there are always a lot of spiders in Kansas during the late summer/early fall." They first emerge from eggs or hibernation in early spring, when temperatures reach the 50's. Their presence builds in a crescendo like fashion through the warm months until it seems that they are almost everywhere by mid-summer. They web in the corners, drape off the eves and soffits outdoors and run the indoor floors. Then, with the first hard frost, they die, or disappear into hiding places where they lie dormant through the winter. A few months later the cycle begins again, in the spring, as it has done for eons.

When looking to control spider invasions, spiders can be classified according to lifestyle characteristics and those that spin webs and trap insects in their webs and those that are hunters and run their prey down. The webbing spiders cause a nuisance with their webs. These kinds of spiders are generally harmless except for Black Widows, which are rather uncommon. However, spiders' webs are annoying if you or clients walk into them and get a face full of sticky strands. It's rather disconcerting wondering where the spider that was on the web went. Webs are unsightly around the exterior of a business and detract from the aesthetics of your workplace. However, spider webs seem to be more common around lakes and other water areas.

Getting rid of spiders

Spraying spiders with an insecticide can usually control web-building spiders. Since they are exposed in their webs, they are easy victims to contact sprays. Some of the webbing brown spiders that build webs at night and hide during the day have to be searched for, but can usually be found behind a gutter, drainpipe or crack in the overhangs.

Hunting spiders, which usually travel the floors and ground, pose a different set of problems. Such species range from common grass spiders to wolf spiders. Although harmless, they strike fear in the hearts of many humans.

Due to their size and ferocious appearance, wolf spiders often evoke alarm after they enter homes. They pose the striking appearance of a threatening invader although they have accidentally just stumbled in and don't usually survive indoors.

Mike Patton is the managing partner of Patton Keehn Pest Patrol. He and his partner, Tom Keehn began their business in 2000. Over the last five years they have enjoyed a steady growth and Patton contributes that growth to experience, consistent service, knowledgeable employees and careful planning.This year Patton Keehn was award the Quality Pro designation in the pest control.

Patton has Bachelor of Arts in the business Communication and Marketing from Wichita State University and 22 years experience in pest control service and management.

Of all the hunter spiders, the brown recluse claim fame as the most notorious and threatening spider in Kansas. Due to the nature of their bites, which can produce ulcerous, flesh destroying sores, they are feared throughout this region. Having a natural range that runs from Texas through Oklahoma to Kansas and Missouri, these indigenous spiders not only live outside, they enter our homes and can flourish inside. They love to live in our homes, taking hold in garages, and then move into utility rooms, attics, basements, walls and closets, taking advantage of any available crack or crevice. If left unchecked, brown recluse can multiply and establish populations that number in the hundreds. Once they have established a presence, they are quite difficult to control. Elimination is extremely difficult without comprehensive and often expensive work by a pest control expert. The best way to deal with the brown recluse is to prevent these pests from setting up an infestation.

The first step to dealing with hunter spiders begins with trapping. By using sticky, glue board-type traps, one can survey a structure to assess the number of spiders and other invaders in a house. If brown spiders are discovered on the traps, an exhaustive search should be conducted to find nesting sites. These are usually in storage in garages, closets, basements and attics.

Contact insecticides may be used to kill the pests on sight. Usually, powdered insecticides offer the best chance of killing spiders with a residual effect. Harborages should be eliminated to reduce the carrying capacity of a home. Limit storage so that these spiders do not have a place to breed. Cardboard boxes should be removed or replaced with plastic tub storage containers that have lids. Spiders have a difficult time scaling the walls of these boxes. In addition, wood stacked against walls in basements and garages should be eliminated.

In Kansas it is important to keep your eyes open during the warm months. If you find a brown spider with no hair walking in your office, try to kill or capture it so that it can be identified. There has been some primary research conducted on brown recluse spiders at the University of Kansas and they have a web site at www.recluseproject.ku.edu containing a great deal of information on brown recluse spiders. This website can help you identify the creatures. If you have a large number of these pests at your business the best response may be to contact a highly trained pest control professional to assist you in dealing with them.