For many people, spiders invoke a feeling of fear and, for some, fascination. Whether you love or hate them, these arachnids are a part of life in Tucson. Most Arizona spiders are harmless to people and are primarily a nuisance when they invade homes.
Almost all have fangs and inject venom. This venom works to subdue prey, like insects, and as a defense mechanism against predators. Most spiders in our area do not have fangs strong enough to break human skin or venom toxic enough to harm people.
But Tucson is home to two of the most dangerous spiders in the U.S., the black widow and the brown recluse. Both of these spiders have fangs that can penetrate skin and venom that is toxic to people. These two spiders will be the focus of this article.
The purpose of this guide is to explain everything you need to know about venomous spider pest control in Tucson. Learning how to identify these spiders and understanding more about them can help protect your family and pets from potentially dangerous bites.
We’ll start by detailing the distinctive features of each of these spiders. Identifying them at a glance can make all the difference in avoiding a bite. We’ll also explain some general signs that indicate these spiders are around your property to help you avoid contact with them.
Next, we’ll review what happens when someone gets a bite from one of these spiders. Each has a medically concerning venom, but the symptoms vary depending on the species. Learning the symptoms to watch for can help you to seek medical attention sooner and avoid a more severe outcome.
Professional venomous spider control is the safest and most effective option if one of these arachnids is on your property. We recommend you never approach or try to remove them alone. These spiders will defend themselves if they sense a threat, putting you in a potentially dangerous situation.
Prevention is the key to protecting your family from venomous arachnids, so we’ll explain how to spider-proof your home to prevent these pests from returning. These simple steps can also help keep many other pests out of your house.
If you prefer to skip to the part where we come and remove these spiders for you, contact us at Green Home Pest Control. We offer same-day and emergency pest services to ensure you don’t need to live with dangerous pests. Otherwise, please continue reading to learn more about recognizing and staying safe from dangerous Tucson spiders.
Distinctive Features: How to Identify Venomous Spiders At A Glance
Quickly being able to identify venomous spiders can help you safeguard your family and pets from dangerous bites. For spiders with such bad reputations, you might expect to see giant, menacing creatures like the ones Hollywood portrays, but that is far from the truth.
We’ll start by describing the black widow spider. With this particular spider, the males and females differ in appearance, and the females are much more dangerous. You may have already heard the female sometimes eats her partner after mating, hence the “widow” part of their name.
Female black widows’ glossy black bodies are 1 1/2 to 1 3/8 inches long. They have a distinct red hourglass shape on their abdomens that helps to identify them quickly. These spiders often hang upside down in their webs, allowing a clear view of the red markings.
Male black widows are less likely to bite and less likely to be seen by people. They are about half the size of the females, medium brown, and typically have one or two reddish markings on the abdomen. Male and female black widow spiderlings (immature spiders) are primarily orange and white, acquiring more black as they age, and they have similar markings to the males.
While you may not see a live spider, you might notice their webs around your home instead. Black widow webs are messy, uneven, and irregular in shape, and they have strong silk, unlike the more delicate webs of common house spiders. Widows build webs that are less than one foot in diameter near ground level.
Black widows use their webs to catch prey, such as ants, beetles, cockroaches, and scorpions. Outside, black widows build their webs in dark, dry locations, often in man-made structures such as meter boxes, henhouses, sheds, barns, and woodpiles.
When these spiders are in your house, their webs will most often be in storage areas with little human activity. Attics, basements, crawl spaces, and garages are typical areas we find these spiders. They prefer dimly lit locations with a lot of clutter to hide in.
Next, we’ll take a look at the brown recluse spider. With these spiders, the males and females look very similar. The spiderlings of this species look a lot like the adults, except they are smaller and paler in color.
Brown recluses, as their name suggests, are both brown and reclusive. These spiders range from 1/4 to 1/2 an inch long and are light to dark brown. Brown recluses have a characteristic dark brown violin marking on their backs that helps identify them.
The female brown recluse spins webs, not to catch prey but as a retreat. Webs are flat, almost sheet-like, and consist of disorderly silk strands. Females rarely travel away from the area where their web is, but males and older immatures will travel to hunt.
Outside, we usually find brown recluse spiders around rocks, utility boxes, woodpiles, under bark, and occasionally in cedar shake roofs. Indoors, they choose undisturbed areas, similar to the black widow, in garages, basements, closets, and attics. These spiders will also frequently crawl inside storage boxes, hide in seldom-used clothing and shoes, under furniture, and inside the crevices in baseboards or window moldings.
Both of these dangerous spiders pose a significant danger to people, and you should avoid attempting to handle or remove them. Contact us today at Green Home Pest Control for assistance with .
Venomous Spider Bites: Symptoms And Emergency Measures
Neither the black widow nor the brown recluse are considered aggressive spiders. But both will bite to defend themselves if they sense a threat. Black widows are especially defensive after they lay their eggs.
Most bites occur when a homeowner attempts to get rid of brown recluse spiders or black widows on their own or through an accidental encounter. Consider wearing heavy gloves and shoes when working in storage areas or outdoors where these spiders hide. We suggest shaking out rarely used clothing, shoes, and gardening gloves to avoid trapping a spider and getting a bite.
Different types of spiders have different types of venom, and this is the case with the black widow and brown recluse. Black widows inject neurotoxic venom, which affects a person’s nervous system, and brown recluses inject necrotic venom that causes blisters, ulcers, and ultimately tissue death-necrosis.
A bite from a black widow is rarely fatal as long as you seek prompt medical attention. The following list details the potential progression of symptoms:
- Pain that is almost immediate and increases over the next one to three hours
- Pain and swelling spreading to the abdomen, back, or chest
- Abdominal rigidity and cramping that may be mistaken for a heart attack or ruptured appendix
- Symptoms of fever, sweating, an increase in blood pressure, and nausea that occurs alone or in combination
- Pain that continues for one to three days then gradually subsides
Brown recluse bites are not known to be fatal, but they can cause serious complications. The following list describes the possible symptoms of a brown recluse bite:
- Pain that increases over the next eight hours after the bite
- Symptoms of fever, chills, restlessness, trouble sleeping, and body aches
- The bite wound has a pale center that turns purple or dark blue with a red ring around it
- Dead tissue begins to slough off after about two weeks leaving behind an ulcerating sore
- The wound can develop dense scar tissue, which might require plastic surgery
The symptoms of a spider bite depend on how much venom they inject and how sensitive the person is to that venom. Children, older adults, and people with compromised immune systems are most susceptible to severe symptoms. The safest thing to do after a spider bite is to seek medical attention immediately.
The best way to avoid a bite is to work with a local pest control company to get rid of spiders at the first sign of infestation. Green Home Pest Control is here to help you and protect your family and pets. Contact us today with any questions or to schedule an appointment.
Professional Venomous Spider Removal: Safe And Effective Eradication
Because of the potential severity of a bite from a black widow or brown recluse, we strongly recommend never attempting to handle or remove these spiders. Professional removal is the safest and most effective way to in the house or yard. The expert technicians at Green Home Pest Control are here to help safeguard your family from the dangers of these pests.
Whether you see common house spiders everywhere or more dangerous venomous ones, our pros know how to quickly and safely eliminate these pests. We know how to find favorite hiding spots for these spiders and eradicate them at every stage in their life cycle, from egg to adult.
Green Home Pest Control offers ongoing spider control services to ensure your home stays safe from dangerous spiders year round. Call us now, or reach out online to request your free estimate and get back to having a safe, pest-free home and property.
Spider-Proofing: Tips For Preventing Dangerous Spiders In The Home
After we eliminate your spider infestation, we must take steps to prevent them from returning. Spiders typically enter homes while searching for food, water, or shelter. If your home continues to provide any of those needs, your spider problem will quickly return.
Careful attention to certain factors and conditions on your property can help you stop attracting spiders. Here are some practical tips you can start using today to prevent spiders in your home:
- Seal any cracks, crevices, or gaps to keep spiders out of the house.
- Check around utility pipes and seal any potential entryways.
- Reducing clutter will help keep spiders out of the garage, basement, and attic.
- Store firewood at least 20 feet away from the house and on a raised structure.
- Eliminate piles of debris, stones, and yard waste to help deter spiders.
One of the best ways to keep spiders away is to work with a professional control company to eliminate any other pest infestations on your property. Wherever you find spiders, you are going to find their prey. Promptly dealing with an insect infestation can help to ensure spiders won’t become a problem again.
The best way to get rid of spiders in the house and the insects they are searching for is to team up with the pros at Green Home Pest Control. We are a family owned and operated, eco-minded company that works to protect your home and family from pests while using safe products that won’t harm your children and pets.
Because we are a local company, we can offer same-day and emergency pest control services to get rid of dangerous spiders quickly and efficiently. We understand having an infestation of venomous spiders or other pests is stressful, and we work hard to keep this process as stress-free as we can. We pride ourselves on providing exemplary customer service and being able to work around our customer’s schedules.
Our prompt and professional technicians are here to help address any pest problems you might have and prevent them from returning. Contact us today at Green Home Pest Control to schedule your free estimate or to learn more about how our ongoing can protect your home and family year-round.
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