You don’t have to suffer from arachnophobia to not want spiders in your Dallas, Texas, home. Many common spiders in the Dallas area are nuisances and not necessarily dangerous. However, you should know how to identify dangerous spiders.
Common Dallas Spiders
All spiders possess venom and fangs, but only two North American species are medically dangerous to humans, brown recluse and black widow spiders. Both of these species can be found in the Dallas area. Another common spider species in the Dallas area are wolf spiders.
- Brown recluse spiders are a light brown color with a dark violin-like marking on their back. As the name suggests, this spider is “shy” in nature. It does not usually attack unless provoked or threatened.
- Black widow spiders have a shiny black body with an orange or red hourglass marking on their abdomen. Like the brown recluse species, black widows usually only attack when disturbed, and only the bites from female black widows are dangerous to humans.
- Wolf spiders are usually brown, grey, black, and tan with dark markings such as stripes and are often confused for tarantulas. Wolf spiders don’t spin webs but create burrows. Without a web to catch prey, wolf spiders are known to hunt their prey violently.
Encountering Dangerous Spiders
Although you can’t control when you might come across dangerous spiders, you can reduce this risk if you know where they tend to live and what to look for.
Black Widows:
- Messy webs. Webs are often located in dark, secluded areas such as garages, basements, closets, and wood and leaf piles.
- Outdoor furniture, lawn care items, and children’s outdoor toys provide secluded places for black widows to spin their webs.
Brown Recluse Spiders:
- Like black widows, brown recluse spiders spin messy, irregular webs, as opposed to other spiders that spin symmetrical, wheel-shaped webs.
- Webs are usually found in dark and dry places that are undisturbed. Inside locations include basements, attics, crawl spaces, closets, and storage boxes. Outdoor areas are under rocks and logs, sheds, and undisturbed furniture and playsets.
- Brown recluse spiders are one of the most commonly misidentified types of spiders. Although this species has a dark violin shape on its body, it can be difficult for the average person to identify the species by this characteristic. Instead, it is best to look for stripes or bands of different colors on the legs. Brown recluse spiders will not have these markings on their legs but will be a consistent light color. Its legs will also have fine hairs, not spines.
Another way to identify brown recluse spiders is by their webs. If you find a web out in the open, for example, between two trees, you can eliminate brown recluse spiders as the web’s probable creator.
Dealing With Spider Bites
If you believe you have been bitten by a black widow or brown recluse spider, you should seek medical attention. Symptoms from a poisonous spider bite may include profuse sweating, nausea, hypertension, muscle aches, back and stomach pain, and trouble breathing. People who are most vulnerable if bitten by a poisonous spider are elderly people and children.
Contact Professionals
If you are dealing with spiders on your property or inside your Dallas, Texas, home and need advice or professional services, contact Cantu Pest & Termite. The trained professionals at Cantu Pest & Termite can help keep your home safe and free from pests with the Cantu Pest Protection Plan. This plan provides year-round home pest control protection for your Dallas home. Contact Cantu Pest & Termite for a free quote today!