TW: I do mention possibly exterminating spiders (not happily, though) Lots of tags for block-lists & reach; Please let me know if I should add or remove any.
Any spider experts/lovers out there able to give me advice regarding managing tons of spiders where they shouldn't be? I'll start w/ general info and put specifics under the read more.
The gist is there are too many spiders in the basement, specifically my bedroom and bathroom. For a variety of reasons, they can't stay. The only humane ways I can think of dealing with them are relocating or (unfortunately) exterminating them, both options with downsides.
Anyone have other ideas or opinions on the best way to handle this? Thanks in advance!
(Anyone making "kill it with fire" or similar jokes will have their comment removed & be blocked. People are allowed to dislike spiders, but they should still respect them.)
They're funnel weavers (family Agelenidae). They're possibly some sort of grass spider (genera Agelenopsis) and/or hobo spider (Eratigena agrestis), given where I live and what I can see about their appearance. However, I can't verify this.
I can only think of two options to deal with them and they both have so many problems
Relocating them to garage or yard
Requires picking up multiple spiders one at a time and walking a decent distance, part of which is going upstairs. Stressful for both of us and exhausting for me.
Would result in temperature increase of ~20 - 30º F / 11 - 16º C (Basement temp is usually under 80 F / 26.7 C; avg outdoor temp is above 90 F / 32.2 C)
Exterminating them (I'm sorry about the wording here, but other ways felt too demeaning, for lack of a better word)
Feels unethical b/c they're doing nothing wrong, at least not deliberately/with malice
Would probably have to do it one by one. (Can't (and prefer not to) use pesticides and I can't guarantee the vacuum will kill them quickly.)
There's many reasons why they need to go, but here are the main two.
The people I live with (whom I love and respect), including the homeowners, have been nice about it but I know it makes them uncomfortable.
I'm constantly worried about hurting them or ruining their webs, especially because so many have chosen the worst places to live (like right next to my bed).
Again, I'm looking for advice on how to handle this, whether it be new ideas or just saying what you think is the best option. Thank you in advance!
Oh my god guys spider posting ahead. Keep reading for spiders
Edit: added image descriptions, of spiders!
So the Jorō Spider has been around Georgia for a good few years now, and I think it’s spreading north too because it’s pretty tough against the cold- ANYWAYS about 3 years ago I saw one for the first time and since her arrival in my yard there has been a lovely amount of big beautiful yellow spiders spinning golden thread and catching brown marmorated stink bugs.
Last summer, we had many new juveniles around who grew up into some very big pretty ladies, many who made their webs close up where I could observe and start naming them! Enter ✨Lilith✨
Lilith was very Yellow compared to the others, even her legs were very yellow right after molting [left]. They darkened to a very dark greenish tone but her body stayed almost fluorescent [right]. She was so pretty, and so big, her legs weren’t as long as some of her sisters but she really stuck it out. Through many storms and webs breaking, when her sisters left for more secure locations, Lilith stayed behind and repaired her web. She knew this was exactly where she wanted to stay.
And she got PREGNANT!! She had at least two boyfriends at one point! She Lost A Leg in a molt and kept going! And one day we saw her climbing up to the top of the deck, laying down anchors on a pulley lookin thing we have up there (I think it’s to hang plants on?)… and I realized…
She was laying her eggs!!! 🥺🥺 she felt safe enough here even with me always taking pictures of her that she wanted to leave her babies with us… Her wrinkly body made me laugh a little cause it’s just like humans giving birth and getting stretch marks or cellulite hehe we are so similar to everything on this earth it’s so cute
Anyway! Lilith stayed guarding her eggs for about a week, and then she left. She went off to die as most spiders do, having secured her next generation’s birthplace and sewed a perfect cradle for them to wake up in. Winter passed, and ever since it started getting warm I’ve been keeping an eye on the egg sac. And today…
… Babies???
BABIES!!!!!!
Lilith’s babies survived and hatched, and found their cradle too <3 they’re each about the size of a flea, one of them spun a silk balloon and took off already while the others all huddle up together… aaaa I’m emotional, they’re like my godchildren…
It is not fair to spiders for me to hate them or to be completely petrified of them since they keep me from having to breathe insects 24/7, allegedly. I heard somewhere that learning about spiders helps with easing a phobia surrounding them so heres what I have learned so far. (correct me on anything i get wrong, i spend most of my time researching spiders looking like this guy)
1. Spiders have paws. Well, tarantulas do. I think most people know this, but if you didn't, tarantulas have paws, with retractable claws?? If I'm not mistaken? fact checks Yes they do.
2. Spiders use their blood to move their legs. Dont ask me how. Their legs freak me out the most I dont want to look that up right now.
3. Cobweb Spiders (the spiders that look like aunt fanny in robots) include black widows and a couple thousand false widows, I learned that recently when I saw one and went "is that a black widow?"
4. There are two types of spiders, web weaving spiders and hunting spiders. Hunting spiders have the ability to spin webs but will usually weave them in small burrows.
I'll admit my research is sparce, I still get wigged out pretty bad if I look at pictures of them for too long lmfao. If you have any spider facts you'd like to share feel free to do so!
I just went on a little journey. Would you like to come with?
While searching for the creator of this image (above), I learned the artist was someone named Mandy Howe.
As an artist, it's important for me to provide credit where it's due and link directly to other artists whenever possible. The link provided on the website seemed to be only to her old Facebook page- I wanted to see if she had an updated art or bug Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, whatever. I was excited - A fellow artist! A fellow enthusiast! Here's what I learned on my search.
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Mandy Howe was a self taught arachnologist, like so many people on here. She went by Lady Arachnophile online. She found spiders to be beautiful, misunderstood creatures and loved them her whole life, and that enthusiasm helped a lot of people get over their personal fear of spiders. She took up a more serious interest in araneology (the study of spiders) starting around 2004. Her dedication led to her being employed as an independent research scientist providing web-based scientific support in araneology. She was a contributing editor for BugGuide.net, spiders.us (now spiderid.com), among other places. Personally, as someone who is also "self taught", I love stories of other people following their passions, especially without formal degrees.
Then, the sad news. Mandy died in 2016. It seems like the news hit everyone she knew - and didn't know - hard. She was such a beloved member of the North American arachnology community. Her work and photographs have been included in several scientific papers and books. In 2019, a spider was named after her. Epiceraticelus is a genus of North American dwarf spiders containing two species: Epiceraticelus fluvialis and Epiceraticelus mandyae. Pic below is from BugGuide.net.
I wrote this post because I'm in awe of what she accomplished and I don't want her to be forgotten.
Thank you, Mandy Howe.
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TLDR; citizen scientists change the world and being dedicated to your field can earn you a treasured spot in both the memory of your peers and the taxonomic record.
Date taken: May 4, 2024
Location: Northwest Florida
Shot with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 using the DMW-LC55 macro lens and DMW-LA8 adapter tube, on Programmed Auto mode.
View the iNaturalist observation for this image here.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class: Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order: Araneae (Spiders)
Family: Salticidae (Jumping Spiders)
Genus: Lyssomanes (Translucent Green Jumping Spiders)
This little friend made my day 100x better. What a cutie little fluffbutt! “Oh! Hello, hooman. ...what...what iz u doing? Hooman...why u watch me? Hooman, u are weird!” #Science #SciComm #Biology #Utah #Nature #Mountains #Spider #Spiders #Arachnology #Araneology #Salticidae #JumpingSpiders https://www.instagram.com/p/CGMao2mgdiW/?igshid=cqul729ej69l
Found another Tigrosa georgicola in my bathtub today!! She was probably about three to four inches long counting the legs!! I released her outside after her photo shoot <3
