Back in August of 2019, a black and yellow garden spider made the news. The segment showed the spider capturing and feeding on a bat on a local resident’s front porch. As these spiders can grow large enough to capture large prey, even those larger than the spider’s themselves, finding one of these spiders on your porch or in your home can be alarming. As these spiders can be found wandering around Texas all year round, you may find them crawling around your home more often this winter season. A Five Star Termite & Pest Control will share more about the behavior of the black and yellow garden spider and what you can do to control them.
Black & Yellow Garden Spider Web Identification
The black and yellow garden spider is an orb weaver sub-species that prefers living in tall grass and dense vegetation. Black and yellow garden spiders will build their webs within the grass or vegetation. They anchor their web to the surrounding areas and some webs can get 24 inches in diameter. Black and yellow spider’s webs are known to be notoriously strong, being strong enough to capture bats, rodents and birds. Black and yellow garden spiders will build their nests in areas where they can find prey. If there is no prey to be found, black and yellow garden spiders will wander closer to homes and other buildings in search of food. As black and yellow garden spiders can be one inch in body length alone, they can be an intimidating spider to have on your porch.
Do Black & Yellow Garden Spiders Bite? Are They Aggressive?
Luckily, black and yellow garden spiders are not aggressive. Bites have only occurred when a female web was disturbed, and she has was defending her eggs. Females will lay their eggs in the fall and they will hatch in the spring. This, of course, leads to more bites occurring during the fall and winter. Black and Yellow Garden spiders are not venomous. Their bites are similar to that of a bee sting. As Black and Yellow Garden spiders can help reduce insects and other pests around the home, most homeowners don’t want Garden spiders spinning webs on their porch or inside their home.
How to Prevent Black & Yellow Garden Spiders
To reduce encounters with black and yellow garden spiders, you will want to control their prey. Spiders will infest areas with plenty of food. In controlling spiders, including garden spiders, you will want to maintain your property landscaping. A well-kept landscape helps to reduce spiders and other insects that they feed on. Unkempt lawn and garden beds are perfect living environments for the insects that black and yellow garden spiders feed on. Avoid having firewood or piles of debris near the home as it can draw more pests to your residence. By keeping the yard and outside of the home clean and kept, it can help reduce black and yellow garden spider encounters. To keep spiders and other pests out of the home make sure you keep the doors and windows sealed properly by maintaining the weatherstripping and screens. Every few months inspect the home for cracks or gaps that spiders and other insects can use to enter the home.
Spider Pest Inspections, Control, Removal & More in Canyon Lake, Spring Branch, Bulverde, Timberwood Park, Leon Valley, Alamo Heights, New Braunfels, Selma, Live Oak, Converse, Universal City, Cibolo, Seguin, New Berlin, St Hedwig, Adkins, La Vernia, Elmendorf, Losoya, Von Ormy, Macdona & San Antonio, Texas
For additional help controlling spiders and other pests this winter season, contact A Five Star Termite & Pest Control today!
