OT: Pest control: is it necessary to get the yearly deal versus do it yourselve, how about do nothing ?

[KIBU]

There he is, the biggest spider I seen, in the big trash container and yet, he ran and hid so well that it took me half an hour and still failed to know where he went. The stick doesn’t work well in the trash container and so is the water hose. I am going to buy the chemical spray tomorrow and spray the whole trash container inside out.

[sdsurfer]

Hey Kibu,

Did you end up getting rid of the black widows? I’ve got an issue with Black Widows and a few ants these days and was going to start a topic, but stumbled across this one.

The ants are a nuisance and I’m not as concerned with them as the black widows because they like to hang out in the yard and so does my 1 year old son. I’ve been killing every one I see, but I think it’s time for them to move on. They can live somewhere else if they want to, but they need to leave my property.

Anyone with any insight please chime in. I would prefer to get rid of them without poison, but if it has to be poison at this point I’m cool with it because I feel like they are multiplying and I want to nip it in the butt.

Thanks!

[njtosd]

Is it possible that what people are seeing are brown widows instead of black? The Brown W. is much more common in SD than Black, and are more visible (and are theoretically less aggressive and/or venomous). Since there are so many of them, infestations are more of an issue . . .

http://www.countynewscenter.com/news/brown-widows-what-you-need-know

[CA renter]

We have tons of brown widows in our yard. So far, no bites. I’ve heard that they are more venomous, but less aggressive. Either way, they don’t seem to be the problem that black widows are. Still, it’s a bit creepy to have them all over the place. They are literally everywhere.

[sdsurfer]

Thanks for chiming in! I definitely know ours are black widows with the hourglass red mark on the bottom. We are going to do a bit of research and perhaps I’ll post the outcome to this string.

[njtosd]

[quote=sdsurfer]Thanks for chiming in! I definitely know ours are black widows with the hourglass red mark on the bottom. We are going to do a bit of research and perhaps I’ll post the outcome to this string.[/quote]

The brown widows also have orange-ish red hourglass markings. I read somewhere that they are almost impossible to distinguish by sight alone . . . Although I don’t want to get close enough to try :).

[CA renter]

[quote=njtosd][quote=sdsurfer]Thanks for chiming in! I definitely know ours are black widows with the hourglass red mark on the bottom. We are going to do a bit of research and perhaps I’ll post the outcome to this string.[/quote]

The brown widows also have orange-ish red hourglass markings. I read somewhere that they are almost impossible to distinguish by sight alone . . . Although I don’t want to get close enough to try :).[/quote]

In our experience, the shapes are similar, but the legs on the brown widows are striped, and browns tend to be a bit smaller. The bodies can be light or darker brown. They have the orange hourglass marking on the underside which can be brilliant, or a bit faded and difficult to see.

One way to know if you have brown widows is to look under your patio furniture for their eggs. They have a distinct spiky egg sac — it’s white, about half an inch in diameter, and looks like an underwater mine.

Like this (some good pics of the brown widow, too):

https://www.google.com/search?q=brown+widow+spider+egg&client=firefox-a&hs=toc&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ixeqU9PKL47yoATpi4GQDw&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=646

They might look menacing, but they haven’t given us any problems, and we sit on our patio furniture all the time, which is where they like to hang out. They tend to hide more, and the ones we have haven’t shown any aggressive tendencies.

[no_such_reality]

[quote=njtosd]Is it possible that what people are seeing are brown widows instead of black? The Brown W. is much more common in SD than Black, and are more visible (and are theoretically less aggressive and/or venomous). Since there are so many of them, infestations are more of an issue . . .

http://www.countynewscenter.com/news/brown-widows-what-you-need-know%5B/quote%5D

Not a chance. Black widows are pretty distinct. Brown widows have similar shape but a little more generic spider.

They’re after too things, water and food. I’ve learned to be very careful any time I open the compost bin.

I’d be surprised if the spiders are out in the grassy area you’re playing in. But as you child gets older and explores, yes, all the bushes, edges, are harboring spots.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74149.html

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