Spiders

Latin Name: Araneae

Months of Activity: January - December

There are more than 600 species of spiders found in Britain – all of which are fanged and venomous. Fortunately less than 0.5% are able to penetrate human skin and none of them are harmful to man.

However, they are unpleasant to look at and their webs can cause a mess.

Appearance

All spiders have eight legs and a body divided into two parts: a combined head and thorax and a large abdomen. Most spiders have eight eyes, arranged in two rows of four.

Lifecycle

Reproduction, is a process, which the male carries out with great care, as it usually ends in his death. The courtship ritual is elaborate, especially in the sighted spiders, and for good reason as it calms the predatory tendencies of the female and makes her more receptive. Once mating is over, the male often dies and, in the case of the house spider, is eaten by the female.

Spider eggs are roughly spherical, and about 1mm in diameter; they are laid in a compact mass and covered to a greater or lesser extent with silk, forming a sac. The eggs vary in colour from pale brown, pale yellow, pink, even bright green.

The number of eggs laid varies greatly and depends on the species, age, size and nourishment level of the female. Once the eggs have hatched, the larvae will then transform into nymphs and once capable of feeding, they leave the sac.

Pest Control

Generally the spider's web is more of a nuisance than the spider itself but this is not always the case and some spider infestations can prove extremely difficult to control. DIY products can deal with the immediate problem but treatment by a qualified pest control technician is often necessary to deal with spiders where there is a heavy infestation.

Latest News about Spiders

Market Report Reveals Growth
Apex Insight, a new research company based in London, has published research on the UK pest control industry. This quantifies the market size and historical patterns of growth, probes key trends behind the figures, profiles and explores the performan... [more]

What is Integrated Pest Management?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a program of prevention, monitoring, and control which offers the opportunity to eliminate or drastically reduce the use of pesticides, and to minimise the toxicity of and exposure to any products which are used. ... [more]

Spiders Check Weather
Spiders love to fly. Hundreds can touch down in an acre of land on a day when conditions are right. But before casting out a silk thread and swooping miles through the air, a spider checks the weather just as a human pilot might do during a pre-fligh... [more]

Choosing A Pest Control Company
Discovering a pest problem or infestation that is threatening your property, your health or even just your peace of mind can be a major annoyance. The last thing one needs in this situation is the added stress of finding a reputable pest control com... [more]

The Pest Control Future
I'm sometimes a little disappointed by the lack of technical progress that's been made in my lifetime. Sure, we now have computers, DVD players, wall-to-wall plasma-screen TVs, and mobile phones that can make calls, send and receive e-mail, take pict... [more]

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