Spiders... Friends or Foe?

There are many things that come across the Penn Master Gardener’s desk, pest or insect identification is one of the more unpredictable. Some are easy to identify, some have lots of legs and eyes and wings and segmented body parts, and some are just plain scary. One of the more misunderstood varieties is the spider. Are they really all that bad? Depends on whom you ask. It is important that any understanding must come from research based information.

As scary as these eight-legged creatures are, they are beneficial to us, our homes, and our gardens. In and around the house, spiders consume large amounts of other pests long before the human residents see them. Spiders are not a sign of poor housekeeping.

Most spiders indigenous to Pennsylvania will enter the home. Found often in crawl spaces and basements, the common house spider, Achaearanea tepidariorum, is known to cause grief. It frequently abandons one web to build a new one nearby and produces many webs in a short period of time.

Even though spiders can be helpful, it is unsettling to see them around. Consider preventative measures before reaching for the can of insecticide. Sprays are rarely effective in controlling the population, and are harmful indoors. Except in the rare occasion of a black widow or brown recluse (contact a registered insect control company or us about these two), there are easy steps you can take to manage these eight-footers.

• Vacuum - Instead of spraying vacuum both the webs and the spiders. The dust inside the bag will suffocate the spiders.
• Get rid of the web - If you can tolerate the idea of sharing your home with these beneficial bugs, you can just vacuum the web and leave the spiders to do their pest control work.
• Reduce their food supply – This time of year, most often fruit flies are the spiders’ meal. Keep fruit in a closed paper bag.
• Transplant – If you come across a spider, give it a change of scenery. Capture the spider in a container and release it outside.

Often misunderstood and intimidating, the spider is a good neighbor to have around. With some low impact management practices, we can have them working for us. For more information on spiders, contact the Penn State Master Gardeners in Lackawanna County at (570) 963-6842 and request “Commonly Encountered Pennsylvania Spiders.” This publication is also available in PDF format, email us at LackawannaMG@psu.edu and we can send it electronically.


Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
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