Wolf Spider Or Brown Recluse Spider?

At Bug Commander Pest Control, we are experts in home pest control Frisco TX, and we know that no pests strike more fear into the hearts of our customers than spiders, especially when it’s time to reach into a dark, dusty corner of the garage, shed or attic.  Alarmists will have you believe that spiders, like the potentially-deadly brown recluse, hunt for human flesh to bite and that this goes on every day, everywhere.  For some people, the fear of these spiders turns every spider — even a harmless one — into a brown recluse.  Before you pick up the phone to call us every time you see a spider, you should know that there are other spiders in and around your North Texas home that are more common and less lethal than the brown recluse.  One of these, the wolf spider, is often mistaken for a brown recluse and while wolf spiders are similar to brown recluses, they are also different in many important ways:

Home Pest Control Frisco TX:  Anatomy

• Wolf spiders grow to about an inch in length, have shorter legs than web spinners and are more robust than many other spiders. They have hairy bodies and legs and are colored a combination of black, gray and brown. They have the standard number of arachnid eyes–eight.
• Brown recluse spiders are only about three-eighths of an inch long and have fine hairs on their yellow-tan-colored bodies. They also have a distinctive violin-shaped marking on their backs with the neck of the violin pointing toward the back.  Brown recluses have six pairs of eyes.

Pest Control CompanyFrisco TX:  Habits

• Wolf spiders generally hide from humans but can sometimes be seen scurrying across open spaces while pursuing their prey. They do not build webs and usually hunt their prey on the ground at night.
• Brown recluse spiders are web-builders but do not use their webs to catch prey.  Like the wolf spiders, they hunt their prey at night.  They are so reclusive, it’s often said that if you see a brown spider in a web, you haven’t seen a brown recluse.

Pest Control Frisco TX:  Deadliness

• Wolf spiders will bite humans if provoked, but their venom, though poisonous, is usually not lethal to humans.  Children and the elderly may have more adverse reactions to their venom.
• Brown recluse spiders rarely bite people, but when they do, their venom can cause significant skin damage that includes tissue loss and necrosis.  This is rare, and most bites resolve themselves with general first aid.  A pest expert will tell you that death from a brown recluse bite is unlikely, although a strong reaction to the venom that leads to necrosis can be disfiguring.

Although spiders can be scary, they can also be beneficial. Spiders, including wolf spiders and brown recluses, feed on roaches, flies, earwigs, mosquitoes and other insects you have in and around your home.  Seeing an unusually large number of spiders could mean that you have too many food sources for them in your home and that it’s time to get the help of an expert in home pest control Frisco TX.  Call us at Bug Commander Pest Control at (214) 307-1933 to have one of our technicians inspect your home for insect or spider infestations today.  You can also visit us online to find out more about our safe treatment solutions.