If you take walks in the woods, you’ve undoubtedly been hit in the face by a spider web at one time or another. It’s annoying, but spiders live in the woods so it’s hardly surprising. What may be more of a shock is to wander into a web inside your home! Unless you clean daily, you have likely found a quiet corner adorned with a spiderweb even if you’ve never seen a spider.
If you wondered why spiders make webs, how they do it, and how they choose their favorite location, sit back and read on. If your only concern is to get rid of those webs by ensuring no spiders are living with you, contact Northwest Pest Control. We are experts in removing spiders and ensuring they won’t return.
Spiders don’t make webs just to make you clean more or to give you that icky feeling when you step through one. Each spider species creates webs for a combination of reasons, with variations in web structure and function based on their specific needs and environment.
- Capturing Prey: The sticky silk threads of webs are perfect for ensnaring insects and other small creatures that become the next meal for a spider. This is the most common and well-known use of spider webs.
- Shelter: On the reverse side, some spiders create webs to protect them from predators that want to avoid the sticky web. Webs also shelter spiders from harsh environmental conditions.
- Reproduction: Webs are often used as mating sites and for protecting a spider’s egg sacs.
- Communication: Vibrations on the web can help spiders detect prey and potential mates. Webs can also play a role in signaling territory to other spiders.
- Mobility: Some spiders use their silk to create draglines, which act as safety lines, allowing them to move safely and avoid falls. That’s why we often see them swinging from the ceiling on tiny strands of silk.
Webs are an essential part of spiders’ lives, and creating them comes naturally. A spider uses its legs and specialized spinnerets to perfect their technique. Similar to web uses, the process for creating webs varies by species leading to a diverse range of web structures. However, they all start with silk that’s produced in specialized glands in a spider’s abdomen. The silk is a liquid protein that hardens when it comes into contact with air. Different types of silk are produced for different parts of the web.
The spider starts by creating a silk line and letting it float in the air until it attaches to a surface. This forms the first anchor point for the web. The spider then walks around and attaches silk threads to various points to create the outer framework of the web.
Next, the spider constructs radial lines from the center of the web to the outer frame that serve as the main structural support for the web. After the radial lines are in place, the spider spins a temporary spiral from the center outward, which helps to keep the radial lines evenly spaced.
The temporary spiral is then replaced with a sticky spiral coated in a glue-like substance that will trap prey. Once the sticky spiral is complete, the spider may reinforce certain areas or make adjustments to the web but the basic structure is now complete. Consider all that work that goes into a web that you effortlessly walk through or sweep away.
Where spiders choose to make their webs depends on the specific needs and behaviors of the species. Many choose locations that offer natural supports for anchoring webs. If catching prey is the goal, building a web among plants, shrubs and trees may offer a steady source of meals. When shelter is the more important, spiders may choose to make webs around caves, rock crevices, under stones, or indoors like garages, sheds, and your house.
There are spider species that choose to build webs by water sources that attract flying insects and species like funnel-web and sheet weaving spiders that create webs close to or on the ground. There are even spiders that create burrows in the ground and line the entrances with their sticky silk to capture prey.
As you can see, there are few places you won’t find spiders. They do provide a service in eating other insects and they, in turn, are prey for other creatures like birds. But as with any insect, whether they serve a purpose or not, you probably don’t want them invading your home. If those webs are taking over and spiders are regularly dropping down to say hello, give the experts at Northwest Pest Control a call. We’ll do a thorough inspection to find where the spiders live and how they got into your home and then we’ll get to work to remove them and close off their entryways.