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I am having the same terrifying experience with yellow sac spiders in my car as well. Everyone thought i was exagerrating until they were witness to killing about 12 in a matter of minutes one time last summer. And so it begins again this year. Webs are everywhere in the morning - inside and out, side mirrors, windows, across entire car..my car is wrapped up by webs.. i will do everything to avoid driving after dusk and when i do, I too, am constantly visually scanning everywhere while driving waiitng for them to come out- the dash, the windows, everywhere. I am at my wit's end. I have tried the Spider Away product as well. Havent been as successful as i hoped. I bought this specifically because it's used on boats and safe on many materials - plastic, wood, vinyl etc. I will keep trying though. I had some success last year (interior) with Eucalyptus leaves placed on dashboard and floor etc but nothing seems to work this year. I've been diligent with cleaning and removing webs both outside, inside etc. They clearly are making their home in the jabs of doors and nooks and crannies i cant get too. My problem now is they come out during day. GOt one in door jab today, one walking outside sideview mirror the other day, one in rear window. I am considering doing a bug bomb to help - put car in garage windows open and bomb it. In reference to earlier comment, i too read up on insecticides and spiders and read the same thing about how it doesnt work with spiders as they don't touch their bodies after walking on insecticide, so it doesnt get into their system - they don't "clean" themselves like other insects thereby preventing the insecticide/pesticide from entering body etc. Most household products will note on prodcut info how it is not effective on spiders except if you spray on contact! I am interested if anyone has had success with ridding them. Is this a losing battle? Will it happen if i get a new car? This car is 9 years old and i can see the door jab rubber sealants are loosening among other things giving them easy access.
spideycar - i'm so sorry! this problem just sucks! honestly, i don't know what else to suggest other than what's here in the posts. i don't know how far back you read, but i literally had a bodyshop take my car apart, clean out the nests, and kill the spiders.
also, i bombed the inside of my car with the clean air III spray that i asked bugguy about on the previous page... even though i didn't have a real problem with them in my car (only occasional webs by the vents and one night i blew them in from the air filter), i didn't want to GET them inide so i mainly did that as a precaution. what you should know, though, is that product did ripple my convertible top, so i don't really know how safe it is for fabrics.
once a car has this problem, i don't know if it can ever be fixed, honestly... but, in your case, i don't know if you got a new car, if the problem would start over. i think it might be dependent upon where you're parking and how you got the infestation in the first place. if you were to start parking in a new place, never drive in the old places, etc, you might be okay, but if you take your car back to the same old places, park it in the same places, you might run into the same problem.
bugguy might have more to say about this, some better ideas...
again, i feel for you! i know just how bad this feels, exactly how awful it is to walk out and see your car wrapped in one big white cocoon!
The Purge III would work although it does have a "fragrance"....it's designed to be used in "dispensers" that automatically shoot a burst into the air to control flying insects. It also has petroleum distillates....if you use it, I'd make sure that you don't direct it onto upholstery, headliner, dash, etc., although you could probably put some newspapers over some of those areas before using. Try to apply it into the air (hope that makes sense). You may need to use the entire container since those containers are small.
The pyrethrin and piperonyl butoxide don't have any "residual" action...in other words, once it's gone, it's gone! But again, the fragrance may linger.
(It's hard to be helpful here without getting, dare I say it, infractions. DM me if you'd like. I'm used to dealing with adults and it gets me in trouble.)
Good luck!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by barndog
bugguy! i was wondering if you were going to pop up! great advice!
hey, would a product like "clean air purge III" work for this poster? it says on the bottle, ingredients: pyrethrins 0.975 percent, inert ingredients 94.025 percent. it does say it's for flying insects.
(and i DO need to change exterminators, for reasons other than this one... unfortunately, my landlord dictates the company we use... boo!)
Didn't read this until after I replied to your other post....The Clean Air Purge III doesn't have any residual action, so it won't do anything so far as a preventative is concerned. You'd need another product for that. The Purge III or anything with Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide will simply kill the spiders and other bugs but then it will be gone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by barndog
also, i bombed the inside of my car with the clean air III spray that i asked bugguy about on the previous page... even though i didn't have a real problem with them in my car (only occasional webs by the vents and one night i blew them in from the air filter), i didn't want to GET them inide so i mainly did that as a precaution.
If they really are Yellow Sac spiders, you need to be very careful. Those spiders rank 3rd around here as the venomous spiders that you definitely want to avoid! Not something to "play around with".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stacialove
Hi Barndog. Just bought a used car on thursday and it's infested with yellow sac spiders.
Hey bugguy, thanks for the info!! I will not use the Drione or any dust. So far, just been using the SpiderAway by StarBrite. Not enough. I like your advice about something preventative. Not getting the product on surfaces will be tough too.
I was wondering if exterminators are hired to do a customer's car - does that really happy? Maybe I could contact a local one? But I like the idea of knowing exactly what is going into the vehicle since my partner has a respiratory condition and I can't take risks.
Re: aerosol products - are these bug bombs? I looked at a local hardware store and Home Depot and did not see what you are describing. Can you elaborate?
Can you give me a source to get a product as a retail customer and not a professional?
Barndog, Bugguy, geekguy - thanks for your well wishes and advice. I am glad I found this thread and see I'm not alone, though i believe we are incuded in a rare percentage of people who encounter this problem. Killed several spiders today (yes in the daylight hours now). Had a friend with me as we had a quick look around doors, the jambs, under the hood etc. He now sees I'm not exagerrating! I had really hoped they weren't the yellow sac spiders, but in the back of my mind i knew they were. At first i thought they were ones that simply looked similar, and disregarded it because i read how yellow sacs don't make typical webs, just the cocoon like silken webs under which they "rest/sleep". I had so many webs inside and out that looked like "normal" webs just strewn across, crisscrossed etc, along back window, roof rack, side mirrors etc, and along dashboard and windows inside. So I thought Whew it cant be the yellow sacs. But then i started noticing they were a "different" texture - thicker and more cottony/silky. And then i started to think the webs i saw earlier were just web of 'transport" - the boogers realeasing web simply as they walked all over the car. But then confirmation came when i saw a couple times this new texture and type of web when i would open the door and look to the sides inside. It became more apparent when i opened the drivers side door and saw one of these 'cocoons" in the door jamb weatherstripping, and of course what did i see under that web but one of these spiders! It became more apparent when i was able to see them more "clearly" during the day today - the color, the two longer front legs etc. Let me tell you, you can appreciate the size of them more in the daylight when they are all stretched out moving their legs rather than at night when they quickly "fall" or roll into a ball. UGH.. now I really do not want to drive at night! There was another cocoon under the acutally hood at the very front end. It was cleverly hidden - so much that after examining the hood and about to close it - thats when i suddenly notice it. I sprayed some more of the spider away around the doors, the weatherstripping - heck jsut about everywhere. I don;t think they like the scent (it has peppermint oil in it). when i sprayed it in the side mirrors a couple came out. There was yet another one which "looked" like it got squashed in one of the doors..but sure enough when we went to remove it - it was alive. I ordered a product online 'Revenge Farm And Home Fly Bomb" to try and kill the existing ones. It's an aerosol spray with the two chemicals bugguy recommended in earlier post. I figured if its safe for farms and animals it should be okay for inside my car. Ive also ordered that product cobweb eliminator - i figured for the interior dash etc - apparently it's suppose to "neutralizes and breaks down the spider web's attachment points and makes for easy removal. It leaves a residue that continues to damper a web's adhesive properties. It discourages reformation spider web reformation by acting as a deterrent in keeping webs from ever being constructed". I also have another product "spider repell" - natural repellant - lavender, neem etc. I'm trying to use one product at a time so i can see what actually works (optimism here) ..unfortunately i'm getting antsy and want to rid the problem and feel i soon will just be spraying everything!! and everywhere! The last product i have ( but havent tried yet ) is pure pennyroyal oil. Ive read you can dab some on cotton or cloth and place it in areas where you see spiders. I'm afraid I will be stuck with this problem. Even if i "repel" them from coming inside - it's not going to stop them from hanging out all over outside on the exterior and we know how easy they can balloon or fly in if simply just through open doors and windows etc. Did i mention i never open my windows now? Nor use my moonroof which I LOVED to use before. Sorry for the long post. thanks for comments, advice, support, and sympathies
spideycar -- wow! you are bringing back some bad memories! not your fault, though, it's those darn spiders!
yes, the webs are very distinct with the yellow sac spiders. once i knew what i was looking for, i started to see them not only in my car but also in the mailboxes on my road. at the time, i lived out in the country, so i don't know where they came from, maybe the fields?
the entomologist i spoke with actually told me she had never seen one of these, so i don't know if they are rare or native to the area... and, like i said earlier, i darn sure didn't google it b/c i had no desire to see what else might come up in a google search.
(reminder to posters: please, please, please, do not post pictures in this thread. not trying to be pushy, just want to help those who are experiencing the problem, and i can't come back here if there are pictures!)
i tried similar things as you. i DID have my car exterminated, and it didn't help (but bugguy actually sounds very knowledgeable in this area and like he COULD help if you happened to be in the chlt area)... I tried keeping lemon in my car (which they are supposed to hate)... I tried keeping sage? or some other herb (can't remember now) ~ it made my car smell fantastic but did nothing for the problem... I drove it at night, and killed the ones that ran out. I walked outside every night and shined the flashlight over the car and killed the ones that came out in response to the light.
Oh, haha! I almost forgot this. I almost killed myself b/c one night I took the car into the garage (where I started parking once I realized I had such a crazy problem), started the engine, went inside for a couple of minutes, and then went outside to kill spiders ~ AND I forgot to open the darn garage door! The spiders were woozy, and so was I by the time I realized my very dumb mistake!
In the end, the bodyshop probably did the best job for me. I'm not sure how far you read back (this thread has turned into a monster), but they literally took my car apart and found the nests where the spiders were living and reproducing.
If it makes you feel any better (which it probably won't, but at least you will know you're not the only one), my car was a convertible. I grieved for the loss of that thing like you wouldn't believe... and, to this day, I NEVER open my windows unless I'm sitting watching what may climb in.
In fact, I shudder when I see a convertible drive by or parked outside with the top down... mostly since one evening when I still driving the car, I stopped at a stoplight, and those bast**ds swarmed the outside of the windows! It was like being inside a terrarium. Horrors! Can you imagine if the top had been down???
when i first started this thread, i had never heard of anyone having such a problem. i had my mom do a search for me, and she found people with random problems of maybe one spider living in a car, etc, but nothing like the problems you, stacialove, and geekguy and i have had... so believe it or not, you all have helped me, too, just by sharing your stories and letting me know i am not the only person in the history of the world that this has happened to.
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