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Moved to Indy 7-wks ago. When I moved into my empty apt, there were a few small black spiders in the laundry room... found one/day for 3-4 days, just hanging out in corners near the floor.
Found 2-3 more in 5-wks time in varying corners near the floor.
6-wks later & I'm finding the same kind, just larger... a black spider the size of a dime, on the ceilings in different rooms, everyday. I also found a teeny one on my laptop.
Help! Where are they coming from? My windows & doors are closed all day/night. I'm on the 4th floor, which is the top floor. There are no trees directly in front of my balcony. I have no plants, indoors or outdoors.
Here's the issue... I could call the rental office to spray, although, I have asthma & get headaches from chemicals, so spraying is a last resort. I'd like to try to resolve the issue in other ways first.
Also, I'm a bit or an arachnophobe, but moreso, in the past 4-yrs I've been bitten by black widows (yes, plural) & brown recluse & have been very ill afterwards. Yeah, I hear it... spray & while writing this, I realize that I need to... so off to the office I'll go tomorrow am.
Still... where are they coming from & how can I prevent more from coming in? The weather's getting nicer, so I'd like to open my windows & balcony door soon... so, even if they spray, can't more enter through open doors/windows... do they live in nests? Go ahead, laugh...
Here's a pic of what I'm finding. I found it on an IN site, but there is no identification or info on which type of spider it is. And, I don't know a lot about critters, so, do these things live indoors... can they be coming through the a/c vents in the ceiling?
Do you have bed bugs. Many species of spiders eat them so that may be drawing them.
The spiders aren't getting into the building; they already live there. Chemicals won't kill all of the spiders. Anything that potent would kill you as well.
Daddy Long Legs spiders eat other spiders and no one is afraid of them. Bring some in if you can.
Do you have bed bugs. Many species of spiders eat them so that may be drawing them.
Nope. I have no bites of any kind, so I also doubt there are any kind of bugs in the carpeting, which is fairly new.
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The spiders aren't getting into the building; they already live there. Chemicals won't kill all of the spiders. Anything that potent would kill you as well.
That's the most awful news I could have heard. Where are they living? I've seen them in every single room, except closets. I'm on the top floor... are they entering through the a/c vents on the ceiling, since I'm now seeing them only on the ceilings? Why don't I see 50/day, but only 1 at a time? Should I look around for holes & fill them in? I've lived in homes with bees coming in... they all come from 1 hive. Are spiders like that, where there's a nest or something? Oh, this is gross.
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Almost all spiders are harmless; don't worry.
I understand, but, they are my least fave critter & I don't want to get bitten, even if they're not poisonous.
Why, Bliss? Are they coming through the windows? Or, is there a hole in the window frame/sills & they're living there? I have high ceilings & I'm tall. I have to stand on a step ladder & knock them off the ceiling with a broom.
It's nice weather now. I'd like to open windows soon... didn't really want to cover them up, if I don't have to, but, I'll do what I need to do.
BTW, I see you're in Indy. Do you have the same spiders in your home?
... why don't I see them during the day? I wake up every morning & one is on the ceiling. But, as they're getting bigger by the week, I'm afraid I won't be able to come out of my room soon!
Oh, I forgot... I used to have a ground floor bedroom in Atlanta, which had windows level with the yard & it was overrun with all kinds of bugs. My mum bought me some sort of machine, that emitted a signal & prevented bugs from coming inside. It did work, but only exactly where it was pointed. Might have been a Sharper Image product.
Is there anything similar today that might work & what would it be called?
Why, Bliss? Are they coming through the windows? Or, is there a hole in the window frame/sills & they're living there? I have high ceilings & I'm tall. I have to stand on a step ladder & knock them off the ceiling with a broom.
It's nice weather now. I'd like to open windows soon... didn't really want to cover them up, if I don't have to, but, I'll do what I need to do.
BTW, I see you're in Indy. Do you have the same spiders in your home?
I had them in my basement until I got proper weatherstripping on the back door.
If there are a lot of them and they're getting bigger by the week, they might have just hatched. (Spiders aren't like bees or other colony insects--they go off on their own.) That, and spiders eat other spiders. So it could be that the big spiders are eating the little spiders.
This article says that in Chicago, there's something called a "high-rise spider" that spin webs in the shape of a balloon, which gets caught by the wind and carried onto high-rises. The high-rises are sort of like its natural habitat (rocks overhanging water). The spider's range includes Indiana.
So, if you think that's what you have, close your windows. If the windows are old, or have any tiny gaps, you can get a window insulation kit from the hardware store. You put double-sticky tape around the window (inside), put up the plastic, then blow-dry it taught. They're not very expensive.
The spiders and other insects are living inside the walls and empty spaces between floors and ceilings and under the roof.
It's normal to only see one spider at a time and it indicates that you don't have as many spiders as you think you do. Spiders are territorial so you won't have many of them for very long even if they are from a newly hatched ball of eggs. Spiders come out to hunt at night into morning, that's why you see them at night. They hunt at night because that is when their prey is hunting too.
Take careful note of this now - if you have spiders in your dwelling it means there are other types of insects in your dwelling that the spiders are hunting and eating. Many of them are never evident during the daytime, they only come out at night after you turn off all your lights and go to bed. That's when the spiders come out to hunt the other insects too. If there wasn't any other insects there for spiders to eat then you wouldn't have spiders either.
So quit focusing on only spiders and start looking for the prey that the spiders are eating. Turn off all your lights earlier than usual one night, then wait a few hours after you've turned off the lights then walk around the home in the dark with a flashlight. Shine it everywhere, ceiling, floors, corners, under furniture, under cabinets, etc. Look for things suddenly scuttling quickly away from the flashlight beam. If you don't see any other insects perhaps you should ask the landlord to get an exterminator in there to do a search for all the other signs of the presence of other kinds of insects besides just spiders.
Those other insects are the more serious problem and can do a lot of damage to your property and the dwelling and you are actually lucky that the spiders are doing their job getting rid of other insect pests for you. If you get rid of all the other insects (which is nearly next to impossible without an exterminator doing the job) then the spiders will go away. If you don't get rid of the other insects you won't get rid of the spiders either.
There aren't necessarily insects in OP's apartment since spiders eat each other. The article linked to above says that Larinioides sclopetarius is known to be cannibalistic.
I've had spiders in both houses I've lived in a total of 22 years (the spiders in my current house went away with better weatherstripping). Neither house was full of insects.
Last edited by sheerbliss; 05-06-2018 at 09:10 PM..
I had them in my basement until I got proper weatherstripping on the back door.
I checked my doors & windows today & they appear to be okay, meaning I don't see any loose pieces or holes or feel the air coming through... but, I do know critters don't need much space to enter. The windows are so hard to open, I can barely do it... but, I'd like to have them open now that it's in the 70s everyday. But, HappyinWY did say they're not coming in, they're already inside. Funny thing is, tonight is the 1st time I got 2 in a day & both on the same spot... on the ceiling, above the living room window.
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If there are a lot of them and they're getting bigger by the week, they might have just hatched. (Spiders aren't like bees or other colony insects--they go off on their own.) That, and spiders eat other spiders. So it could be that the big spiders are eating the little spiders.
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This article says that in Chicago, there's something called a "high-rise spider" that spin webs in the shape of a balloon, which gets caught by the wind and carried onto high-rises. The high-rises are sort of like its natural habitat (rocks overhanging water). The spider's range includes Indiana.
Okay, I have swept away webs like that on the balcony AND inside way up 15' above, but I've never seen a critter on the web. Maybe I just have to do a clean sweep each morning, inside & out.
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So, if you think that's what you have, close your windows. If the windows are old, or have any tiny gaps, you can get a window insulation kit from the hardware store. You put double-sticky tape around the window (inside), put up the plastic, then blow-dry it taught. They're not very expensive.
My windows have never been open, as they're so hard to open/close, I can hardly do it. I was hoping the weather would get nice & I could just leave them opened, but if it's going to be arachnoid central in here, not a bloody chance. It's summer... I do know about that winter insulation/plastic, but it would be a hotbox in here. I have asthma & a very sunny apt... I can't be that boxed in.
I'll just hope they stay on the ceiling, but I will ask about it at the office tomorrow, to see what they think. The past 4-days, I've had 5... that's too much.
Thanks, again!
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Where are they living? I've seen them in every single room, except closets. I'm on the top floor... are they entering through the a/c vents on the ceiling, since I'm now seeing them only on the ceilings? Why don't I see 50/day, but only 1 at a time? Should I look around for holes & fill them in? I've lived in homes with bees coming in... they all come from 1 hive. Are spiders like that, where there's a nest or something? Oh, this is gross.
Forgot to ask...
