Spiders & Bugs
Spiders are arachnids and have two body segments, eight legs, no antennae and a pair of chelicerae, or fangs.
- Spiders are actually beneficial since they eat insects and other arthropods
- All spiders have poison glands, but not all of their poisons react with our body chemistry in such a way that is detrimental to our health. A non-poisonous spider may bite people and reddening and swelling may occur.
- The majority of scorpions found in the United States are not very dangerous.
- Poisonous spiders that are located in this area are the black widow and brown recluse.
Black Widow Spider are black with red or orange markings on the underside of the abdomen. The marking is often in the shape of an hourglass. Females are about 1/2 an inch in length while males are about 1/4 an inch in length.
- The female usually consumes the male after mating.
- The female will create an egg sac that contains around 300-400 eggs. She is more likely to bite if she has recently created the egg sac, this uses a lot of her energy and she will be hungry.
- Venom is a neurotoxin, and will go into your nervous system. Usually, there is no reaction at the site of the bite.
- Fatalities from a black widow bite are rare, but small children and the elderly are at highest risk.
- When first bitten, the bite may not be noticed or feel as if you're being poked with a pin. This may be followed by a dull pain and cramps, often in the abdomen. As symptoms progress, one may experience sweating, weakness, nausea, difficulty in breathing, vomiting and tremors.
Brown Recluse Spider are tan with a dark brown, fiddle-shaped marking on their cephalothorax. They are fairly small spiders, only reaching 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch in length.
- Typically found outside in debris, wood piles or under bark, stones or logs.
- They can be located indoors, usually in storage areas such as closets or attics.
- Brown recluses are nocturnal.
- They feed upon insects that are soft-bodied such as cockroaches, silverfish or crickets.
- Bites to humans generally occur when a spider gets into shoes or clothing or crawls into bedding.
- Brown recluse venom causes necrosis, or tissue death, at the site of the bite. The effects are usually localized. The initial bite is usually painless, but a burning sensation develops at the site in about 30-60 minutes. The bite site will begin to redden and enlarge. A blister full of pus will form in the center of the bite. Generally within 12-24 hours after the bite occurred, the victim will experience fever, nausea and vomiting. The tissue around the bite is killed and secondary infection may develop.
Millipedes have two pairs of legs for each body segment. Millipedes are cylindrical in shape and often brown, black or yellowish in color.
- Generally harmless.
- Curl up when frightened.
- Most will excrete a liquid that has a bad odor if disturbed. Some species expel a liquid that can cause skin irritation in humans. It is thought that this liquid is possibly toxic to small mammals that feed on millipedes.
- Usually found outside where they eat decaying organic matter. They may also feed upon roots or leaves that are on the ground.
Isopods often called pillbugs, doodlebugs or roly-polys, have two tail-like appendages protruding from the tip of their abdomen. Their bodies are oval and flat on the bottom, but convex on the top. They have seven pairs of legs and can be brown, red or whitish in color.
- These occasional pests are actually crustaceans and are more closely related to lobster, crab and shrimp than insects!
- Consume decaying vegetable matter
- Prefer moist areas and can be found under objects on the ground, in leaf litter and may even bury themselves in soil.
- Most active at night.
Silverfish are wingless insect is about 1/2 in. long, named for the tiny silver scales on its body and considered a nuisance pest. They prefer to live in moist, dark areas. Silverfish are gray or silver in color with three tail-like appendages projecting from the tip of their abdomen, and have long antennae and flattened bodies.
- Silver fish and fire brats diets are high in protein, sugar, or starch, including cereals, moist wheat flour, starch in book bindings, and paper on which there is glue or paste
- Silverfish only go through a three stage life cycle, called gradual metamorphosis, while many insects have a four stage life cycle (complete metamorphosis).
- May lay eggs at any time during the year, and take 19-43 days to hatch.
- The life cycle from egg to adult is three to four months.
- They prefer humid areas 75 to 97% humidity, like bathrooms and moderate temperatures 70° to 80° F.
- Silver fish are active at night or are active in dark places found throughout a structure.
- Can be a problem year round.
Scorpions are not insects; they are arachnids along with spiders, ticks and mites. They have only two body segments-the cephalothorax and the abdomen. Scorpions have eight legs and a pair of pedipalps, or pincers. The last segment of the tail is bulb-like with a stinger and contains poison glands. Scorpions usually only sting when they are mishandled or become trapped against the skin by crawling into shoes or clothing.
- The majority of scorpions found in the United States are not very dangerous. The extremely venomous scorpions are found in Africa, India and South America.
- Female scorpions produce live young, which crawl onto her back until after the first molt.
- Scorpions can usually be located under the bark of trees, in leaf litter and woodpiles. They generally become active at night and can be located by using a blacklight, or UV bulb. When shining a blacklight on scorpions, they will fluoresce and glow in the light.
- To help keep scorpions from moving into your home, remove trash, seal cracks and crevices around doors and windows and store firewood away from your home.
