How to Get Rid of Hobo Spider on your Property

People often encounter them invading and setting up nests in rarely visited parts of human homes once thought to be aggressive house spiders with dangerous venom.

These actually mild-mannered spiders can be beneficial to have as long as they stay outside. Once they invade indoors, they’re not only a nuisance but they can also bite people when threatened.

 

How do you Identify Hobo Spider Infestation?

In any pest control strategy, identifying what exactly you’re dealing with is important and should be the first thing you should do.

careless identification can lead to wrong treatment methods which will cost you time and money. Hobo spiders are among the smaller variety of spiders, but they’re not tiny, the males grow up to 11 millimeters in body length and the females grow up to 14 millimeters.

Their body colors feature several shades of brown with stripes down the cephalothorax turning into a zigzag or herringbone pattern down the abdomen.

 

Picture of Hobo Spider

 

Read also: How to Get Rid of Snails in Aquarium

 

Hobo Spider vs Wolf Spider Identification and Difference

Hobo spiders are often mistaken for other spiders, like wolf spiders, while these pests may seem similar. It’s important to distinguish between the two as they each require different approaches to control.

Wolf spiders have similar body markings to hobo spiders. They both feature several shades of brown with stripes along the cephalothorax.

However, the wolf spider’s stripes usually continue down along the abdomen whereas the hobo spider stripes stop.

Additionally, wolf spiders will grow much larger than any hobo spider going up to 35 millimeters in body length, aside from appearance both spiders also behave much differently and have different preferred habitats.

Hobo spiders will spin funnels webs and wait for prey to approach and get traps. These nests are usually found in either ground built into debris, wood, or overgrown vegetation.

Wolf spiders dig burrows into the ground, to rest or hide, they’ll actively hunt down prey either by ambush or by chasing it down, but both spiders won’t usually spin webs.

Using these differences in appearance and behavior, you’ll be able to identify when a hobo spider or wolf spider is infesting your property and prepare to conduct a full inspection.

 

Read also: Midges Bites | How to Identify and Get Rid of Midges

 

How do you Inspect for Hobo Spider Infestation?

Inspection is the next step of any good pest control strategy. Once, you know what your pests look like, you’re to check around your property to confirm their presence.

Also, find hotspots of their activity. Check indoors for hobo spiders, prioritize looking parts of the house with poorer or little ventilation.

This includes the basement the garage, the attic, or any crawl spaces. Hobo spiders will stay closer to the floor.

Keep an eye out for any spiders, their funnel-shaped webs, and any entry points into the structure there may be, and take note of what you found.

 

Read also: Are Wolf Spiders Dangerous? A Detailed Insight into Wolf Spiders

 

How to Get Rid of Hobo Spider

After identifying, your pests and inspecting for activity on your property. It’s time to start the elimination process, but before getting rid of the hobo spider with any preferable method you choose.

Ensure to wear your personal protective equipment or PPE and remember to keep all people and pets off the treated areas until dry.

If you’re dealing with hobo spiders inside your home, you’ll need to address the areas of spotted activity by cleaning then get rid of them by applying a residual insecticide, using a trap or naturally.

 

How to Get Rid of Hobo Spider with Chemicals

We recommend you use an insecticide like:

Reclaim IT: Reclaim IT is a bifenthrin-based insecticide that is labeled to control over 70 different pests.

Start treatment by cleaning and getting rid of clutter in rooms that are prone to pest Invasion. Hobo spiders need more clutter and debris on the floor to provide foundations for their nests and hiding places.

By tidying up, you will reduce the number of available harborages that hobo spiders can take advantage of.

You’ll need to address any entry points you may have found and applied exclusion methods to ensure no more pests can invade cracks and crevices.

By filling them with caulk while larger voids may need to be stuffed with copper mesh. You may also need to repair any broken screens, fixed brushes, or rubber seals on two doors and windows.

After you’ve cleaned and applied exclusionary control. You’ll need to treat indoors with Reclaim IT. Reclaim IT is labeled to kill spiders, the main goal of this application is to eliminate and prevent spiders on your property.

These pests serve as the spiders food source. So with them gone, hobo spiders will have one less reason to invade your home.

 

How to Apply Reclaim IT Insecticide

To make an indoor application with Reclaim IT:

• You’ll mix a solution at the labeled rate of 0.33 fluid ounces to one whole fluid ounce of product per one gallon of water.
• Use the higher amount. If you’re dealing with a heavy pest infestation, we recommend you make the application with a 1-gallon hand.
• Pump sprayer since it makes both mixing and applying product quick and simple to mix your solution.
• Fill your sprayer halfway with water.
• Add your measured amount of products into the sprayer then add the remaining water up to the 1 gallon line.
• Close the sprayer and shake to ensure even distribution.
• Pump the sprayer of few times to produce a low-pressure spray, with a low-pressure treat where pests may be hiding.
• Pay close attention to cracks and crevices. This includes baseboards closets around water pipes around doors and windows, behind and underneath appliances.

When applied properly Reclaim IT will leave behind a powerful residual that will continue to control the old pests for up to 90 days.

Many spiders, like the hobo spider, may not be affected by the application, simply because the residual effects of pesticides do not affect spiders the same way it affects other pests.

Spiders must be sprayed directly in order to be affected by the pesticide solution after chemical treatment.

 

How to Get Rid of Hobo Spider with Traps

We suggest you set up glue traps to monitor for any further activity. We recommend you use Proglue boards for easy setup and placements.

Simply remove the trap’s waxy paper seal and lay the trap flat, flush against the wall where you’ve seen pest activity.

And keep traps out of the reach of any children or pets, if a child or a pet gets stuck on these glue boards, you can use cooking oil to loosen the trap stickiness.

 

How to Get Rid of Hobo Spiders Naturally

They are natural steps taken to keep these spiders completely out from your property.

• By sealing or caulking all cracks and crevices around the closest, doors, doors eaves, and windows in your home, you will leave the hobo spider with fewer chances of survival.
• Eliminating all debris and moisture areas from around your property.
• Clearing your yard and remove all leftover construction materials or gardening equipment.
• Check and cut grass and vegetation low to the ground-level
• Remove all clutter in your home,
• Clean indoors regularly.

 

How do you Prevent Hobo Spiders from Returning to your Property?

Prevention is essential to keeping pests in check. Even after you’ve applied pesticides, the best way to stop pest activity is to ensure it can’t return to your property.

To prevent hobo spiders from returning to your property, you’ll first need to address any moisture issues you may be having inside your home or on your property.

By doing the following below:

• Fixing leaky pipes.
• Address any air conditioning problems.
• Drain any standing water.
• Dry your sinks every night.
• All animals need water to survive and pests are attracted to moisture rooms, so by reducing your home’s moisture content pests will have less reason to infest your property.

After reducing your reducing moisture content on your property, continue to pick up and clean inside and outside of your home, rake the lawn regularly, pick up any debris and keep firewood properly tacked away from your home’s foundation.

This will remove additional harborage has that spiders or other pests can use outside your home forcing them to seek shelter off your property.

Finally, keep up with times applications of Reclaim IT which has a 90-day residual effect. So we recommend you spray quarterly to keep pests away year long.

Additionally, you can reinforce your spray application by making a perimeter treatment around your home as well with the same mix rate.

Just spray along your home’s outer perimeter, spraying 3 feet up the structure and 3 feet out. This barrier will ensure that labeled pests will be unable to even approach your home. Let alone invade it in the first place.

 

Conclusion

Hobo spiders may be mild-mannered, but the leave webs in your home and deliver a nasty bite. Even if you accidentally disturb them.

Following these DIY guides on how to get rid of hobo spiders on your property, you’ll be able to control infestations big or small, also preventing this spider from infesting your home or property.

Do well to share, what are your experience with the hobo spiders infestation? Let us know down the comment.

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