Wolf spiders are tough brown spiders with body sizes ranging from 1 to 30 millimeters. These spiders are land hunters that often hide in dark corners and hide in the shadows. While their bite is usually not fatal, they can still harm you by unexpectedly biting you in your home or garden. If you are looking to get rid of wolf spiders in your home or office, the tips below might be helpful.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: the external environment
Step 1. Get your garden in order
Clear piles of cut grass, leaves, firewood, mulch, and potting soil from your yard.
- Wolf spiders are attracted to dark places where they can hide from daylight. The more sunlight illuminates your garden, the less attractive it is to spiders.
- Remove as much trash as possible from the yard. Even items such as empty pots, rocks and grills can provide shelter for wolf spiders.
Step 2. Remove the plants around the perimeter of the house
Transplant shrubs and other soil plants away from home.
- Wolf spiders love to hide in dark places and undersized vegetation is one of their favorite habitats.
- If possible, remove all heavy soil plants from the yard. If this is not possible, then at least rearrange them from the inside to the outside of it. So, spiders will stay away from home.
Step 3. Seal cracks and holes in the outside of the wall
Make sure all cracks and crevices are repaired so that spiders cannot get in.
- To seal empty holes, cracks and crevices in the base or along the exterior wall, use a specially formulated sealant.
- Use door and window seals to reduce the risk of spiders getting inside.
- Torn protective screens on windows should be patched or completely replaced with new ones.
Step 4. Install insect screens
Attach the fine mesh tightly to all vents that lead out.
Pay particular attention to the ventilation holes in the foundation of your home. Of course, wolf spiders can enter your home through attic vents and chimneys, but remember that they are ground hunters and will most likely enter your home through vents and crevices along the foundation of the house
Step 5. Remove or replace outdoor lamps
Around the lamps turned on at night, many flies, moths and other insects accumulate, which, in turn, become a tidbit for wolf spiders.
- Leave the lamps off for as long as possible to limit the number of insects around the house.
- Close blinds and curtains to prevent lamps inside the house from illuminating the outside of the building.
- Instead of standard outdoor lamps, use sodium lamps. The softer yellow tint of such lamps is unlikely to lure insects.
- This is a very effective way to fight wolf spiders. They hunt at night, therefore, the less their nighttime dinner, the fewer spiders around.
Method 2 of 4: Internal Environment
Step 1. Vacuum regularly
Clean your home periodically using a broom or vacuum cleaner.
- This will get rid of the crumbs that attract wolf spiders. Since insects are food for wolf spiders, less insects means less food, so nothing will keep wolf spiders from staying in these places for long.
- Remove any cobwebs you see. A spider will not weave a web in the same place.
Step 2. Get rid of the cardboard boxes
Use sealed plastic containers instead.
- It is very important that you move boxes out of basements, attics, closets, and other dark rooms. Wolf spiders will have no trouble getting into cardboard boxes, especially if they are in the dark.
- It is much easier for spiders to slip into cardboard boxes than into sealed plastic containers.
Step 3. Fill the holes
Fill gaps around small cracks and cables that lead outward with a special sealant.
- Even if you have closed the gaps on the outside of the house, you should do the same with the inside. Sometimes holes that you may not have noticed from the outside are easily visible from the inside.
- Start at the bottom of your house and move on. It is very important to clear the basements of spiders, as it is very likely that wolf spiders roam in these rooms. Move on gradually and finally finish the work in the attic.
Step 4. End the clutter
Wolf spiders tend to dark places, so one of the best ways to protect yourself from a "pleasant" encounter with a wolf spider is to tidy up a pile of magazines, dirty things, books and boxes.
Method 3 of 4: chemical treatment
Step 1. Use a specially formulated anti-spider product
Since spiders are not insects, many insecticides do not have a strong effect on wolf spiders.
- Of course, it is best to use pesticides made specifically against wolf spiders, but most other chemical products are just as effective against spiders.
- Chemicals that kill spiders immediately only affect those in the house. For maximum effectiveness, the above methods should be combined with methods to prevent wolf spiders from entering.
- If you still have problems with wolf spiders, residual chemicals that provide a longer lasting effect may help you.
- Residual pesticides sprinkled on the ground work best on wolf spiders than other spider species. If many spiders move along the walls, wolf spiders hunt on the ground. As a result, the former bypass pesticides, while the latter do not.
Step 2. Use insecticides containing pyrotroids
Typically such agents are residual insecticides, which are sprayed and spread.
- Pyrethroids are a family of chemicals made from pyrethrum flowers. Insecticides containing pyrethroids are common and are usually the most effective against all spider species.
- Common peritroids used in household insecticides include bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, permethrin, and tetramethrin.
- In addition to pyrethroids, insecticides containing deltametry, cynormetry, lambda-cyhalothrin, or bifenthrin are generally effective against wolf spiders.
Step 3. Spread boric acid around the house
Sprinkle a small amount of boric acid in dark corners, cracks, under floorboards and furniture.
- Boric acid, also known as hydrogen borate, is a white powder used as insecticides, in industrial and other purposes. It is relatively non-toxic to adults, but may pose a threat to children and animals.
- This abrasive, which gets through the outer shell of the wolf spider into the inside and removes fluid from the body. It can also cause stomach poisoning. As the substance gets to its feet, the spider tries to cleanse itself of the chemical and swallows the poison.
Step 4. Spray pesticides around your home
The pesticides around the base of the house will serve as a barrier to prevent wolf spiders from intruding inside.
Do not scatter brushwood. If you still cannot avoid this, throw it away, as it is very dangerous to burn pesticide-treated wood
Method 4 of 4: Natural Solutions
Step 1. Place sticky traps around the house
Place them wherever wolf spiders you think might be hiding. When doing this, pay due attention to dark, hidden corners.
- These traps consist of thick cardboard covered with sticky glue. As soon as wolf spiders and other pests get on it, they immediately stick to the glue. Unable to budge, insects and wolf spiders will starve to death.
- Place sticky traps in the corners of basements and garages. Traps should be placed underneath and behind furniture and on either side of each door that leads to an exit.
- Set these traps out of the reach of small children and pets. Children and animals can get stuck in these traps, and it may take a lot of effort to get rid of them.
Step 2. Use organic pesticides
Plant-based pesticides with hexa-hydroxyl are generally effective against wolf spiders.
- These insecticides, in the form of grains or powder, can be sprinkled under furniture, in dark corners of the basement and other dimly lit areas.
- Hexa-hydroxyl poses no danger to animals or humans.
Step 3. Hunt for wolf spiders
If you are thinking of killing spiders one by one, then the best way is to hunt them down with a flashlight at night in the darkest corners of your house.
- You can also track spiders with a flashlight in plants, scraps of wood and dense bushes.
- At the back of the wolf spider's eyes are discs that have a reflective function, allowing them to see at night. These discs will also reflect light from your flashlight, thereby helping to track spiders in the dark.
Step 4. Catch the wolf spiders and place them in the container
When you find a spider, cover it with a container or cup; slide a heavy, hard piece of board under the bowl. Be extremely careful that the spider does not crawl out of the vessel.
- Release the spider as soon as possible. Make sure you release it far enough from your home so that it doesn't crawl back inside as soon as it comes loose.
- Wear gloves when catching and collecting wolf spiders, this will reduce the risk of being bitten. Although the venom of the wolf spider is usually not toxic to humans, the bite can still be very painful. Gloves can prevent you from allergic reactions caused by the poison.
Step 5. Kill the spider with a broom
When you see a wolf spider, hit it with a regular broom to kill it.
- You can also use shoes or any other solid object to kill the spider. Alternatively, you can use a vacuum cleaner to suck up the wolf spider.
- Since wolf spiders are quite large, an adult can usually be killed with a broom. However, small spiders can slip through the bristles of a broom and for them the broom is not the most effective weapon.
Step 6. Wash off the spiders
Use a high-pressure garden hose to scare the wolf spider.
- Although the water will not kill the wolf spider, it will be quite enough to scare it away so that it may not even decide to come back.
- In addition to this, pressurize eaves, window sills, deck, porch and decking.