How To Tell If The Spider In Your San Diego County Home Is Dangerous

Which Spiders Are Dangerous?

San Diego County is home to black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and recluse spiders. You may notice that we didn't say brown recluse spiders. The recluse spiders we see in our area are actually not brown recluse spiders. They're desert recluse spiders. But, there isn't really all that much of a difference between them when it comes to the threat they can represent.

Identification

When you see a dangerous spider in your home, you may not realize it because spiderlings can look nothing like their adult counterparts. It is difficult to go through all of the visual characteristics. The best way to properly distinguish them is to do a search for the term "spiderling" when you look for black widow, brown widow, and recluse spiders.

Once these spiders become adults, things become a little easier—but not much. These spiders vary by species and also by whether they are male or female.

Black and brown widows have a marking on their bulbous abdomens that help with identification. This marking may be in the shape of an hourglass or it might look like a line or a dot. If you see bright red, orange, or yellow on a spider's abdomen, it is best to steer clear of it. Another characteristic to look for is the shiny black coloration of a black widow. This is somewhat distinct among spiders, but keep in mind that you could be tricked by a false black widow which has some similar characteristics. Sorry. It isn't nearly as straightforward as we'd like it to be.

Recluse spiders have a pill-shaped abdomen, not a bulbous abdomen like the black or brown widow. On its back, you'll find a fiddle (violin) shaped marking, just below the head. This marking is a dark brown color and somewhat distinct. A recluse spider is the only hairless-looking brown spider you'll see in your home. Spiderlings look similar to adults. At full size, an adult recluse spider will be about the size of a quarter.

Dangerous Spiders Are Rarely Dangerous

What you should know most about dangerous spiders is that they rarely are. The reputation of these spiders far exceeds the threat they present. At HomeShield, our technicians deal closely with these spiders all the time and do not get bitten. They are not aggressive. Bites usually occur when a spider is trapped or feels threatened. If you see one of these dangerous spiders in your home, the greatest threat is that one might get into your bed while you're away.

The best recommendation we can make is to turn your covers down before getting into bed at night. You may also consider removing skirts from your beds and moving beds away from your walls if you've seen one of these spiders in your home. This will reduce the risk as you wait on a technician to perform a treatment—and you should definitely have a trained pest control technician perform a treatment. While these spiders don't prefer to bite you, accidents do happen.