Thinking about spiders may be enough to make your skin crawl. Let alone, seeing and living with them. If you think you saw a yellow sac spider, read on to find out how to identify them and eliminate them.
How To Identify Yellow Sac Spiders
Identifying yellow sac spiders is relatively easy. These spiders are small, with a body size of around 1/4th of an inch. Yellow sac spiders range in color from a beige to a bright yellow that verges on lime green. Their legs are long, and they have brown tips.
Are Yellow Sac Spiders Dangerous?
Yellow sac spider bites are often mistaken for brown recluse bites because their venom has a similar result. However, these bites are far less dangerous, and the venom usually won’t do the type of damage that brown recluse venom does. These spiders tend to be quick to bite, but, likely, you won’t even notice the bite.
Where To Find Yellow Sac Spiders
Out in nature, yellow sac spiders like to hide under things, another reason they can be mistaken for brown recluse spiders. In the day, they spin sacs to hide in, but they go on the hunt at night. Since they don’t catch food in their webs, they find their food.
You may find them on walls and the ceiling when they get inside, but they may get into things when hiding. Their hiding spots may be in bedding or under clutter.
How To Get Rid of Yellow Sac Spiders Naturally
There are a few natural ways to get rid of spiders that you can try when you see yellow sac spiders in your house.
Use Scents To Repel
First, you can find scents that repel spiders. Some smells do well to keep them away. The scents of citrus, peppermint, and vinegar are all repulsive to spiders. If you have pets, make sure these aren’t harmful to them before making use of the scent.
You can make an essential oil spray with citrus or peppermint by adding around 20 drops to a spray bottle. Then spray this mixture in places you often see the spiders and places they may get in.
To use vinegar, mix half vinegar/half water and add it to a spray bottle. Apply it to the same sites you did the essential oils.
Declutter
You can also clean up the clutter that yellow sac spiders may hide in. Doing this will make your home more unappealing to the spiders due to the way they hide.
Vacuum up their webs and any eggs you find to slow the population growth in your home.
Control the Insect Population
Take measures to get rid of insects that attract spiders. Fewer spiders will want to take up residence in your home without food. You can do this by watching your fruit bowl, taking out your trash often, cleaning up any food messes, and keeping animal food in sealed containers, so insects don’t see it as a food option.
How To Prevent Yellow Sac Spiders in the Future
Now that you know how to get rid of spiders, how do you stop them from getting in, in the first place?
You can take similar measures with the scents they hate and clean up clutter close to your house that provides a good hiding place.
The best thing to do is to seal up your home. Spiders get in because of gaps and openings in your home, but you can close those up. Replace any window screens with large holes and ensure exterior doors don’t let in a draft. If a breeze can get in, so can spiders.
The Bottom Line
There are many ways to naturally get rid of yellow sac spiders in your home. If you pair these with preventative measures, you should stop seeing so many. Of course, they can still get in, but the number of spiders should shrink significantly. You may also notice spider eggs in your houseplant soil.
You can contact a pest control company for their expert opinion if all else fails.