How to Kill Brown Widow Eggs

The brown widow, as cousin to the black widow, is a frightening pest to have skittering around your house. Its egg sacs, with soft barbs like deep-fried blow fish, are equally frightening -- though needlessly so. Although their venom is twice as potent as the black widow, their bites release a tiny amount of poison. Thankfully, brown widows are cowards and will retreat from a fight, rarely defending their webs from attack. Take advantage of their poor defenses and swat the egg sacs to the ground or suck them up with a vacuum.

Things You'll Need

• Vacuum
• Rolled-up newspaper
• Broom

Instructions

1. Swat the egg sac down with a rolled-up newspaper or broom. Crush the sac with your shoe to guarantee its demise. Clear away the remaining web.

2. Suck up the egg sac with a vacuum hose. Empty your vacuum a good distance from your house.

3. Jab the egg sac with the end of your broom to crush it. This may leave more mess than other methods.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're not in a killing mood, safely transport the egg sac to a place distant from your house. Simply unroll your newspaper, flick the egg sac loose and catch it before it falls.

• Brown widows may seem scary, but they are relatively harmless creatures. Do not kill them out of fear.

• Avoid removing the egg sac with a brown widow present. Wait until the spider leaves the egg sac unguarded.

• Pesticides are generally ineffective against egg sacs.

References

• University of Florida; Brown Widow Spiders; Fred Santana, Ph.D.
• University of California - Riverside: Center for Invasive Species Research; Richard S. Vetter
• Pest Control Canada: Spiders