How to Kill Brown Recluses in Your Home

Try to locate the spiders around your home.

Found predominantly throughout the southeastern United States, the brown recluse is an unwelcome pest in homes. As a female brown recluse has the capacity to make more than a 150 young a year, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, it's important to get rid of brown recluses before they cause a major infestation. Generally preferring secluded habitats, females will build sheet-like webs. Males tend to adopt a roaming lifestyle in search of prey. Since both female and male recluse contain venom, eradicating any recluse found in your home is essential to prevent potentially dangerous and painful bites.

Things You'll Need

• Vacuum
• Sticky traps
• Silica gel dust insecticide
• Cypermethrin based insecticide
• Cyfluthrin based insecticide
• Garden gloves
• Newspaper

Instructions

1. 

   Try to locate the spiders around your home.

   Seek out possible hiding locations for the spiders. Common hiding spots include wooden surfaces, boxes and crawlspaces. Garages and storage sheds can also harbor brown recluse spiders.

2. 

   Remove webs with the vacuum as well.

   Destroy egg sacs by suctioning the sacs into a vacuum cleaner. Once you have removed the egg sacs from your home, dispose of your vacuum bag in an outdoor trash receptacle.

3. Use sticky traps to locate and kill brown recluses in your home.

4. Apply insecticides to your home. You can use dust insecticides such as silica gel to dust along cracks and behind light switches, or other areas where the spiders tend to crawl into. Sprays that contain cypermethrin or cyfluthrin that are applied to the exterior of your home can reduce the chances of brown recluses entering your home.

5. Suck up brown recluses that you find with a vacuum, disposing of the vacuum bag outside when you're finished, or crush them with a rolled up newspaper.

Tips & Warnings

• Removing clutter such as newspapers or cardboard boxes piled around your home will eliminate hiding places for spiders.

• Stay vigilant when bringing boxes into your home from storage. Put on garden gloves and inspect any boxes for brown recluses before bringing the boxes inside.

• Employ the help of a professional pest exterminator when an infestation becomes persistent.

References

• Illinois Department of Public Health Prevention & Control: Brown Recluse and Black Widow Spiders

Resources

• University of California Riverside: How to Avoid Bites
• The Ohio State University; Brown Recluse Spider; Susan C. Jones, Ph.D.
• The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture; Brown Recluse Spider; Mike Potter