During the warmer months of spring and summer in Chicago, spiders are busy feasting on insects — and growing. But spider sightings usually begin to increase once the fall season arrives. This is when spider populations are at their peak. This might be one reason you are seeing more spiders in your home this fall — but not the only one.
You could be seeing more spiders in your home for various reasons.
1. It’s Spider Mating Season
The most common spider in Chicago homes is the house spider. Generally, these spiders remain hidden inside your walls and flooring throughout the warmer months. They rarely have any reason to surface during that time, unless food is scarce. But once fall arrives, mature male spiders begin to come out into the open to mate. Female spiders also come out to search for suitable nesting spots.
This means that all those spiders that have been living out of sight in your home are now coming out to hunt for a mate. As well as house spiders, you might also see wolf spiders, though these are less common indoors.
2. You Have a Large Spider Population in Your Home
If you are seeing a large number of spiders coming out of the woodwork this fall, then you most likely have a large population of spiders living with you. When a spider population grows too big, there isn’t enough food to feed all the spiders. This forces some spiders out into the open to search for food.
But spiders also follow their prey into homes too.
3. They May Be Following Insects Sheltering From the Cold
During autumn, some insects move indoors to escape the cold weather. This is especially true of ladybugs and stinkbugs, which can migrate into homes in large numbers. If nearby spiders have noticed this migration into your home, then they too will move into your home and begin to build webs.
But sometimes, it’s not migrating insects that attract spiders. The insects already infesting your home bring the spiders indoors.
4. Your Home Has a Different Pest Infestation of Some Kind
If you have a pest infestation of some kind, such as a cockroach, fly, or silverfish infestation, this could be what is attracting spiders into your home. Spiders generally go where their food sources are most abundant. This is often in places near light sources or near the entrances to homes. But they will head indoors to nest if they detect a large population of insects.
As such, the real problem might not be spiders — it could be an infestation of some other kind. This problem requires immediate attention because the longer your pest infestation goes on, the more spiders it will attract. You might need pest control for both the spiders and your other pest problem.
5. Spiders Are Bigger and More Noticeable in Autumn
Although some species of spider hatch in fall, many of them hatch in the warmer spring months. Then, during the year, when the weather is warm and insects are plentiful, those young spiders eat and grow, eat, and grow. You won’t notice them during this time because of their size. But, by the time fall rolls around, those spiders have matured into adults, and they are then more noticeable.
Are you starting to see more spiders than usual in your home? If they make you uncomfortable, then it’s time to hire a pest control expert that specializes in creepy crawlies. At A-Alert Exterminating Service, Inc., we can locate and eliminate indoor spider infestations, as well as their food sources. Call us today, and we’ll eradicate your spider problem.