The Spiders Behind The Communal Webs Creeping Across Your Home

Spider webs can be found practically anywhere, but when their webs get in your way or start to look unsightly, it's time to find a solution. The orchard orbweaver is one particular type of orbweaver spider that could be lurking in your garden. This spider has the tendency to create communal webs if presented with the right environment. The name "orchard orbweavers," actually includes two similar species of spiders, Leucauge venusta and Leucauge argyrobapta. The Leucauge argyrobapta species belongs to the family of Tetragnathidae, small spiders known as long-jawed orbweavers most commonly found in the eastern United States. These spiders have distinct coloring, with green legs and sides, a yellow and brown spotted underside, and sometimes yellow, orange, or red spots.

Orchard orbweaver spiders prefer environments such as low bushes, damp woodlands, gardens, and of course, orchards. These spiders frequently build their webs in lower vegetation so they are able to catch prey more easily. Orbweavers hatch eggs in the spring and spend the summer and early fall growing, mating, and laying eggs. Male orbweavers die quickly after mating and females produce egg sacs that eventually become spiderlings. Once colder weather kicks in, the female arachnids typically die with the freeze and eggs are cased throughout the winter until hatching begins again in spring.

There are a few key signs that these spider nests are in your home. Orchard orbweavers' webs are unique, and only females can spin them. The webs are typically one foot in diameter and created horizontally, appearing like a central dot with different spokes protruding from the center. Every evening, the spiders will eat the silk of their webs and create a new one in the morning. Though orbweavers typically create standalone webs, they sometimes work jointly to create a spider nest. When there is a lot of prey around, and therefore a higher population of orchard orbweavers in the area, the spiders will often attach webs together or build "communal" webs. These webs are particularly noticeable when overlapping webs are constructed in houses and around landscaping.

Though these spiders have venom and use it to immobilize insects before a meal, their bites are not harmful to humans. However, if you want to prevent these large and distracting spider webs, the first step is to alter your environment. Orbweavers seek out damp hiding spots that are closer to the ground, so removing excess leaves, vegetation or clutter from your yard will make the environment undesirable for the spiders. Once the conditions have changed, seal outside access points into your home and your home's exterior including cracks or gaps so the orbweavers are unable to sneak inside. Adding screened doors and windows will ensure you have an extra layer of protection as well so you don't have to worry about clearing out spider webs from your home again.