Grass Spider Facts & Information
Protect your home or business from grass spiders by learning techniques for identification and control.
Grass Spider Treatment
How do I get rid of grass spiders?
What Orkin Does
To get rid of grass spiders in your home, be sure to mow the lawn frequently, keep tree branches and shrubbery well-trimmed, and seal cracks on the outside of the house. It’s also important to remove food scraps and not leave pet food out for extended periods to avoid bringing these spiders indoors. You can use a broom to remove webs when you find them. While this won’t destroy the spiders, it will make your property a less appealing habitat for them. Outdoor lighting attracts insects that spiders eat so you may be able to repel spiders and their prey by replacing existing lights with sodium vapor lights or yellow bulbs. Placing light sources away from outside doors and windows will also help reduce indoor spider infestations.
Orkin is trained to help manage spiders and similar pests. For more information on spider treatment, call your local Orkin branch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Behavior, Diet & Habits
Understanding Grass Spiders
What do grass spiders look like?
Grass spiders are often yellow, brown, or cream-colored, and they have two dark brownish bands running lengthwise across their cephalothorax and abdomen. Their eyes are arranged in three rows, with two on top, four in the middle, and two on the bottom.
Grass Spider Life Cycle
Grass spiders do not live as long as many other spiders and their natural lifespan is only about one year. The male grass spider lives for only about 2-3 weeks after mating. The female grass spider deposits her egg sac in the late winter and dies shortly after laying the eggs.
What do grass spiders eat?
Grass spiders are hunters and by eating, help control the population of prey insects found in the grass such as moths, beetles, crickets, aphids, grasshoppers, ants, and small butterflies. Grass spiders are not aggressive, but they may bite humans if they feel threatened.
Where grass spiders live?
The grass spider web is more often noticed than the spider itself. The web is sheetlike, usually positioned horizontally, with a funnel leading downward to a shelter such as a rock crevice or dense vegetation. The web may be up to three feet wide, and the funnel portion over a foot long. Native to North America, grass spiders can be found throughout natural and manmade habitats. They prefer grasslands and forests but are also commonly seen in lawns. The webs of grass spiders can make a yard appear shabby and neglected.
Grass Spider Funnel Webs
Grass spiders belong to the spider group of Funnel Web Weavers. These spiders are abundant throughout North America during the summer. Funnel web weavers construct their webs in lawns and other places that enable the web to be used for protection and the funnel trap to capture prey. When prey is captured, these spiders drag their prey into the funnel of the web. Prey may also unintentionally wander into the funnel web and get trapped in the webbing.