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It's not surprising that many Australians are scared of spiders - we've all grown up aware of the danger posed by redbacks and other spiders familiar to the Australian landscape. Surprisingly though, of the hundreds of species found in Australia only a few of them are actually venomous! Most are just busy eating bugs and other pests and are actually quite beneficial to the environment.
We use both chemical and non-chemical methods to control spiders. We start by inspecting the entire external of the building, and then treatment is applied to all areas including eaves, guttering and fascias. Treatment is also applied carefully around windows to minimise any run or marking of the windows. Roof voids and cavity walls are treated with a permethrin dust which is applied via an electric dust blower. Gardens, plants, shrubs, fence panels, capping and the like will also be treated.
All the products that we use in this treatment typically have no smell. If spiders are a problem inside your home, we will always look for non-chemical methods of control or removal first.
We will provide you with a 3 month service warranty for all our spider treatments. That means that if your spiders come back, we will too - at no additional cost to you.
The only spider proven to be lethal in WA is the redback spider - and fortunately an effective antivenom for this spider has been available since 1956! There have been no recorded deaths from a redback bite in Australia since 1955.
Redback spiders are commonly found throughout Australia and are seen mostly in disturbed areas. Unfortunately for us, they seem to like living near humans.
Redbacks build messy webs with sticky tracer leads going to the ground, that make a crackling sound if you run a stick (or if you are unfortunate enough - your hand!) through them.
Only the female bite is dangerous - you can identify the females by their long slender front legs, a red/orange stripe on her abdomen and a similarly coloured 'hourglass' shape on her underside. The male redback spider is very small, and his fangs can't penetrate human skin.
Bites can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, hypertension and in severe cases, paralysis. Although immediately painful, the venom (which causes these symptoms) works very slowly. If left untreated, symptoms will get worse over the next day or so and can take several weeks (or even months) to heal!
Luckily, redback spiders rarely leave their webs, and humans aren't likely to be bitten unless they inadvertently put a body part right into the web. Because of their small jaws, many bites are also ineffective.
Black house spiders often build webs in doors or window frames, and their webs usually have one or two funnel-shaped entrances causing them to sometimes be mistaken for funnel-web spiders. They range from 9mm (male) to 18mm (female) in length and are found Australia wide.
Black house spiders are venomous, but are not considered dangerous. They are timid and bites from them are infrequent. The bite may be excruciatingly painful and cause local swelling. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sweating and giddiness are occasionally recorded, and in a few cases necrotic skin lesions have been reported after multiple bites.
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Not all species are known to be dangerous, but several are renowned for their highly toxic and fast acting venom. The male of Atrax robustus, the Sydney Funnel-web Spider, is probably responsible for all recorded deaths (13) and many medically serious bites.
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The bite of the golden orb weaver is low risk to humans. A non-aggressive group of spiders that seldom bite, the females are large and often have yellow banded legs while males are tiny and red-brown in color.
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Danger to humans and first aid required. White-tailed spider bites can cause initial burning pain, followed by localised swelling and itchiness. Occasionally, there are unconfirmed reports of weals, blistering or local ulceration - conditions known medically as necrotising arachnidism.
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Brown Trapdoor spiders are often mistaken for funnel-web spiders but their bites are not dangerous. Local pain and swelling may occur. Sigillate Trapdoor spider bites may also cause local pain and swelling.
We can help with specialised pest control services for regional businesses, and we even have our own plane! Give us a call and we'd be happy to see if we can help with your particular requirements.