A to Z of Pests
Spiders
Class Arachnida
Appearance
- Body soft and small; 8 mm in length, but the 8 legs are long and may span up to 50mm.
- Four pairs of legs.
- Generally greyish–brown in colour.
Lifecycle
- Eggs are laid in large batches in small silk cocoons.
- The eggs hatch and the young are fed by the female for the first few days.
- There are four moults, occurring at intervals of 1 to 4 weeks.
- Adults may live for 2 years.
Habits
- Feed on insects.
- Objectionable only by their presence and their habit of spinning webs.
- Beneficial as predators — all spiders are predatory; mainly preying on insects.
- Larger spiders may try to bite humans if alarmed, but are generally incapable of piercing human skin.
- Tropical spiders may be imported with goods — some may be dangerous to humans e.g Black widow (Latrodectus mactans).
Seasonal Pest
Our featured pest is the House Fly.
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