House spiders eat insects such as crickets, cockroaches, smaller bugs like ticks, ants, flies, earwigs, moths, mayflies, and other smaller creatures they can find around your home.
Common house spiders eat common pests in your house, so they are awesome to have around. They hunt using their web, which is built up in corners, under false ceilings, and other spots where pests hide.
The spider will wait patiently nearby the insect it intends to catch. When the insect strays too close, the spider will jump out of its web and grab it.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what house spiders eat and how they hunt.
What Do House Spiders Eat?
Common house spiders are great insect-hunters, but their diets can be quite varied. Much of what they eat will depend on what area you live in and what insects there are in your home.
Here are some top foods that house spiders eat. We’ll focus on the diet of the American house spider, which is the most commonly found spider in homes across North America.
1. Flies
Flies are a popular food for house spiders. They are easy to catch, so they are commonly found in many spiders’ diets. House spiders aren’t the only spiders that eat flies, but they are among the most common.
They’re also abundant in homes, so they are quite easy to find. While flies can be elusive and pretty fast, they get stuck inside the web of a house spider quite easily. And that makes for a great meal for the house spider, as the fly can bring quite a lot of good calories for the spider.
2. Mosquitoes
House spiders commonly hunt and eat mosquitoes. Some people decide to allow these spiders to remain in and around their homes for this reason.
Mosquitoes, like flies, get stuck inside the webs of a house spider. This allows the spider to eat them quite easily. Just like flies, mosquitoes are abundant in homes, so they are abundant in the diet of house spiders.
3. Moths
Moths are also a staple in the diet of a house spider. These bugs are even easier to catch than flies, which is great for the spider. They are also abundant in homes, so spiders will find plenty of them to eat.
House spiders prey on moths because they are quite large, and the spider can easily catch them while the moth is still alive. Moths rummage around inside your house looking for light sources, making them easy prey for the house spider.
The fact that they are abundant in homes makes it easy for spiders to get their fill of these insects.
Moths usually follow the light, so that makes many people wonder whether spiders also follow light since they are often seen near moths, however, that is not the case, because house spiders follow and stalk moths and they don’t follow the light source.
4. Ants
House spiders also eat ants. Ants can be found both outside and inside. Since they are so small, it’s difficult to catch them using mechanical methods, so house spiders will catch them using their webs.
How Do House Spiders Hunt?
House spiders hunt by building a web and waiting near it. They will be out in the open, hanging from a web they’ve built using a small silk string. This is what allows them to jump onto their prey when the time is right.
When an insect gets too close to the house spider, it will jump onto it and inject venom into it so that the insect is paralyzed, which makes it easier for the spider to eat its prey.
The web of a house spider can be pretty strong, even though they weave lightweight silk that’s very easy for insects to get through. However, there are always some insects that become trapped in this silk of a house spider after straying too close.
Other spiders are commonly referred to as house spiders because they’re often found indoors, such as wolf spiders. Wolf spiders have different hunting techniques, as they hunt by chasing their prey, pouncing on it and injecting venom into it so that the insect cannot escape.
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Conclusion
House spiders hunt insects such as flies, moths, ants, and mosquitoes. House spiders build webs near human habitations and wait for insects to get caught in their web. Once they catch an insect, they inject venom into it to paralyze it before eating it.
While house spiders don’t attack humans, they are often seen as an effective form of pest control in your home.
Stuart is the editor of Fauna Facts. He edits our writers’ work as well as contributing his own content. Stuart is passionate about sustainable farming and animal welfare and has written extensively on cows and geese for the site.