spider
Posted by Betty George on July 10, 2005
Q: There is a spider on my brick house (near my door) watching a small web with a zillion inects in the web. My house painter thinks they are her babies.
I think they are her/his prey.
He can't paint the house with them hanging from my brick walls.
He doesn't want to kill them!
I don't want them in the house.
State: Pennsylvania
A: I think your painter is correct, sounds like baby spiders to me - not insects. If you have a magnifying glass, you should be able to see the babies more clearly and tell whether they are spiders or insects.
Within a short time, the babies will be gone. Many spiders are able to travel when young by ballooning. They release a stream of silk and allow the wind to catch it and pull them along. Baby spiders have been known to travel many miles (some hundreds of miles) from their original location. If this is what your spiders do, they'll probably do this on the first day there is a breeze.
Once the babies are gone, the mother will probably die but if not, you can still remove the web as she can easily make another.
Thanks for your question and good luck.
John Wiessinger ( July 10, 2005)