What Eats Brown Recluse Spiders?

If you’ve had running battles with brown recluse spiders, it could be quite frustrating especially when the little result is obtained. These spiders aren’t only venomous but also prey on other insects both dead and alive.

Common bugs preyed on include flies, other spiders, moths, crickets among others.

The good thing with their feeding action is that most of the insects preyed on by brown recluse spiders are also considered pests. However, there’s a need to keep your home free of any spiders.

Plus, brown recluse spiders can bite when trapped against the skin. This spider species isn’t aggressive.

Introducing Predators

An effective, yet passive way of solving your brown recluse spider problem is by introducing predators into the scene.

Although certain predators are effective in brown recluse spider control, you mustn’t create another pest problem while seeking to solve another.

In other words, some predators might end up replacing brown recluse spiders, thus creating unique problems for you. In this article, we’ve listed several brown recluse spider predators to consider.

These predators have an appetite for brown recluse spiders and will rid your home surroundings of these pests.

Brown Recluse Spider Predators to Consider

Are you willing to try the passive approach to brown recluse spider control? The following predators could help you achieve that.

These include lizards, spider wasps, birds, cats, tarantula hawks, and monkeys.

Other brown recluse spider eaters include centipedes, scorpions, and fish.

While all of the above-mentioned brown recluse predators will readily feed on the targeted pest, not all of them are practical to have around. More on this will be discussed shortly.

• Lizards

When placed in a controlled environment, lizards will do a great job of eliminating brown recluse spiders.

A study conducted by scholars from the University of California discovered lizards as being strongly attracted to brown recluses.

A wide range of lizard species have appetites for spiders including brown recluses. These include chameleons and geckos etc. If you wish to have your spider problem resolved, this is one control option to consider.

Introducing spiders into your yard won’t be a bad idea as they’re mostly harmless to humans.

• Spider Wasps

Spider wasps are brown recluse spider predators that can be considered and added to your control methods. As expected, female spider wasps immobilize brown recluses with the venom in their stings.

The prey is then hauled off to be fed to their nymphs or young.

While the control method sounds interesting, utmost care must be exercised. Spider wasps could end up causing problems after the prey population is depleted.

You’ll need to have a plan on how to introduce these wasps and when to have them removed from your surroundings.

• Birds

Larger bird species are known as spider eaters. They prey on a variety of spider species including brown recluses. Those with the most appetite for spiders are robins and wrens.

Whether you’re keeping birds as pets or simply introduce them for spider control, the likelihood of them preying on these spiders is high.

• Cats

Cats are among widely kept pets in households. These cute felines do more than just being cute and clingy. They also go after brown recluse spiders among other spider species.

Now, most readers might be worried about the possibility of their cats getting stung by such spiders.

While this is a valid concern, cats are mostly unfazed by that. If you don’t like keeping cats as pets, you may want to attract stray cats to your yard.

When they come around, they help significantly deplete your brown recluse spider populations.

However, stray cats could be a problem. Aggressive feral cats may be among these with some being rabid. These cats could end up being a bigger problem to deal with than your brown recluse spider problem.

You’ll have to weigh your options before introducing any of these.

• Tarantula Hawks

Ever heard of tarantula hawks? Most people have mistaken these for birds but they aren’t. Tarantula hawks are a species of wasps that prey on brown recluse spiders.

They immobilize prey with a sting and haul them off to their nests for their nymphs to gorge themselves on the prey.

Apart from preying on spiders, tarantula haws also feed on fruit, nectar, and pollen. Surprisingly, these wasps don’t feed on brown recluse spiders or other prey themselves. The prey is meant for their young.

The hot summer months are when tarantula hawks become the most active.

• Monkeys

Certain monkey species are known to eat spiders including brown recluses. If you like keeping exotic pets around, then a monkey might be a great addition.

However, this isn’t considered as being practical for the most part. For many, introducing a monkey for the sole purpose of spider control is overkill.

Many will prefer to use other alternatives available to them except monkeys.

If you’re open to the idea of having monkeys introduced to your surroundings, then brown recluse spiders won’t stand a chance as they’re being fed on by these apes.

• Centipedes

For the most part, centipedes are considered creepy creatures with most people doing all it takes to avoid them. Centipedes will bite humans when a threat is perceived.

However, such bites aren’t venomous and will have no side effects.

If you can tolerate having centipedes around, these invertebrates can do a great job of ridding your surroundings of recluse spiders.

They prey on brown recluses among other spider species and can be a great addition to your control measures.

• Scorpions

A lot of people will cringe at the thought of introducing scorpions for purposes of brown recluse spider control. While this method is unpopular and mostly impractical, scorpions will prey on brown recluses.

They hunt down these spiders and immobilize them through their stings.

The presence of spiders around and within your home can create problems. These arachnids will sting when they perceive a threat. While this is true, not all scorpion species will do much harm to humans.

These are some examples of brown recluse spider predators that can be introduced into your surroundings for spider control.

Are you willing to adopt any of these passive control measures? The choice is yours.

However, one thing remains; you must be comfortable using your preferred predator.