Spiders play a crucial role in ecosystems as both predators and prey. While these eight-legged bugs can help control insect populations, spotting them indoors is unsettling for many. Understanding what attracts spiders to your home and why they enter can help you implement effective prevention strategies.

If spiders are infesting your home, it’s time to contact a spider professional. A Terminix technician can provide a thorough home inspection to determine what spider species are present, where they are entering, and how to help prevent them from returning.

Spider crawling on white floor

What attracts spiders to your house

Understanding what attracts spiders in the house can help you prevent them from entering in the first place. Many factors can make your home an ideal space for spiders to hide, including:

  • Warmth and shelter: Spiders seek warmth during cooler seasons and shelter from harsh weather conditions.

  • Food sources: What attracts spiders most is prey like flies, mosquitoes, and ants. If they’re around your home, spiders can be, too.

  • Outdoor lighting: Lights can attract insects, which in turn can attract spiders looking for food.

  • Clutter and debris: Piles of clutter and wood can provide hiding spots for spiders and their prey.

  • Moisture: Damp or humid environments, such as basements, crawl spaces, and leaky pipes, can attract spiders and insects.

  • Cracks and crevices: Gaps around windows and doors can allow spiders to enter your home easily.

Spiders seek shelter indoors year-round, regardless of the season. In fall, they look for warmth as temperatures drop. During winter, they find secluded spots to stay warm. Spring increases their activity as they search for mates and food. In summer, high insect activity and hot weather drive spiders indoors, seeking prey and cooler environments.

What can attract spiders to your bed?

Cracks, crevices, and hidden spaces are prime real estate for spiders. But what attracts spiders to your bed?

  1. Dark, undisturbed spaces: Spiders seek quiet, undisturbed areas to hide and build webs. Beds, especially with hanging or sheltered bedding, can provide such spaces.

  2. Prey availability: Bedding and linens can trap insects like bed bugs, fleas, or other spider prey.

  3. Warmth: Like other areas of the home, beds provide warmth, especially if they are near heat sources or in rooms that are kept warm.

Spider crawling on the floor

What smells do spiders like?

Spiders are generally not attracted to smells in the way that other pests, like ants or mosquitoes, might be. They mostly use sight and vibrations to hunt and navigate. However, they are attracted to environments where their prey may be present. These insects are often attracted to sweet or pungent odors, so areas with strong food or garbage scents could indirectly attract spiders.

Where do spiders come from?

It may seem like spiders appear out of nowhere, but there are a few ways they can easily enter your home:

  1. Cracks and gaps: Spiders can enter through small cracks and gaps around doors, windows, and the foundation.

  2. Open windows and doors: They can crawl in through open or poorly sealed windows and doors.

  3. Vents: Vents, utility lines, and other openings can allow spiders to enter your home.

  4. Items brought inside: Spiders can be brought inside on plants, firewood, or other items.

  5. Attic and basement spaces: These areas often have many entry points and are less frequently disturbed, making it easy for spiders to hide.

Preventive measures to keep spiders away

Preventing spiders from entering your home involves a combination of strategies to make your living spaces less appealing to these eight-legged invaders:

  • Seal entry points: Close gaps, cracks, and holes around windows, doors, and your home’s foundation.

  • Clean regularly: Regularly vacuum and dust to remove spider webs, egg sacs, and potential prey.

  • Reduce clutter: Clear out clutter in dark spaces, such as basements and attics where spiders like to hide.

  • Moisture control: Fix leaks and use dehumidifiers to help make your home less attractive to moisture-loving spiders and their prey.

  • Outdoor lighting: Use yellow or sodium vapor light bulbs outdoors, as they attract fewer insects that spiders prey on.

  • Maintain yard: Trim vegetation, remove debris, and keep wood piles away from the house.

  • Contact a professional: A professional can inspect your home to determine where spiders are entering and recommend preventive measures to prevent them from returning.

What to do if spiders enter your house

While understanding what attracts spiders in the house can be helpful, it may not be enough if you already have an infestation. Contacting a professional for spider control is the best option to remove these pests from your home.

If you’re worried about spiders in your home, consider our ongoing pest control plan, PestFree365. Our PestFree365 plans include a multipoint interior and exterior inspection and regularly scheduled pest treatments to keep pests like spiders out. Our PestFree365 plan helps protect you from 25 common household pests1, and our PestFree365+ plan includes protection against 39 pests, including brown recluse and black widow spiders 2.

1Coverage includes: "House" Ants, Bird Mites, Indoor Ticks, Cockroaches, Carpet Beetles, Fabric Moths, Overwintering Insects, Ground Beetles, Centipedes, Crickets, Earwigs, Firebrats, Millipedes, Clover Mites, Pillbugs/Sowbugs, Psocids, Scorpions, Silverfish, Paper Wasps, Springtails, Spiders, Stored Product Beetles, Stored Product Moths, Mice, and Rats.

2Coverage includes: Black Widow Spiders, Brown Recluse Spiders, Voles (interior only), Bed Bugs, Fleas (interior only), Bumble Bees, Carpenter Bees, Solitary Ground Bees, Yellowjackets, Hornets, Baldfaced Hornets, Crazy Ants, Carpenter Ants, and Fire Ants