Bugged?

What's bugging you? No, not like in bothering, but like what's crawling around your garden, and is it doing harm or good?

I used to be a licensed pest control operator as part of my landscape maintenance business, but I gave it up because I didn't like to spray. Around my own home I take a "live and let live" approach most of the time. Even when it comes to spiders.

Now, I don't know if it's something innate, or if we are conditioned by society somehow, but I've discovered recently that there are a lot more people who are afraid of spiders than I knew.

I have had a lot of close encounters with insects and arachnids. Recently I decided to consult an expert about spiders to try to identify a particular kind seem to inhabit dark, damp valve boxes. I suspected they might be dangerous, and I wanted to learn more about them.

After doing a Google search, I ran across the name of Stephen Lew. I contacted him (stevelew@nature.berkeley.edu) and although a busy guy, he was happy to answer some of my questions.


It turns out that the spider in question, though kind of scary looking, and slightly resembling a Black Widow (to the uninitiated eye) is relatively harmless. Steatoda grossa, also known as the False Black Widow or the Cupboard Spider (depending on where you live) is quite common.

This spider is brown to purplish brown when I've seen it, but it varies a little in appearance around the world. It's found in coastal areas of the U.S. and thought to have originated in the Mediterranean, and spread via cargo ships to most of the world.

It can bite, but prefers to be left alone. I've found that if I open a valve box and break up the webs with a stick or long screwdriver, and then wait 5 minutes that they'll go away for a while and aren't a problem.


As far as insect ID, the following sites are really great. You can send in your digital picture and get feedback from lots of folks, and some are trained experts...

http://bugguide.net

http://whatsthatbug.com/