Kill Hobo Spiders, Ants, and Yellowjackets
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the newsletter or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
As much as we welcome the warm summer months in Eastern Idaho, we all dread the inevitable onslaught of hobo spiders. They are freaky-looking, are somewhat poisonous (babies are supposedly the worst), are fast, and can be tricky.
We had our home sprayed inside and out by a local pest guy for $75. The guy was great at explaining how the spray worked, and how to reduce environments that hobos like. Unfortunately, it can take a few sprays each year to effectively kill hobos. You just cannot get them all in one spray.
I tried the Ortho Home Defense Max spray ($10, found at Wal-Mart, Cal-Store, etc.), and have found it just as effective as the $75 professional spray. One jug will cover the inside and outside of my home, and I generally buy two or three jugs throughout spring and summer.
Be sure to spray the bottom and top of your foundation. The bottom being the part where concrete meets the patio or earth, and the top being where your siding starts. Spray around shrubs and bushes, even if they are across the lawn from your home. I find many hobos overwinter in my lilacs, so I make sure to spray them a lot. I also spray along fences, because you don’t know how many hobos your neighbor’s yard is harboring.
Spray especially in your garage, along the top and bottom of the foundation. If you have some open studs like in my garage, be sure to spray in between the studs. In the house, I try to spray when the kids are gone for a few hours. I make sure to hit all over the basement along baseboards, and especially under and behind the washer, dryer, stove, and refrigerator. I spray in the kids’ rooms only when their toys are all picked up, and then just along the walls.
The sticky spider traps can be good and bad. Bad because they are ridiculously expensive, and because they stick to everything if you accidentally step on it or flip it over. The are good because they can capture the spiders as they run around in the night, and several other bugs you had no idea were around. Spiders generally travel along walls, so it is best to place the sticky traps right up to a baseboard rather than in the middle of an open area.
I find ants start coming in our home no matter how much I spray, but I can kill them effectively by laying out those ant poison boxes. The ants carry the poison back to their nest and infect the entire hive. I’ve found the ant poison is effective when left around the garbage can, but of course you’ll want to leave it in any path of ants you find.
The past few years we had many yellowjackets (hornets) around our home, and I noticed they had made some nests in our roof overhangs. Spraying the nests down with a hose can help, but the yellowjacket traps at home improvement centers really do work. You pour a tiny sweet scent packet over a cotton ball, put it inside the round trap, and hang the trap from a tree nearby where you see yellowjackets. They crawl inside, but cannot crawl back out. We captured around 70 hornets last year, and made our front entrance much safer.
What are your bug experiences, and how do you treat the problem?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Vote:
0 
0 We get large numbers of hobo spiders at our place. I use the Ortho Home Defense like Joe with good results. I have a crawl space and use the Ortho Home Defense to spray around the perimeter in the crawl space. Then, for variety, I use a different brand (I don’t remember the name, but I picked it up at Home Depot) that requires mixing and spraying - and spray around the foundation on the exterior. I’ve done this for 2 years now, and the number of hobos that I find in my house has dropped from between 40 and 50 each Spring to less than 5 last year.
Now, on to the mosquitos.
Vote:
0 0 I was told that the hobo sticky trap things are “baited” with some type of hormone or something that will attract the hobos to it. That is great unless you put them outdoors and then you start attracting the neighbors spiders as well. Yuck. I have no clue if its true or not but I don’t use them anymore after finding a dead and none to tasty mouse decomposing on one that got pushed behind some boxes in our garage. SO GROSS!
Vote:
0 0 Coming from Florida I never knew about the “hobo” spider until I moved here. It was all about black widow’s and brown recluse’ down there. I tell you what though, this “hobo” is quite a nasty little spider! I’ve heard the bite is similar to the brown recluse.
We use the sticky traps and they work really well, but we also couple that with some good spider spray as well. (don’t remember the name at the moment) I was also amazed at the amount of misquitos you have here! WOW! I mean in South Florida, any place west of I-95 and near the Everglades, they have the biggest misquitos you’ve ever seen! But the misquitos there don’t compare to the quantity you have up here which just blows my mind. I would have never thought a place like Idaho would have such a large infestation of this type of insect! Very interesting indeed. Luckily I’m not one to really get bitten much by them, I’m not sure why. Last summer while camping for the weekend, my friends would be standing right next to me and get eatin alive and I’d be lucky to get bitten twice the whole weekend. Not sure why, but I’m not complainin!
Anyways, I’m going to definately try that spray Joe mentioned.
Thanks, great post!
Vote:
0 0 Yeah, the hobos are nasty just because they are fast and aggressive. My brother-in-law once stomped a hobo with is boot, and watched it. After a minute or so, the mangled-up spider started moving, worked it’s way out between the boot treads, and tried running away again!
The worst spot for mosquitoes in Idaho Falls is unfortunately along our beautiful greenbelt. I wish we would spray the greenbelt or do something to get rid of them.
Any good solutions for the mosquitoes and no-see-ums in my backyard?
Vote:
0 0 Roxy is correct about the baited sticky traps. We used them for a couple years and had spiders everywhere in our house. I have not used them for the past three years and see only a small handful the whole season.
Another spider tip is to get rid of large bushes that grow right up next to the house. Also, look around for entrance points and seal them shut.
Vote:
0 0 Joe,
Did you get paid by Ortho to write this piece? Just joking.
Chrisr, I’ve spent a fair amount of time in south FL too. Never lived there, but sometimes would have to visit 2-3 X/month.
If you want to see a “real” mosquito, prepare for Alaska.
When I was in Alaska, they had a T - shirt at all the local tourist traps that showed a picture of a huge mosquito. Then, underneath it said, “Alaska’s state bird.”
I prefer not to talk about creepy crawlers. Their only good use, in my mind, is for research.
So I hope the rest of you can exchange great ideas so I can some day glean them.
Vote:
0 0 I used the Ortho last year, and it was great. Over the winter, we got an ‘inside’ dog. He weighs about 15 lbs, should I worry about using it again this year with him around?
Vote:
0 0 good tips, davin. Regarding landscaping, hobo spiders love those big river rocks that have been popular. They look awesome, but even the sprayer guy told me they are one of the biggest homes for hobos.
Ok4Now, no but i should, huh? There are very few commercial products that I advocate, but this is one that has consistently helped.
For spraying around the dog, the spray guy and the ortho instructions all indicate the spray is safe, you just might want to keep the living beings outside or away from the home for an hour or two after spraying.
Still no mosquito remedies? The citronella candles marketed for that purpose never seemed to do much good.
Vote:
0 0 LOL @ Ok4now’s comment! That’s interesting, I would have never thought the misquitos would be that bad in Alaska either. It just boggled my mind when they said Idaho was the leading state in cases of West Nile. There’s a woman I work with who’s brother in law passed away last year from a misquito bite in which he caught the West Nile virus. I just hope the CDC does something to combat the problem this year. As bad as they are in S.FL I must say they do an excellent job keeping them at bay with all the spraying they do. I’m not sure if they spray around here, but I definately think they should.
I know those Citronella candles are a waste of money. At least none of the ones I’ve ever used have worked.
Vote:
0 0 Heh. Gone are the days when Pop would tell me to go spray for bugs. So I’d mix up 30 gallons of Malathion on the back of the tractor and spray everything, house, trees, you name it I sprayed it. It usually took a couple loads. When I got to the corrals, I’d mix in a pound of sugar to attract flies, etc. It worked well. The ground would be buzzing for days with dying bugs. Crunch, crunch, crunch across the concrete or deck.
Vote:
0 0 So flies eat mosquitos? Attract flies for awhile, then try to get rid of the flies after they eat mosquitoes?
Vote:
0 0 I’m so chemically sensitive that when they spray “fertilizer” and “weed and feed” @ Community Park I can’t go there for several days afterwards.
I hope they don’t start spraying that crap @ the greenbelt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Maybe they do and I have just always missed it by several days.)
Some of us are HORRIBLY affected by sprays and I wish we would stop applying them - more people every year come down with autoimmune diseases and few stop to wonder why that might be.
What’s even worse - people like me, with MCS issues, are made fun of, told we are being “oversensitive”, and we get eye rolls in our general direction - as if we are hypochondriacs.
I say - those of us who have bodies sensitive enough to be sicken by chemical posions are the SMART ones.
As much as I despise hobos I despise nasty chemicals more. I use those sticky papers, I’ve had to pull off a few mice in my day (tricky - they try to bite). I’ve had to shoot one mouse that got so stuck I could not save it. I had a foster dog ROLL in several and I had to cut his hair off in patchwork chunks.
I gladly take all THAT inconvenience over poison spray. And I don’t even have kids. Those of you who do - think long and hard before spraying anything that “kills bugs”. It might not show up immediately - but when your kids become autoimmune afflicted adults you can be relatively sure that some of the toxins they were forced to be in close contact with probably have had something to do with it.
The government says “it’s safe when used in moderation”? So was DDT @ one time. Not only that but what EXACTLY is “moderation”? @ home? @ the park? @ school? @ their friend’s home?
Moderation may indeed be “safe” but in our world of constnat toxic exposure moderation is almost laughable. I would say I get exposed to such stuff “in moderation” - and I do all I can to avoid it.
Hobos - bad.
Toxic chemicals - badder.
That’s this Gypsy’s opinion.
Vote:
0 0 Cripes the spiders are out in full force!
I sprayed in the spring and was good all summer, now we’ve seen three in the last couple days. Two were in the house (one by our shoes by the door and the other on my boy’s wall) and another tonight on the siding by our front door.
I sprayed the house inside and out after we saw the first two, but obviously by the one we saw tonight I need to spray another time or two.
This spray also appears to work well on those weird hornets that make the little dirt mounds everywhere.
Vote:
0 0 Be extremely vigilant where hobos are concerned. I was bitten about 6 years ago and still to this day experience pain and numbness around the bite site. At first I thought I had an ingrown hair on my leg right above the knee. Within a matter of hours the site was getting very sore and swelling. By the next day, an open sore had appeared. When I finally went to the doctor (3 days after being bit), the sore was about the size of a quarter. It was like having a flesh eating disease. The pain was horrible. I had to go to the hospital 2X a day for IV treatments (anti-biotics) for 5 days and to the doctor each day for treatment for 2 weeks. By this time the open sore was about the size of a silver dollar. The scar that is left is circle shaped and measures about 3″ across. I was also told that if I had waited much longer to seek medical help that it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that I could have lost my leg. So again, be extremely vigilant and seek medical help as soon as possible if you are unlucky enough to get bit. And take all precautions to rid your home of these spiders. They are extremely fast and hard to spot.
Vote:
0 0 I’ve been using the Ortho Home Defense that Joe suggested earlier in the year and have and nothing but great results. I spray religously every two weeks. In all the corners of the house, behind the fridge, washer & dryer, door entrances under our beds, closets, etc. We haven’t found one spider (let alone any other insects) in our house since we began spraying.
Before we started using the spray, we used those expensive sticky traps. We caught a few hobo’s in them, but occasionally saw a couple in the house, so we started using the spray. I suggest buying the large bottle that Joe has pictured above. That’s what I bought and it’s lasted me all summer, plus I still have just under a half a bottle left. Plus the detachable sprayer makes it very convienent when spraying in tight places. Great product!
Vote:
0 0 Personally, I recommend getting a little educated about the creatures themselves for a more lasting effect.
Of course they come back - you create a perfect environment for them to come back to - no competition and more bugs. You might be well pleased to know what they are dining on deep in your timbers, Joe.
It’s like spraying for dandilions instead of using proper watering and mowing height. Makes more room for more seeds to thrive.
Of course these people spraying poisons are happy to come do it - they know it guarantees they will be back again.
Sonic repellers work well for keeping bugs out of the way. Just move the wasp nests and if they are an immediate problem a narrow necked bottle with a little jam in it will trap them all. Ants? sweep them up and move them to a new home where they don’t bug you. They follow the pile in my experience.
Point is, the bugs are part of your environment and if you are willing to live with spraying Home Defence around your home after reading the warnings thoroughly (and probably skipping some of the safety reccommendations) because it hasn’t hurt you maybe you should read up on the spider, too.
Many “hobo bite” victims can’t actually say they know they were bitten. It’s an easy answer for mystery necrosis.
One landscaping idea is to avoid that bark mulch. Also, seal up those cracks and entrances.
Don’t forget that those products are petroleum-based too, thus furthering our dependance.
I hope noone takes this personally, It’s really a matter of save your monies and live and let live (somewhere else).
Now if I can just figure out what Californians don’t like we’re set.
Vote:
0 0 I failed to mention yesterday, but a brand called Victor makes many safe (and minty fresh!) products for killing various bugs.
Vote:
0 0 I’ll stick to the “Home Defense, by Ortho” product as well. I’ve used this product for years and know it works great. If you use is as directed, it’s just as safe as anything else on the market. Problem is some people can’t read or would rather not read the label in order to inform themselve how these products are to be used safely. I haven’t had a bug or spider in my house or garage all year.
Now the yellowjackets are another story. We’ve got a nest of them under the eave of our garage and I’ve got to go get some wasp spray today. The Ortho just isn’t cutting it on these guys, unless you actually drown them in it.
And you can forget about me getting a bottle and putting some jelly in it to attract them. That’s not the smartest thing in the world to do. Then what do you do when you’ve got them trapped, throw it in the trash so the garbage man gets stung?
And you honestly think people are going to “sweep up” ants and move them to a new home?? Are you freaking kidding me?? Now THATs funny! 
Whatever works for ya I guess. Good luck with your insect relocation project. For me….I’ll stick to the toxic stuff.
Vote:
0 0 A fun summer activity I have discovered is banging on the siding near doors and windows. If you have hornets, first you hear the angry buzz, and two seconds later they come flying out at you. Good times.
Vote:
0 0 Whammo, I want to thank you for your perspective. I read a book about how these pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals are showing a strong correlation autism, a.d.d., and other problems. Though it’s not feasible to completely eliminate, I’d like to not spray these kinds of poisons anywhere near my home and kids - especially not inside!
Though it may be the easiest quickie McDonalds solution in the short term, I have a hard time believing that’s the best solution.
Vote:
0 0 I love to shoot Hobo’s with a BB gun lol its funner than a video game.
Vote:
0 0 My brother in law used to kill spiders with the air puffs from an empty bb gun.
One day my sister in law decided to try it on a spider in the window, but didn’t realize a bb was loaded.
New window.
Funny family story.
Vote:
0 0 We have used ortho defense for 2 years now at our apts, in Albany Or. It works so well I can’t belive it! Try it
Thanks Joe.
Vote:
0 0 The cheap sticky traps from Cal Ranch work the best in our home. This past month we’ve caught several baby spiders too, haven’t seen those in years past. I suspect there may be a nest somewhere but have no idea where it could be, too many places to look.
I read that Hobos are immune to typical bug and spider sprays, but the sticky traps snare them better. I will be glad when we get a few good freezes!
Vote:
0 0 Hobo’s are note immune to Ortho Defense. Before I moved into my house, I noticed a few hobo’s running around, after a thorough cleaning and moving in, we still had a hobo problem. I started using Ortho Defense and it’s been 2 years now since I’ve seen ANY spiders, hobo or otherwise. They may be immune to your regular “bug spray”, but if you want to completely rid your house of them, try this stuff! It works great.
We used the sticky traps in the past, and occasionally we’d catch a spider, but after awhile we’d see them on the ceilings and you cant exactly put a sticky trap on the ceiling. Well you probably could, but it wouldn’t look very attractive.
Vote:
0 0 It is SOOO confusing…
All the sites that advocate the traps, naturally say that by spraying you kill the other spiders that compete for the food.
They say Hobos are resistant to the spray, so spraying makes it worse.
We use the traps here in SE Montana. We get FRICKIN’ craploads of hobos!!! Too bad they are not worth money.,. we’d be rich!
We finally got tired of replacing full traps every month, so we used the ortho spray. It worked for a while, but then they came back full-force.
When I sprayed, there was one exterior wall by the foundation outside that was positively crwaling with big hobos. I realized the sprinklers spray there and keep it wet. Prime insenct territory. It also washes away the ortho spray!!!
AAAAAAAAARAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
I HATE THESE DAMN THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vote:
0 0 It’s that time of year again……
Vote:
0 0 As huge as they are I’m surprised I haven’t heard them knocking on the front door. Cats and the preying mantis are hobo killers. I need to try that spray though, hobos creep me out.
Vote:
0 0 This is really creepy!!!
Do the sticky hobo traps kill good spiders too?
What exactly do hobos eat? What eats hobos? Do they hide like the recluse?
Are sonic devices available for combatting spiders? I know they can work for rodents.
I have a dog and kids to worry about, and a dauntingly huge area to “de-hobo.” Sounds like they will be less of a problem on the second story? Do I treat attic spaces? Gazebo?
Thanks for all the good info!
Vote:
0 0 Oops #29 says cats and praying mantis are hobo eaters, has anyone tried buying a bunch of praying mantis and letting them loose around the exterior? More experience with this or cats?
Vote:
0 0 The website that Darwin K. Vest created for information on these interesting arachnids is at
If this link doesn’t work just type in ‘Darwin Vest’s Hobo Spider website’ or something to that effect. (I thought I saw a link to it on Joe’s site here before the layout change.) The website is full of excellent information.
Vote:
0 0 Very useful site. Now I’m even more creeped out! They recommend controlling habitat, and have a lengthy discussion of why spray poison is not an effective solution. Problem with praying mantis is it is diurnal, while hobos are nocturnal. Other spiders sound like one of most effective measures, esp. the wolf spider, and other jumping spiders, but don’t wolf spiders bite? YUCK!
Vote:
0 0 Go to Wikipedia and type in jumping spiders. Find the ones Darwin referenced on his website (phidippus workmanii, salticus, et al) and you will know which ones not to kill.
I haven’t had a problem with wolf spiders. I’m not sure I’ve even ever seen one. Read about them while you are at Wikipedia. I found a black widow nest twenty years ago but once discovered and eradicated, have not seen any again.
Vote:
0 0 Yellowjacket queens roam ’round this time of year. I finally followed some advice and set out a “queen trap” in April. Lo and behold, I caught a LOT of queens. I figure each queen captured now is worth a ba-zillion yellowjackets later. It’s mano y mano with the queens this time of year. They’re smart, they’re aggressive, and they know how to survive. It’s up to YOU to find a way to WIN! As far as I am concerned, I will do anything, go anywhere, and freaking use plutonium to beat yellowjackets.
SO me the way and show me the light. Show me victory over yellowjackets and I will crown you King! (Or Queen, as the case may be.)
Leave Your Comment
Our Community's Comment Guidelines:- Please stay polite and on topic.
- Your email will never be published.
- No profanity or euphemisms for profanity.
- No personal attacks, name-calls, put-downs, or baiting other guests, races, genders, or religions.
- Express opinions, facts, logic, and reasoning; just don’t argue for argument’s sake.
- No commercial links (unless absolutely relevant to the discussion) and no religious proselytizing.
- No religious discussions (for or against). Go to http://religiondebates.blogspot.com for religious discussions.
- Use the "I" word as much as possible to demonstrate responsibility.
- Limit yourself to using one name per thread to demonstrate responsibility.
- If you think a comment is inappropriate, ask Joe to review it.
Vote:
I have tried to depend less on chemicals for the past few years so I use the sticky traps. You are right, they are ridiculously expensive. But if you shop around, you will find that CAL Stores usually advertises a 4-pack on sale for $1.99 or so, and regular price is only $2.99. Some places charge 6 or 8 bucks for the same thing.
I have live in my home for about 15 years now so I have experienced many cycles in bug populations. I noticed that this past fall and winter I only caught 2 hobo spiders when I usually get many more. I don’t know if it was a bad (or good) year for them or just my neighborhood got lucky this year. My immediate neighbors still have a lot of good spider habitat so maybe it was the weather last summer that kept the population down. What was anyone else’s experience this past year?
I was just having a conversation with a friend yesterday evening about spraying for spiders. This person is very afraid of them, and wants the best protection they can get. I will tell them about Joe’s experience with the Ortho spray. Unfortunately it’s that time of year when we will have to deal with bugs. That’s the best thing about winter, that and skiing.
I have a feeling that mosquitos and West Nile Virus will be hot topics of discussion around here this year. I hope everyone takes the necessary precautions.