The black-footed spider is also known as the yellow sac spider, due to its colour and propensity to build sac-like shelters out of spider silk.

Black-footed spiders came to North America from Europe. 

Like most spiders, the black-footed spider is venomous, but its bite is much less painful to humans compared to the brown recluse.

Black-footed spiders are predators that feed primarily on insects. However, unlike other species of spiders, black-footed spiders actively hunt prey as opposed to catching them in a web.

Black-footed or yellow sac spiders use their silk to build a cocoon-like nest where they hide and reproduce. When hunting, they wander out and physically catch their prey using their mandibles and venom.

Black-footed spiders like to nest in areas that provide adequate hiding places, such as shrubs, bushes, cluttered basements and attics. They require a regular source of insects to feed on, so they will go where their food is present.

They will enter buildings through cracks, crevices and openings in doors and windows. Repairing any potential entry points will help prevent spiders form setting up shop in your space.

Black-footed spiders generally avoid humans at all costs and rarely if ever bite. They do possess venom, however, and can bite people when threatened.

In European folklore their bites were thought to cause necrosis (dying of tissue), but that has been disproven. Their bites can typically cause mild swelling at worst.

Black-footed spiders are generally not a threat to humans, and they can play a role in curbing insect populations in your home or garden. However, many people do not tolerate the presence of these spiders in their space. 

If you need to get rid of black-footed spiders, give us a call. We’ll handle the issue safely and effectively.