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How to Kill Brown Widow Eggs

| Updated September 26, 2017

Things You'll Need

  • Vacuum

  • Rolled-up newspaper

  • Broom

The brown widow, as cousin to the black widow, is a frightening pest to have skittering around your house. Its egg sacs, with soft barbs like deep-fried blow fish, are equally frightening -- though needlessly so. Although their venom is twice as potent as the black widow, their bites release a tiny amount of poison. Thankfully, brown widows are cowards and will retreat from a fight, rarely defending their webs from attack. Take advantage of their poor defenses and swat the egg sacs to the ground or suck them up with a vacuum.

Swat the egg sac down with a rolled-up newspaper or broom. Crush the sac with your shoe to guarantee its demise. Clear away the remaining web.

Suck up the egg sac with a vacuum hose. Empty your vacuum a good distance from your house.

Jab the egg sac with the end of your broom to crush it. This may leave more mess than other methods.

Tips

  • If you're not in a killing mood, safely transport the egg sac to a place distant from your house. Simply unroll your newspaper, flick the egg sac loose and catch it before it falls.

    Brown widows may seem scary, but they are relatively harmless creatures. Do not kill them out of fear.

Warnings

  • Avoid removing the egg sac with a brown widow present. Wait until the spider leaves the egg sac unguarded. Pesticides are generally ineffective against egg sacs.