How To Get Rid Of Daddy Long Legs
Harvestmen, often called “daddy long legs,” are generally harmless—they don’t bite or spread disease—but they can become a nuisance if they congregate in large numbers inside or around your home or business. If you want to manage them on your own, here’s a thorough, practical approach:
Prevention and Exclusion
Seal entry points: Inspect doors, windows, vents, and cracks in the foundation. Use caulking, weatherstripping, and door sweeps to prevent harvestmen from entering.
Repair screens: Make sure window and vent screens are intact. Even small gaps can allow them in.
Reduce outdoor attraction: Harvestmen like cool, damp areas with plenty of cover. Clear leaves, mulch, and debris away from the building perimeter. Trim back shrubs and vegetation touching walls.
Turn off lights at night when possible: Outdoor lights attract insects, which in turn attract harvestmen that feed on them.
Mechanical Control
Vacuuming: For indoor infestations, the quickest solution is a vacuum. Harvestmen are easy to remove this way, and the vacuum can prevent repeated encounters. Dispose of the bag or empty the canister outdoors.
Sweep and remove: In garages, basements, and storage areas, sweeping them into a dustpan and releasing them outside is effective if the numbers are small.
Environmental Adjustments
Reduce humidity: Dehumidifiers in basements or crawl spaces make the environment less hospitable.
Declutter: Remove stacks of boxes, firewood, and other hiding places indoors.
Remove food sources: While harvestmen primarily eat small insects and decaying organic matter, reducing other pests indirectly limits their food supply.
Chemical Options (Optional)
Insecticidal sprays: Use pyrethrin-based insecticides around entry points, corners, and baseboards. Always follow label instructions.
Residual perimeter treatments: Outdoor sprays along foundation lines can prevent harvestmen from entering, but this is usually a last resort for home users.
Regular Monitoring
Keep an eye on seasonal influxes (harvestmen often enter buildings in fall and spring). Early removal prevents large gatherings.
For most homeowners or business owners, the best approach is a combination of exclusion, habitat modification, and mechanical removal (vacuuming or sweeping). Pesticides are rarely necessary unless infestations are severe or persistent.
The Best Way To Get Rid Of Daddy Long Legs
Hiring our professional pest control for daddy long legs (harvestmen) is often the most effective, long-term, and stress-free solution for both homeowners and business owners, even though these arachnids are harmless. Here’s why our professionals are the best option:
Expert Identification and Assessment
Correctly identifying the species: While harvestmen are harmless, many people confuse them with venomous spiders. Our professionals can accurately identify the pest and rule out more dangerous spider species.
Assessing the source and scope: Our professionals can locate entry points, breeding areas, and favorable harborage sites that a typical homeowner might overlook, ensuring a more thorough solution.
Targeted and Effective Treatments
Precision application: Our professionals use insecticides or residual sprays in the correct concentration and locations to maximize effectiveness while minimizing risk to humans and pets.
Long-lasting results: Our professional treatments often include barrier applications around the structure and strategic indoor treatments that prevent re-entry, not just a one-time kill.
Integrated pest management (IPM): Our professionals combine chemical, mechanical, and environmental control methods, offering a multi-pronged approach that is far more effective than DIY methods alone.
Prevention Expertise
Structural evaluation: Our professionals can identify and repair small gaps, cracks, or weaknesses in the building’s exterior that are common entry points for harvestmen.
Environmental management: We can advise on modifying landscaping, reducing moisture, and removing potential outdoor harborage areas, which helps prevent repeat infestations.
Safety and Convenience
Safe chemical use: Handling insecticides improperly can be harmful. Our professionals are trained to use products safely and according to local regulations.
Time-saving: Removing harvestmen in large numbers, especially in commercial buildings or larger homes, can be time-consuming and repetitive. Our professionals do the heavy lifting efficiently.
Long-Term Peace of Mind
Reduced recurrence: DIY methods often only address visible harvestmen, not the underlying causes of infestation. Our professional treatments reduce the likelihood of repeat problems.
Documentation for businesses: For commercial properties, our professional services can provide records showing proactive pest management, which may be important for inspections or liability purposes.
While harvestmen are harmless, our professional pest control is the best way to get rid of them because it ensures accurate identification, thorough treatment, long-term prevention, and safety, saving you time and stress.