Why Are There So Many Spiders This Year?

If it feels like you're seeing more spiders around your home, barn, or lake place this year, you're not imagining it and there's a good reason for it.

It comes down to one simple rule: where there's more food, there are more predators.

Missouri had an unusually warm and wet spring in 2026.  Temperatures from February through mid-April ran about 8°F above average statewide, with March ranking as one of the warmest on record. That warmth got insects moving earlier than usual, and the extra rain gave them more standing water, more vegetation, and more places to breed. More flies, gnats, mosquitoes, and other small insects means more food on the table for spiders and spiders respond the same way any predator does when the buffet opens up: their numbers grow right along with their prey.

Warmer temperatures also speed up a spider's metabolism, so they're more active and on the hunt more than they would be in a cooler, drier year. That's why you may be noticing not just more spiders, but more webs, and spiders showing up in places they weren't as common before such as porches, barns, sheds, and around foundations.

The good news: the vast majority of spiders you're seeing are beneficial. A single spider can eat roughly one insect a day, and as a group, spiders in a Missouri field or yard are working around the clock to keep populations of flies, mosquitoes, and other pests in check. Fewer spiders would actually mean more of the bugs nobody wants.

That said, if you're seeing spiders inside the house in numbers, or you're concerned about species like the brown recluse or black widow, that's exactly the kind of thing we're happy to take a look at. A few sealed entry points and a treatment around the foundation usually makes a big difference.

Bottom line: this year's spider numbers are a side effect of a good year for their food supply, not a sign that anything's gone wrong. But if they're becoming more than a nuisance, give us a call!  We are here for you!

Sources: University of Missouri Extension (Emily Althoff, urban entomologist); MU Extension/CAFNR; National Pest Management Association 2026 Bug Barometer; Missouri Department of Conservation; MU Integrated Pest Management.