Some spider species can live up to seven years, which is a very long time when they are unwanted guests. Tarantulas live the longest, but they are less likely to get inside your car than other, smaller species that travel more.
Regardless, spiders mean egg sacs and potential danger for you if they aren’t cleared out quickly. How long can a spider live in a car?
A spider can live its entire life in a car if it has sufficient food and the temperature doesn’t exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The average life span of a spider is 1-3 years. Starving spiders out isn’t practical since they can live over a month without food, and small insects to eat are easy to come by in vehicles.
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How Long Do Spiders Live In A Car
It’s impossible to tell the age of a spider that moves into your car unless it hatches there. However, once the spider is inside your vehicle, they can live there indefinitely.
Moreover, if there are two of the same species, one male and one female, they can spawn generations of new spiders.
Even when there’s nothing to eat, you could have a live spider in your car a lot longer than you think.
According to Earth Kind, “The amount of time that spiders can live without food varies between different species of spiders. Larger species tend to live longer without food than smaller species, but in general, they can go anywhere from 30-60 days without food.”
For example, tarantulas may be able to live without food for up to 2 years.
If there are plenty of bugs, then your car spider could survive for years. The average age varies by species, but you can expect many common tiny spiders to live for 1 to 3 years. As a general rule, the larger the spider, the longer its life.
Some of the most enormous spiders can live for decades. Although you are more likely to have tiny spiders, species like the tarantula can easily live for over a decade, with the fortunate and long-lived members making it for 20 to over 40 years.
Of course, that is in the wild, and your car more closely resembles captivity. Fortunately, the chances of one of these giant spiders getting in your car are very slim, even if you live in the desert where they dwell.
Can A Spider Live In A Car
A spider can live inside a car. In fact, it can be an ideal environment regardless of whether it’s an active, in-use car or one parked in a garage.
The only time a spider is less likely to have a long life in your car is when you kill it or when it’s only on the outside.
Spiders can hibernate in cold weather, so they’ll make it through the winter. Plus, they are relatively hardy in the heat as well. If left alone with food, a spider will make a big happy home out of your car.
The only other thing a spider needs to survive is water. In nature, they can sip the dew from their webs, and condensation from the water in the air can still collect inside a car as it often does on the windows.
While spiders certainly need to drink, it’s so minimal that they’re unlikely to die from the lack of water.
Will A Spider Leave My Car
Spiders enjoy living in cars just fine. Given the opportunity and resources they need, spiders will stay in your vehicle, refusing to leave. It’s not as though you can reason with them.
However, you can use peppermint or citrus essential oil to make the vehicle inhospitable, so they vacate independently.
Additionally, you can be sure to clean every nook and cranny regularly to keep the bugs out.
How Long Can A Spider Survive In A Hot Car
If the temperature is too low to kill them, a spider can survive in a hot car all its life. Comfort isn’t vital to life, so a spider will live even if it’s only slightly too cool in your vehicle to kill it.
Most spiders can handle up to a 110 degrees Fahrenheit or 43 degrees Celsius.
Will A Hot Car Kill Spiders
Sadly, for the spiders, your car can get up to 138 degrees Fahrenheit when it’s 90 degrees outside. At those temperatures, a spider cooks alive inside its chitinous exoskeleton.
The pressure will rise inside, and the spider may even pop, which is a gruesome death even for a tiny arachnid.
Once the temp gets hot enough, the spider will cook slowly, but there’s another danger from the heat in your car. A window or even a mirror can focus sunlight and cause more rapid heating.
Most spiders will have enough sense to walk out of the direct path of a concentrated light beam, though.
How Long Does It Take To Suffocate A Spider
Spiders require far less oxygen than humans, but they do need some air to breathe. While these small arachnids can last hours or possibly days without an infusion of fresh oxygen in a small space, a car has a lot of air inside.
There’s not much credible research to go off of because torturing things to death intentionally is generally frowned upon even when it’s for research.
A spider can hold its breath for up to a full day underwater, so it’s fair to say they could do the same in your car.
Helpful Tips To Know About How Long A Spider Can Live In A Car
If you don’t get rid of them with essential oil deterrents, squash them, or kill them with spider sprays, then the spiders in your car are there to stay.
Unfortunately, living with spiders in close quarters is a bad plan, especially if they are venomous species that can harm humans.
Here are more helpful tips to know about how long a spider can live in a car.
- When you see the dried-up husks that look like tan-ish clear dead spiders, it’s not what you think. Finding these remains in a car isn’t a sign that the spider has died. Spiders molt their old exoskeletons as they grow larger, so it is an indication that your car spider is growing.
- If you end up with a serious infestation of spiders in your car, or the spider inside is sneaky, resistant to spider spray, or even dangerous, you should get rid of it immediately. Mostly the standard methods will work fine, but for extreme cases, you need a serious solution. Try a “chlorine bomb.” It’s a package of chlorine that dealers will often use to remove odors in a car and can help get rid of spiders as well. The chlorine smell should be strong enough to kill the spiders in your car.
- Never assume a spider is dead. Spiders sometimes play dead when they feel threatened, and they’re convincing actors. Typically, this tactic either causes the threat to go away or at least gives it a chance to spring a surprise attack.
Final Thoughts
The largest and longest-lived spiders can survive for decades, but even small spiders live a couple of years. Unfortunately, that means that getting spiders in your car can become an ongoing problem.
I recommend nipping it in the bud as soon as you notice arachnids in your vehicle, so you don’t end up with an infestation, or worse, a severe bite.
So long as minimal oxygen and a few insects are getting inside, a spider can live its entire life cycle in your car.
Since spiders don’t need much, they are hardy survivors who are unlikely to leave a place with plentiful food and some shelter.
