See our ethics statement. The supporters of this change. Biologists Martin Nyffeler and Klaus Birkhofer bravely did the math that no one would, and published their findings in The Science of Nature that an estimated — million tons of prey are eaten annually by the global spider community.
BYOB bugs! For comparison, there are 7 billion humans on the planet who eat a combined total of million tons of meat and fish each year. Here are some other spider facts related to this horrifying yet oddly comforting news:. We fret about the number of spiders we consume in our sleep, yet have you ever stopped to think about how many of us they could consume?
Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Support science journalism. My fear slowly dissipated. I made friends with the iguana living under the stairs of my bungalow by engaging him in typical tourist conversation, tapped some innocent thing off my backpack, and declared the jungle rather fascinating and far less terrifying than I originally suspected.
That night, I awoke in the middle of the night to use the restroom and as I sleepily rested on my knees wondering what I might dream of next, I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. A big movement. Nearly the size of my hand, or maybe the size of a small dog, this enormous black body was surrounded by a set of eight black legs, sharp and spindly and looking wicked fast. When I paused to wait for him to cross, he suddenly scurried away with such rapidity that I leapt no less than 2 feet straight into the air and squealed like a girl who just found out she was prom queen.
Now, in my bathroom at 3 a. Just the night before, I had a conversation with Nature when I stepped onto my bungalow porch and a moth the size of Kentucky landed on my back. It was died thank got but it freaked me out. Also it is said around here that the only time a spider or other insect mainly spiders go up our nose or other crevess, they go there to die. And I really just don't like knowing that not only spiders but all sorts of other insects crawl around.
I heard you can get sick from cockroaches I've had this cold and I'm really grossed out! Who's counting? I live near the woods and see black widows, wolf spiders, trap door spiders, jumping spiders, orb weavers, etc Brown recluse may be the only I havent seen I have run through webs baiting my stands for the season coming up and have eating a few.
I have been asleep and woke up for work to my throat feeling strange only to gag up while brushing my teeth and spit out a dead spider. It all depends on where you live, the climate and the factor of what kind leave near and around you. I have swallowed bees in my drink before and sting me on the way down. I won't lose sleep or die worrying about it.
Only be worried if you find stories of spiders eating us, not the other way around. I only woke when the cat frantically tried to retrieve it from my mouth. I have the scratch marks on my chin to prove it. Albert van Niekerk, Ellisras, South Africa Some people eat spiders for dessert and wouldn't mind a free bedtime snack.
It seems unbelievable but it is true. Our body reflexes us to swallow even in our sleep. It can crawl in there and die. It doesn't hurt us or whatever. We just decreased the population of spiders in our house. That is bad. We get more bad insects that do us harm. Spiders kill those insects. Anyways, we eat some small, tiny spiders in our sleep or sometimes they crawl in our ears or inside our noses Jannes Tagle, Manila, Philippines This is a myth made up by some girl.
Anyone who believes this is wrong. Even if it is true, once the spiders get into your stomach they will burn from the acids inside you. Now THAT is serious. Hope you managed to get that slug out!! How can a spider crawl in your mouth without you feeling it? Also where do they come from? Plus this is really scary when I was in bed and asleep something pinched my hand and when I woke up nothing was there. It couldn't have been an insect cause the pinch was too big and hard and it wasn't a spider and there was no-one in the room and it wasn't a throb in my hand.
But this is the scary part there were no marks The gullible people still posting don't realize that many of these postings of "true stories" are tongue-in-cheek. Love the Iraqi guy's comment about his small children being strung up in spiderweb cocoons due to the humongous size of the spiders No, people, eating spiders while sleeping is rare! The spider would immediately sense danger, not least the vibrations of your breathing, and scarper!
You are always within 10 feet of a spider, and though you usually don't swallow in your sleep, if your tongue is stimulated by the presence of a spider, you are far more likely to swallow than to wake up, similar to how you are far more likely to smack a bug that landed on you than you are to wake up.
Usually spiders avoid humans, viewing them as predators, but every now and again a spider will crawl over your face while you sleep, and sometimes it will go near your mouth and fall in due to your breathing and land inside your mouth. The swallowing reflex is then triggered, and you literally eat the spider. It's a bit rare for all these events to happen in one night, so even though there is always a spider within 10 feet of you, on average you only swallow one every month to a month and a half, hence why the records show that you actually eat more like 8 to 12 each year.
I have horrible thoughts it's going to come back to life and crawl in my mouth : honestly thought I was going to have a panic attack when I saw it! Also, has anyone seen that episode of a kids program forgot what its called but basically this kid likes to kill spiders for fun then one day when he's sleeping loads of little spiders float into his mouth and tangle up his insides with their webs..
X Samantha. Of course. It's obviously true because imagine there are spiders in your room and sometimes yes they will crawl in to your mouth. Jessica Long, Los Angeles, US I woke up last night and felt something in my mouth, I reached in with my fingers and it was a small spider. In fright I threw it and it climbed up the wall. I've cleaned out my bedroom today and couldn't find it. I hope it's gone! Leanne, Gold Coast Australia Before going to sleep last night my girlfriend noticed a daddy long legs spider in its web in the corner of the room about a metre above where we sleep.
She asked me to remove it but I said do not worry it will be fine. She alerted me to this 'fact' that we sometimes consume spiders in our sleep. Well woke up in the morning and it was gone. The question would then have to be asked would a spider only spend one day in a spot before creating a web elsewhere? Im 11 years old, and never heard such a thing. But the thought still scares me so I sleep with tape over my mouth, earplugs and I sleep completely under my blankets.
Alex, Smith England This statement has ben around my 6th grade class lately so its good to know that it isnt true and I can rub this in their stupid faces. Brandon, retard gay I think it's true, but only if you have water or food near you when you sleep.
This happened when I was about 6 years old. I had a cup of water behind my bed I had a dresser behind my bed and I awoke in the middle of the night to find a small spider hanging by its web VERY close to my mouth.
True story. Nadia, Cincinnati Cincinnati Woww I really hope this isn't truee I'm 11, and I have a bad bad bad fear of spiders, and I saw a fast spider in my room, I called for my father but he, took to long, then the spider hid. I'm terrified now! I guess no more sleep for me At 6am this morning while in bed I felt something on my back.
I woke my fiancee and told him to turn on the light. There was a huge red-brown spider with a big bubble on its back in the bed with us. I'm ready to move. I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight or ever again!
Who's to say if I hadn't seen it that it wouldn't have gone into my mouth. Amanda Blanchett, Michigan, US Well, I hate spiders too but it is a myth usually you will spot spiders in your room and take them outside.
Necessarily you might swallow two or three in your life if you live in a dirty house. If you are camping maybe so because you outside. I am nine and came up with this idea. Also you should be more worried about chemicals in your food because I bet you have eaten a bug in your salad. If you store food in your room it is more likely that a spider will come in your mouth. Please don't worry guys, it is a myth. I don't know if it's true but it has totally freaked me out.
I don't even want to sleep now. How could anyone think it's okay to swallow a spider? Alana, Belfast, Northern Ireland Although it's not pleasant to know you have swallowed a spider in most cases, it must be alright if you don't know you swallow them but are still okay. Greg, Krugersdorp South Africa "To demonstrate her point, Holst offered her own made-up list of equally ridiculous "facts," among which was the statistic cited above about the average person's swallowing eight spiders per year, which she took from a collection of common misbeliefs printed in a book on insect folklore.
Automatically, I frantically threw my hand to my forehead and accidentally squished it, causing its guts to ooze all over my face. Pulled my hand away and realised what it was I now sleep in a onesie that zips over my head so that my whole body is protected.
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