You may have heard or read somewhere that we Swallow spiders to sleep states – perhaps even that we are ingesting an alarmingly large number of the eight-legged creatures. But is it true, or is it just an urban legend? Let’s get to the bottom of this creepy idea once and for all.
Do we swallow spiders in our sleep?
According to spider experts, the chance that you will swallow even one spider in your entire life is so small that it is virtually zero. It is extremely unlikely that a spider would even willingly approach a sleeping person, let alone crawl into their open mouth and wait to die.
The deeply ironic origins of the myth
A 1993 magazine article is likely responsible for spreading the idea that people eat spiders while they sleep.
In it, the author put forward the deliberately false fact that we swallow eight spiders in our sleep every year. The author was trying to convey how willing people are to believe something they read online, no matter how counterintuitive the information may be.
The irony is that people eventually came to believe the false fact about the eight spiders and have continued its spread as a kind of urban legend ever since.
Fear of spiders versus fear of people
While one in five Americans admitted to being afraid of spiders in a 2022 YouGov survey, spiders are actually much more afraid of you than you are of them.
Think about it: the spider uses vibrations to sense danger. A sleeping human is nothing but noise and vibration, from your breathing and heartbeat, to tossing and turning, to snoring, snorting and other noises.
Everything about a resting person indicates that spiders should stay away, so they have no incentive to crawl into your bed at night. Instead, they prefer to hang out in quiet, uninhabited areas of the house or spend their time tending to their webs.
Spiders are designed to survive
Spiders evolved to survive, not to crawl into people’s mouths and die.
They thrive in diverse habitats, from arid deserts to humid forests, and are adept at conserving water, minimizing the loss of water vapor through their exoskeletons. Like all land animals, spiders breathe oxygen and exchange carbon dioxide with great efficiency, using structures called book lungs or tracheas.
Spiders rely heavily on their sensory hairs to interpret their environment and detect the presence of other creatures and the composition of the air, including trace amounts of carbon dioxide emitted by insects. This complicated perception of the world makes spiders skilled hunters and survivors in a variety of environments.
How spiders experience the world
Spiders’ experience of the universe is vastly different from ours, shaped by their unique sensory systems. With eight tiny legs, spiders navigate their environment with remarkable agility, whether it’s the vast expanse of a forest or the confined space of a damp cave.
Spiders’ sensory universe is dominated by vibrations and chemical signals rather than visual information, allowing them to detect the faintest movements, such as those of insects caught in their webs, and subtle changes in air currents, which can signal potential prey or danger .
Hypothetical encounters with spiders
But what if you were sleeping and a spider came along whose ability to sense vibrations was a little off? Could this spider accidentally fall into your mouth? Of course, it is possible for a spider to fall or crawl into your mouth, but that is extremely unlikely, and here is why.
First, you need to keep your mouth open quite wide while napping, which is far from a universal trait. You should then be able to sleep through the feeling of a spider crawling across your face and into your mouth.
Finally, you would have to actually swallow while you sleep, which won’t happen automatically without a little effort on your part. A spider would probably change its mind or get bored and crawl back out of your mouth before the stars aligned for all these events to happen.
Are you still afraid of falling asleep lest you ingest a spider or two? According to the Burke Museum of Natural History, you can relax. There is not a single reliable report in any scientific or medical source that proves that anyone has ever swallowed a spider while sleeping, let alone eight in a year.
Are spider bites more common?
You’ll be happy to know that the chances of you being bitten by a spider are also quite small. Despite their fearsome reputation, most spiders are not aggressive towards humans and will only bite in self-defense when they feel threatened or cornered.
Many species of spiders have fangs that are too small or weak to penetrate human skin. In addition, it is easy to not notice spider bites or to confuse them with bites from other insects. In general, the chance of a significant spider bite is minimal, especially if you take common sense precautions.
If you’re concerned about these creepy crawlies, always shake out your shoes and clothing before wearing them, and avoid reaching dark, undisturbed places where spiders can hide.
We updated this article using AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.
Much more information
Sources
-
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. “Just weird stories.” Date unknown. (October 15, 2014). http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/myths/whileyousleep.html
-
Lee, Jane L. “7 Bug and Spider Myths Suppressed.” National Geographic. September 11, 2014. (October 15, 2014) http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/09/11/bugs-animals-insects-spiders-mosquitoes-tarantulas-science-myths/
-
Orth, Taylor. “Three in 10 Americans are afraid of snakes.” YouGov. June 16, 2022. (May 19, 2023). https://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2022/06/16/americans-fear-snakes-heights-spiders-poll
-
Sneed, Annie. “Fact or Fiction?: People Swallow Eight Spiders a Year While They Sleep.” Scientific American. April 15, 2014. (October 15, 2014) http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-people-swallow-8-spiders-a-year-while-they-sleep1/
-
Sonjak, Matt. “How many spiders do you really swallow in your sleep?” Mental Floss. June 6, 2013. (October 15, 2014). http://mentalfloss.com/article/50951/how-many-spiders-do-you-really-swallow-your-sleep
Original article: Do we actually swallow spiders in our sleep?
Copyright © 2024 HowStuffWorks, a division of InfoSpace Holdings, LLC, a System1 company