Spider myths: Blown!
Published 8:21 am Thursday, September 24, 2009
It’s SPIDER season!
They’re all over the garden.
They’re in the house.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
In honor of this creepy-crawly time of year, we proudly present perhaps the greatest spider Web site of all time: “Myths, Misconceptions, and Superstitions About Spiders.”
Not only is it incredibly interesting, it also is penned by a local, Rod Crawford, the Curator of Arachnids at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. (Is there a more awesome job title?)
We promise just about every link on the site will blow your mind. Here’s just a sample of what you’ll find. Click on the myths below to read the full details.
MYTH: Spiders come into houses in the fall to get out of the cold.
FACT: Those spiders are coming from inside the house at least 95 percent of the time. Also: Putting indoor spiders outside usually kills them, so you aren’t doing them any favors with your relocation policy:
”House spiders belong to a small number of species specially adapted for indoor conditions (constant climate, poor food supply, very poor water supply). Some house spider species have been living indoors at least since the days of the Roman Empire …What you are seeing is sexually mature males wandering in search of mates.”
MYTH: Spiders found in bathtubs or sinks have come up through the drains from the sewers.
FACT: Sorry, Charlie.
“This myth … shows how very reluctant people are to confront the idea that the spiders in their house live there all the time. … Modern drains contain a liquid-filled sediment trap through which spiders cannot penetrate.”
FACT: You’re more likely to have a case of MRSA:
“Skin bumps and sores noticed in the morning are generally caused by non-bite disease conditions. … Currently MRSA bacteria are among the leading causes of alleged ‘spider bites.’ The minority that are really bites are caused by bloodsucking insects such as fleas, bedbugs, kissing bugs, lice, or assorted flies; less commonly by mites or ticks. Genuine spider bites in this situation are possible, but very rare.”
MYTH: You unknowingly swallow an average of four live spiders in your sleep each year.
FACT: Thank goodness this is false:
“This very widespread urban legend has no basis in fact. … For a sleeping person to swallow even one live spider would involve so many highly unlikely circumstances that for practical purposes we can rule out the possibility. No such case is on formal record anywhere in scientific or medical literature.”
