O, What a Tangled Web We Weave: Busting Those Spider Myths
Even if you don't like spiders, you shouldn't let spider myths guide your prejudices. Here a few common ones to take note of.
It's no wonder that there are so many spider myths in pop culture, since after all we're talking about some of the creepiest of the creepy-crawlies. The fact that spiders tend to be beneficial is hard to remember when one considers the venom of the black widow, and the fuzzy horribleness of the tarantula.
In this article, we'll try to wrap up four of the more common myths about spiders, once and for all. Sure, spiders may be bugs, but they're misunderstood bugs (or reasonable facsimiles thereof, anyway), as we'll show you here.
Myth 1: Spiders are insects.
Nope, spiders belong to a different class of critter altogether. Spiders are arachnids, of the Class Arachnida; insects, not surprisingly, belong to the Insecta. While it's true that there are some similarities between the two classes, it's a classic spider myth to call arachnids insects.
The fact of the matter is, as spider expert Rod Crawford of the Burke Museum in Seattle puts it, "Arachnids are as distant from insects as birds are from fish." Of course, no one ever confused a minnow with a hummingbird. Hopefully.
Myth 2: Aha! Then all arachnids are spiders, right?
Uh, no; this is one of the more persistent spider myths, and more people believe it than Myth 1 up there. The term "arachnids" includes both spiders and their relatives, all of which have four pairs of legs. Spiders are just one of 11 different orders of arachnids.
Other arachnids include ticks, nasty beasts called solpugids (camel spiders), scorpions, whip-scorpions, and whip-spiders. And let's not forget the daddy longlegs (also called a "harvestman") which many people think is a spider but isn't. One difference is the fact it has only one body section to the spider's two.
Myth 3: All spiders are web-spinners.
Another popular spider myth. Actually, only about half of all spiders spin webs to catch prey. All spiders manufacture silk for "draglines" that they leave behind as they walk, but there are many species of spiders that otherwise resort to silk only to spin egg sacs and little spider houses called "retreats."
Hunting spiders (such as tarantulas, wolf spiders, and jumping spiders) prefer to hunt down their prey and pounce on them -- and sometimes, that prey can be as large as a small bird. Other spiders (for example, trap door spiders) lay traps and wait for prey to come to them.
Myth 4: The average person swallows four live spiders in their sleep every year.
Yeah, and a duck's quack doesn't echo, either. Where do the people who put together those e-mail lists get these things? That you would swallow even one spider, ever, is exceedingly unlikely, as it would require the spider to enter your mouth (and why would they?), and then for you to actively gulp it down. As far as the experts can tell, this is pure spider myth.
