It seems that people either find spiders fascinating or scary. Spiders are largely misunderstood. Maybe it’s their eight gnarly legs and hairy bodies. Or maybe its those little fangs that inject venom. Whatever the reason, seeing a spider tends to give people a scare. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. It is one of the most common fears in the world. It affects approximately 10 % of men and 50% of women. The severity of the fear can vary. There’s really no reason to fear spiders. You just have to know what’s true and what not.
Myths About Spiders
Myth #1- Are spiders classified as insects? Not everyone believes this myth, but many do! Spiders are not insects. Spiders belong to the Class Arachnida, insects to the Class Insecta. Many people think that spiders are insects, but they are mistaken since insects have six legs and three main body parts. Arachnids are as distant from insects, as fish are from birds.
Myth #2- Do all spiders make webs? Webs are silk structures that spiders make to catch prey. Only half of the known spider species catch prey using webs. Some spider species will actively hunt their prey or sit in wait for prey to come to them.
Myth #3- Is spiders identification easy? You only ever hear about a few species of spiders but there are many! Making most people think that they could tell them apart after looking at a few pictures. The world has more than 50,000 species of spiders, making it hard to identify them. Most spiders have details that you would need a microscope to make proper identification.
Myth #4- Do most spiders have fangs big enough to bite humans? While this is true for some of the smallest spiders, there are some spiders that have bitten humans with fangs as small as 3 millimeters. Besides spiders rarely bite and when they do it will have trivial effects on the human.
Myth #5- Are spiders aggressive? Spiders like to mind their own business and are likely more scared of you than you are of them. They will only bite you if you bother them and they feel threatened. They are not aggressive, rarely bite, and even when they do, they often don’t inject any venom.
Myth #6- Is it true there is always a spider within 6 feet of you? While the world is filled with more spiders than we can possibly imagine, there is no way spiders are that close to you at any given time. Books have quoted archeologist Norman Platnick when he said, “Where you sit as you read these lines, a spider is probably no more than a few yards away”. Many books started stating it as fact but it’s not true.
Myth #7- Do black widows eat their mates? This myth is not entirely untrue, just misunderstood. Female black widow spiders will eat their mates, but it doesn’t happen as often as people think. There are many types of black widows and only a few of them will eat their mates. When they do it’s because they’re hungry.
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