The modern popularity of the myth may spring from a 1999 list of trivia facts in The Guardian, which claimed that throughout their lifetime, people swallow eight spiders during sleep. Yes, I said myth. The common urban legend that humans eat a specific number of bugs while sleeping each year is not supported by scientific evidence.
The idea that we unintentionally swallow a specific number of insects during sleep has been widely debunked by entomologists and researchers. In reality, it is extremely unlikely for a person to swallow bugs regularly during sleep. First of all, most bugs are not attracted to the warm and moist environment of the human mouth, which is why they are unlikely to be present there.
Most homes in North America have three or four species of spiders living inside, but they mean the human inhabitants no harm, Scientific American reports. Spiders are usually either tending to their webs or trying to stay out of our way. And they will kill most insects in our homes, providing a natural means of home pest control.
Moreover, the gag reflex and other protective mechanisms in our body would make it highly improbable for bugs to be swallowed without waking up. The origins of this myth may be related to the fact that small insects can sometimes accidentally enter our mouths while we are awake and eating, but it is not something that happens regularly, let alone in a predetermined number.
More than anything, spiders probably find sleeping humans terrifying. A slumbering person breathes, has a beating heart, and perhaps snores—all of which create vibrations that warn spiders of danger.
It’s important to note that the human body is capable of filtering out foreign objects, and insects that accidentally find their way into our mouths are typically expelled through coughing or reflexive swallowing while awake. In conclusion, the claim that we eat a specific number of bugs while sleeping is a myth, and there is no scientific evidence to support it.
Further Reading
Sources
- MythBusters: Do We Really Swallow Spiders in Our Sleep? – https://www.discovery.com/shows/mythbusters/videos/do-we-really-swallow-spiders-in-our-sleep
- University of Florida: Do People Swallow Spiders in Their Sleep? – http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/myths/spiders.htm
- Scientific American: Fact or Fiction?: People Swallow 8 Spiders a Year While Sleeping – https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-people-swallow-8-spiders-a-year-while-sleeping/
- Do We Really Swallow Spiders in our Sleep? (Updated: May 19, 2023) https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/do-we-swallow-spiders-in-sleep.htm
- “Fact or Fiction?: People Swallow 8 Spiders a Year While They Sleep” (April 15, 2014) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-people-swallow-8-spiders-a-year-while-they-sleep1/
- “Myth buster: We don’t really swallow eight spiders a year while sleeping” (Feb 15, 2021) https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/the-buzz/myth-buster-we-don-t-really-swallow-eight-spiders/
