# How many spiders do we eat in one night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263 "2000-01-14T21:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LemonGrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@LemonGrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonGrl)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/1 "2000-01-14T21:39:00Z")
I heard that it’s 12. If anyone can give me a website with documented proof of this, I’d appreciate it a lot. THANKS! =) * * * “I sink, therefore I swam.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/2 "2000-01-14T21:48:00Z")
Actually the number is more like 8 in a lifetime. That has been “proved” a number of times in a number of well-circulated “Internet lists.” ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/3 "2000-01-14T21:51:00Z")
I think this is a weird urban legend derived from facts about dust mites. Mites are arachnids, hence the mistaken connection to spiders. Mites live in our bedclothes, eating dust which is created by decomposing flesh. Mmmmm mmm I wish I were a dust mite. Anyway, the theory is that, in your sleep, you might actually inhale or swallow sum. Getting dust mite excrement in your nose is the cause of certain allergies. So I don’t think there will be any links to sites about nocturnal spider eating. Could be wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/4 "2000-01-14T21:55:00Z")
I think the confusion arises from the fact that spiders come in packs of 8, yet the little crackers you put them on for snacking come in packs of 12. * * * Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/5 "2000-01-14T22:00:00Z")
Well, I’m having a plateful tonight, but it’s a long weekend . . . ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/6 "2000-01-14T22:01:00Z")
Hey Elmer, have you seen those new “cracker-length spiders”? I want some of those. I’m sick of the spiders hanging off the edges of the cracker all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/7 "2000-01-14T22:09:00Z")
I don’t know, Boris. I kind of like nibbling off the overhanging appendages before biting into the main course. I especially like it when I discover a forgoten spider leg stuck between my teeth several hours later. It’s the kind of snack you can enjoy twice. * * * Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/8 "2000-01-14T22:27:00Z")
My personal record is 768. In all honesty, though, I must qualify that feat: 1. It was the winter solstice, so the night was real long, and; 2. I ate just spiders, no dip or side dishes, and; 3. they were small spiders. If they were, like, you know, tarantulas, or something, I probably could not have eaten more than 50. * * * The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/9 "2000-01-14T22:47:00Z")
Fried tarantula legs with a nice dipping sauce… mmmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/10 "2000-01-14T22:49:00Z")
Creeping ever so slowly back towards the OP… I coulda swore Unca Cece covered this, but I can’t find it. Anyway, I’d heard that this figure is an aggregate amount. We don’t actually swallow whole spiders, but various spider parts that are part of the usual flotsam and jetsam of house dust. Over the course of (a year? a lifetime?) one inhales the equivalent of x number of spiders. * * * ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/11 "2000-01-14T23:00:00Z")
Isn’t dust 80% human skin? How many people a year do we eat? ---
**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/12 "2000-01-14T23:01:00Z")
Eeeuuuuwwwwww! Yuckk! ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/13 "2000-01-15T01:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by handy: > \*\* > How many people a year do we eat?\*\* Just one, every night she’s in town. 😃 * * * “The dawn of a new era is felt and not measured.” Walter Lord ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/14 "2000-01-15T01:44:00Z")
If you eat the same person multiple times, do you get a cumulative total? If so, lots! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/15 "2000-01-15T02:14:00Z")
Kinda like fried calamari. Love those crunchy little tentacles! ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/16 "2000-01-15T02:16:00Z")
You bed, however clean it is, is FULL Of dust mites. You eat them when you sleep. Yummy, kinda like a side dish to humans. ---
**Author:** ![Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cooper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/17 "2000-01-15T02:28:00Z")
If this is the kind of knowledge that science brings us, I want no part of it. I’m ready to go back to the dark ages now, if it means I don’t have to know about dust mites. ---
**Author:** ![LemonGrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@LemonGrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonGrl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2000, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/18 "2000-01-16T04:21:00Z")
_gives everyone who posted an amused look_ Well, thanks everyone, for your exciting and interesting answers. * * * “I sink, therefore I swam.” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2000, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/19 "2000-01-16T11:04:00Z")
Someone above asked: How many people do we eat? said in jest. Since each of us is made of atoms that have been around since the big bang, we are actually somewhere about 12 billion or so years of age. When we consume dairy products, meat, vegetables or fruit we are most assuredly consuming atoms that were once in living people. Therefore in reality, we do eat people. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263/20 "2000-01-16T16:52:00Z")
Nutritious and delicious, tastes just like Spam! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-spiders-do-we-eat-in-one-night/6263.md?page=2)