Spider myths, gently untangled

Myth Spiders are insects.

Fact Spiders are not insects: they are arachnids, as different from insects as birds are from fish. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator) Spiders are arachnids, not insects. They have eight legs instead of six, and a body in two parts instead of three. Britannica: Spider

Myth Only spiders have eight legs.

Fact All arachnids, not just spiders, have four pairs of legs. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)

Myth People swallow spiders in their sleep.

Fact There’s no evidence that people swallow spiders in their sleep: no specimens, no eyewitnesses, nothing. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)

Myth Spiders in the bath came up the plughole.

Fact Spiders in baths and sinks have come down the walls, attracted by water. They can’t come up through the drains. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)

Myth A house has just one kind of spider.

Fact The Burke Museum’s spider curator says a house holds 10 to 30 kinds of spider, not just one. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator) Six species of house spider are commonly found in British homes, in two closely related groups, Tegenaria and Eratigena. Natural History Museum, London: House spider

Myth Every spider builds a round web.

Fact All spiders make silk, but only about half of all spider species build webs to catch prey. Britannica: Spider (spiderwebs and classification) Round orb webs are neither the most common type of web nor the ‘normal’ one. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)

Myth Plant products keep spiders away.

Fact There is no evidence that spiders can even smell the plant products said to repel them. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator) No one has yet invented a device that keeps spiders away. Closing windows and blocking gaps works better. Natural History Museum, London: House spider

Myth Spiders are getting bigger, and there are more of them.

Fact Spiders aren’t getting bigger, and there aren’t really more of them: we just see more when warm autumns keep our windows and doors open. Natural History Museum, London: Invasion of the giant spiders? Not quite In autumn, males of many species reach adulthood and wander about looking for females. That’s why spider sightings always peak in autumn. Natural History Museum, London: Invasion of the giant spiders? Not quite

Myth A daddy-longlegs is one kind of animal.

Fact ‘Daddy-longlegs’ can mean a harvestman, a crane fly (an insect) or a cellar spider, depending on who’s talking. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)

Myth Harvestmen are spiders.

Fact Harvestmen look spidery but aren’t spiders. They are arachnids with a small round body and no ‘waist’, and about 25 kinds live in the UK. The Wildlife Trusts: Common harvestman

Myth Mystery bites are usually spider bites.

Fact In many reported ‘false widow bites’, a spider is assumed rather than proven. British Arachnological Society: Noble False Widow Spider bites, the BAS view (23 April 2026) Most mystery bumps and sores blamed on spiders have other causes. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)

Myth Spiders can lay eggs inside bananas.

Fact Spiders can’t lay eggs inside the skin of a ripe banana. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)

Myth All spiders are “he”.

Fact Not every spider is a ‘he’: it’s easy to tell males from females. Burke Museum, Seattle: Spider myths (by its spider curator)