Do you really swallow spiders while you sleep?
437693
Myth: You unknowingly swallow an average of four live spiders in your sleep each year.\n\nFact: This very widespread urban legend has no basis in fact. It exists in various forms; another common version is that you swallow an average of 20 in your lifetime. (At 4 per year, that would make a very short lifetime of 5 years...) A correspondent in Pennsylvania had heard a version that involved swallowing a pound of spiders (while sleeping) in one's lifetime. (That would be over 20,000 average spiders, for a lifetime of 5,000 years at the 4 per year rate).\n\nFor a sleeping person to swallow even one live spider would involve so many highly unlikely circumstances that for practical purposes we can rule out the possibility. No such case is on formal record anywhere in scientific or medical literature. Since this page first appeared, I have heard from one person who found a small harmless spider hiding in her ear (which is possible), another who claimed to have had one in her nose (but had no evidence that it wasn't already in her hanky), and one who claimed that when she was a young child a spider leg was found by her lips. But not one person has claimed that a spider entered his or her mouth.
790061
I think the best thing to do would be to raise flies and feed them these diets exclusively, then when the spiders eat the flies they will be taking in certian amounts of the chemical. However spiders do drink water droplets also, so maybe the best way to do it would be do slightly dilute the concentration with water and just leave these impregnated droplets in the terrarium. Or you could even remove the spider and place it in a small clear bottomed container, and administer the drops, then you can actually observe it drinking the drop.\n\nAs an entomologist and spider lover, I would love to know what you come up with, although Im not sure whether the spider's metabloic pathways will allow the caffein and other substances to really change thier behaviour, but good luck!
445510
Yes, you do. Otherwise, you would wake up in a large puddle of drool every morning. You don't feel your self swallowing for the same reason you don't feel yourself roll over or hear soft noises. You brain tunes it out, and your body actually makes a chemical that turns off the nerves to a certain extent.
36146
NO. The human body does not contain a condition conducive to spiders. There are thousands of species of spiders, the majority prefer to live outside.  A few spiders prefer to live indoors; common 'house spiders' or 'cobweb spiders' can be found in anyone's home but do not need nor desire a human host.
212902
Either wait until everyone else is up making noise (if you're that self conscious or that courtesy-minded) or Bring a portable radio into the bathroom. Tune in to some Heavy Metal, and let the torpedoes fly., along with those ever-popular barking spider noises we all know and love.  But we never make them ourselves, goodness gracious, Nooooo!!
1183028
Bite me................ Or bite you \n\ncause thats what the spider will do
390882
they can if your mouth is open when you sleep!
678232
Ohhh, do you know about the site called 'Dreammoods'?\nYou should go there. \nIt has a dictionary, forums, and EVERYTHING.\nhttp://www.dreammoods.com/\n\nDreammoods Definition:\nTo see a spider in your dream, indicates that you are feeling like an outsider in some situation. Or that you may want to keep your distance and  stay away from an alluring and tempting situation.  The spider is also symbolic of feminine power. Alternatively, a spider may refer to a powerful force protecting you against  your self-destructive behavior. If you kill a spider, it symbolizes misfortune and general bad luck. \n\nTo see a spider spinning a web in your dream, signifies that you will be rewarded for your hard work. You will soon find yourself promoted in your job or recognized for your achievement in a difficult task. Spiders are a symbol of creativity due to the intricate webs they spin. On a negative note, spiders may indicate a feeling of being entangled or trapped in a sticky or clingy relationship. It represents some ensnaring and controlling force. You may feel that someone or some situation is sucking the life right out of you. \n\nTo see a spider climbing up a wall in your dream, denotes that your desires will be soon be realized. \n\nTo dream that you are bitten by a spider, represents a conflict with your mother or some dominant female figure in your life. The dream may be a metaphor for a devouring mother or the feminine power to possess and entrap. Perhaps you are feeling trapped by some relationship.
224671
I have been observing for more than 40 years.\n\nOn many occasions I have seen spiders floating through the air.  Sometimes it is possible to see the silken thread from which they are suspended, also blowing in the breeze.\n\nBut I have not inspected the clouds that closely, although they are an object of my weather interests...\n\nNevertheless, I do know for sure there are many smaller living items that get carried away.  I highly doubt the clouds are "sterile."\n\nTiny insects get blown a long way in strong winds.  Sometimes the "fallout" reaches desert areas, and lo and behold there are other larger insects there always scavenging this valuable source of food!\n\nLarger insects serve as fodder for the desert mice.\n\nSnakes eat the mice....there you go.  \n\nOne spider rides the jet Stream:\nhttp://mywebpage.netscape.com/aln298/Animals/AnimalTidbits.html -- this very interesting!\n\nAirborne spiders can happen in mountainous or elevated areas, very breezy areas, and it could appear that insects are coming out of the clouds.  You don't need to go very high to actually get above the clouds in many instances.
1167191
Well first off you can forget the myth that the female spider eats the male. Very occasionally in a handful of species the female will eat the male after mating, but it is the exception, not the rule, and it never occurs in most spider species.\n\nAs for webs, most male spiders do indeed spin webs.  In a small number of species the males are essentially parasitic on the female webs, hanging arund the edges eating insects that are too small to attract the notice of the much larger female.
92022
No, a spider can not build a nest in your ear. There are many problems with that myth. First, a spider would not have any reason to go in your ear. You move to much, even if it's just breathing, they don't like it. Second, a spider can not build a "nest" fast enough for you not to realize it's there. It takes several hours to build some webs, and a long time to build the egg sack that would be refered to as a "nest." Spiders have no reason to live in your ear. So while it would be physically and theoretically possible (spelling?), it's probably more likely to get struck by lightning or win the lotery.
252802
yes, sometimes bugs will crawl inside people's ears while they are asleep.  these are primarily nocturnal insects who are seeking a safe hole to hide in.  thinking that they've found a cozy little nook that will protect them from predators, they hunker down inside your ear.  they don't intend any harm, and don't realize they're trying to hide in a person, they're just looking for a home.\n\nthere are several varieties of moth known for this, and cockroaches will also do this on occasion.\n\nit is possible for them to do some damage.  cockroaches may feed on the ear wax in the ear, and incidentally nibble on the flesh inside the ear.  they also have very spiny legs which can scratch and poke, making it very painful even if they don't do any permanent damage.\n\nif you get a bug in your ear, don't use a Q-Tip or other device to try and squish it.  that may cause it to retreat deeper, causing more pain or serious damage as it runs into the eardrum.\n\nthe best way to make them get out is to squirt the bug with some alcohol.  rubbing alcohol works well, but even vodka will do in a pinch.  oad up a syringe or even a water pistol and hit the little guy with a short blast.  the rapid evaporation of the volatile alcohol will convince the bug to exit out of there fast.  then you can squish it.
500243
Spiders are scary because they are creepy, crawly...just the thought of them crawling on someone usually makes them freak out.  Plus some of them are poisonous, so it is natural to be afraid of them.  I would wonder why you love them.  As in, you love to eat them, love to look at them, or what?  Maybe you just enjoy being different.  I don't like spiders (especially on me), but I don't hate them (they eat mosquitoes and I hate mosquitoes), and I admire spiders, they are cool arachnids.
183824
Wow, what a question. Before or after they've swallowed a night crawler. We have a different species here where I live, but I'll guess a big fat adult weighs two to three ounces.
824165
My favorite myth is of the dreaded Camel Spider, which is found in the deserts of the Middle East.  Only a few American soldiers have seen these basketball-sized monsters and lived to talk about it, because Camel Spiders can outrun a man, and their venom is toxic enough to emobilize you in seconds.  To top it all off, they make a horrible screaching noise when they attack, which often disorients their prey.  They usually eat camels, but they will capture and eat a fully-grown man if he is in their territory.  \n\nI believe it.  That's why I'd never join the Army or go to Iraq.
297277
No, you can not swallow your tongue. If you become unconscious and are laying on your back, the muscles that control your tongue will relax and the tongue will fall back, blocking your airway. But you can not swallow your tongue.
450140
no, its not a pain response.  spiders are different from us in that they don't move by contracting long muscles as we do.  we move around by the contraction and relaxation of long muscle groups in our bodies.  a spider on the other hand, uses its blood as a hydraulic fluid.  it moves by pumping the blood in and out of the legs, extending and contracting them in the process.  so, when you 'squish' a spider you remove all the blood---and the legs contract as a result of not having any blood pumped into them to extend them.\n\nPS===don't squish spiders.  they are beneficial to us.