Origin
The 'eight spiders per year' figure is widely traced to a list of fake facts circulated as an example of how misinformation spreads. Arachnologists, including Rod Crawford of the Burke Museum, have publicly debunked it for decades.
There is no peer-reviewed source for the figure because it was never derived from observation or measurement.
Why it cannot be true at any meaningful rate
A sleeping human exhales CO2, generates heat, and produces low-frequency vibration. To a spider, this signature reads as a large predator. House spiders avoid that signature, not approach it.
Mouths are not attractive habitat: there is no prey, no anchor for a web, and no shelter.
References
- [1]Spider Myths - Burke Museum, University of Washington. Accessed June 2026.
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