Do people swallow eight spiders a year in their sleep?
No — the evidence does not support this claim.
The average person swallows eight spiders a year while sleeping.
What the evidence shows
There is no scientific basis for this statistic, which appears to have been invented to illustrate how easily false 'facts' spread online. Spiders avoid large sleeping mammals, which give off vibrations and breath that signal danger, making accidental swallowing extremely unlikely.
This summary describes a fact-check originally published by Scientific American. FactGuard did not conduct this review; we summarize it and link to the original. Read the original fact-check by Scientific American →
Sources
- Scientific American
- Burke Museum entomology
Published 2026-06-07 · Last reviewed 2026-06-07
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