Professor James Logan has settled the debate on whether people really swallow spiders in their sleep, calling the long-standing myth untrue.
Myth busted on This Morning
Appearing on This Morning, Professor Logan addressed the common belief that people swallow several spiders each year while asleep. He said: "I heard that so much growing up. You know, spiders crawl across your face, in your mouth and you swallow them and all that kind of stuff. It's not true. Maybe occasionally it might happen on a very rare occasion. Why would they want to go near your mouth? It doesn't make any sense."
The professor added that snoring or heavy breathing would make it even less likely for a spider to approach. He explained: "If you're snoring heavily and breathing, it's just going to put them off. Actually, they're going to avoid you."
Dangerous spiders in the UK
Professor Logan also reassured viewers about the threat of dangerous spiders in the UK. He noted that while almost every spider can bite, most cannot pierce human skin. "Pretty much every spider can bite, but most spiders can't penetrate our skin," he said. "Most spiders would never want to bite us because why would they? We're nothing to them. They'd want to avoid us more than anything."
The few spiders capable of biting usually only do so when threatened. Professor Logan recalled being bitten himself after accidentally trapping a spider between his gardening glove and his hand. He described the pain as comparable to a bee sting: "It did hurt. Compared to maybe a bee sting - something like that. It's not too bad."
Viewer reactions
One viewer commented: "The only venomous spider in the UK is the daddy long legs, it's just their fangs are too soft to bite through skin." Another asked: "Isn't the daddy long legs like really venomous?"
Professor Logan's advice: spiders are unlikely to cause trouble as long as they are not threatened, and they are likely more scared of humans.
