Do spiders crawl in your mouth at night when you sleep? Debunking the common myth - plus where it came from

There are many things in life that are passed down through the generations that we all just accept as truth. Some of them sound quite exciting - eating carrots can help you see in the dark, for example - but not all.

One of the things we’ve taken as truth in popular culture is the apparent fact that we all swallow an average of eight spiders in our sleep every year. The idea has become so ingrained in popular culture that many people now accept it as fact - but is it actually true? As spider season begins in the UK, here’s everything you need to know.

Do spiders really crawl in your mouth while you sleep?

It’s good news for anyone who suffers from a fear of spiders known as arachnophobia, we don’t actually swallow any spiders at all. This is good news for everyone, of course, as even if you don’t have a real fear of spiders nobody really wants to think of an eight-legged creature crawling in their mouth.

In fact, spiders tend to stay away from us as we sleep in our beds at night. There are several reasons why spiders don’t bother us in our sleep. Experts believe that spiders which may be wandering around a bedroom as we sleep would find a sleeping human quite scary because as we sleep we tend to make a lot of noise - from our heart beating to breathing - and then of course some people snore.

These sounds create vibrations to which spiders are extremely sensitive. In addition, let’s not forget that we are much bigger than spiders. As a result, they likely would do all they could to avoid us.

Experts do, however, acknowledge that it is possible that a spider could find its way into your mouth while you’re sleeping, but the chances are so slim it’s negligible. This is because humans are sensitive too, so if a spider were to climb onto a person’s face while they slept the sensation of eight legs on their skin would be highly likely to wake them up very quickly - so the spider could be moved before it got anywhere near a mouth.

When is spider season in the UK?

Spiders usually start to come out in early September, with their presence noticeable in homes until around mid-October. After this, they tend to be spotted indoors less often.

Female spiders are known to stay in one place for all of their lives, but males are always on the move. So, the ones that make themselves comfortable in the same place day after day are likely to be female, but the ones that run away when you are trying to catch them to put them outside are likely to be male.

This is because spiders generally hibernate in winter and spin a warm web in a dark, sheltered place during this season. They also tend to lay their eggs in the autumn so that the eggs can be protected throughout winter, ready to hatch in spring.

How long do spiders live for?

The average house spider lifespan can be anything from one to two years - that is quite a long time for a spider to be in your home.

How can I remove spiders from my home?

If you don’t like spiders, we’ve put together a list of seven ways to keep spiders out of your home. If you’ve already got spiders in your home, however, you can find out if it’s okay to remove spiders from your home and put them outside.