People Are Freaking Out Over How Fast Spiders Could Hypothetically Eat Us All
Listen, not everyone is a fan of spiders, and we get that. While some people are eating arachnids and bugs as the latest food trend, most of us are still working hard at keeping the pests at bay (like with these DIY bug sprays!). One thing that most of us probably try not to think about is just how many creepy crawlies are actually on the planet. Some people, though, are into that sort of thing, and they have some startling news for us. Hold on to your hats (and stomachs).
According to researchers in North Carolina, literally 100 percent of homes have spiders in them, and though you can’t always see the eight-legged critters, they are literally everywhere. Researchers Martin Nyffeler and Klaus Birkhofer actually estimate that there are so many spiders on the planet, that they could consume between 400 million and 800 million tons of prey in one single year.
If that’s not gross enough for you, the estimated total mass of all humans on earth is a measly 358 million tons. In theory, this means that if Earth’s spiders ever got so hungry that their regular diet of bugs and small animals didn’t fill them up, they could eat every human on earth in less than 12 months.
While it’s highly unlikely that this would ever happen, the numbers are scary enough to reignite our fear of creepy crawlies and remind us to sleep with a light on.
What about you, do you love or hate spiders? Tell us @BritandCo!
(h/t San Francisco Gate; Photo via Jack Taylor/Getty)