Can Spiders Nest in Your Ears?
WouterMany horror stories claim that insects will crawl into a person’s ear when they are sleeping. These insects can cause bizarre symptoms and pain. Some of these bugs include cockroaches, bed bugs, spiders, and earwigs.
While there are many horror stories about these insects, there is little proof to back them up. In fact, doctors have been able to remove roaches and fruit fly larvae from people’s ears.
There have been other cases of insects laying eggs in people’s ear canals, though. In addition, researchers have been able to confirm that spiders and crickets are capable of laying eggs in a person’s ear canal.
Interestingly, the most common insect to crawl into a human ear is the earwig. These insects are scavengers and are known to eat organic rubbish and decaying plant material. They also rely on webs to pick up sounds in the air.
This has led scientists to believe that spiders can tune into sound and localize the source with 100% accuracy. They respond to four types of sounds: soft 68 decibels, intense 88 dB, normal-incident acoustic waves, and pure tone.
The study is important, because it has implications for designing sensitive bio-inspired microphones. In addition, it shows how spiders can detect prey tangled in webs using silk vibrations.
As an added bonus, the researchers were able to collect orb-weavers from Binghamton University’s campus. They were then placed inside a rectangular frame and spun a web. This allowed the researchers to measure where the spider webs were located.
