How Can Spiders Get High?
WouterThroughout the years, scientists have conducted experiments on spiders’ ability to get high. These studies have shown that certain drugs can have an effect on spiders’ web-building habits. The size of the web, the regularity of the threads, and the number of radii are affected by these drugs.
In the late 1940s, German zoologist H.M. Peters became interested in spider web patterns. He studied them in the town of Tubingen. As he was researching, he noticed that spiders were not following their normal sleep schedule.
He teamed up with pharmocologist Peter N. Witt, and they began a series of experiments. They used a variety of psychoactive drugs on spiders.
In the experiments, the team fed the spiders with sugar water spiked with various drugs. This caused the spiders to have a different web-building pattern. Benzedrine was among the drugs tested.
Caffeine was another drug that was administered. Caffeine causes spiders to get impatient and make smaller webs. Benzedrine, on the other hand, caused spiders to weave sloppy, zig-zagged webs.
Another drug that was tested was mescaline. Spiders with low doses of mescaline showed a widening of their perception, and also had widened gaps between their silks.
Benzedrine, on the other side, disrupted spiders’ sense of direction. They spun sloppy webs with large holes. They also gave up on their webs more quickly than caffeine. Marijuana was also fed to spiders.
Ultimately, zoologists were disappointed with the results of these experiments. However, they did recognize the potential of using spiders as a test for drug poisoning in humans.
