No evidence people swallow eight spiders in a lifetime

The claim that each person swallows a set number of spiders during sleep over a lifetime is an urban legend. Arachnologists have found no reliable records or studies supporting an average such as eight. Accidental contact is theoretically possible, but that does not make the invented average true. Spiders generally avoid large moving animals and vibrations, while a sleeping person breathes, moves, and may wake.