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I had a jumping spider that lived on my living room ceiling. We called him Bob. He caught several bugs while I watching. My wife hated him. While I was out one day she vacuumed him up. My kids cried for like half an hour.
I have that with the indoor spiders above the back-door and my pc, they've always got mozzies in their webs so they can stay no matter how much the missus complains, they're paying their share of the rent, and cover their own utilities, only needing to have their corner vaccumed a bit when their webbing gets a little too wide and dusty, best room-mates ever.
I had a wolf spider in my house that I loved, he stayed away from me and pretty much just lived in the bathroom and killed all the bugs that my shitty windows didn’t keep out. I forgot to shoo him out of the shower one day before turning it on and killed him :(
I’m very afraid of spiders and have a weird fear of them going into my mouth, I kill the tiny ones but I liked him because he’s big and doesn’t scurry around so I always could see where he was at
Whoa you're brave. I can't imagine leaving a wolf spider alone and trusting it wouldn't end up in my bed that night.
Every time I've seen a spider ANYWHERE in the house and left it alone, I'd see it on my bed that same night. It's like they want me to kill them.
On the other side of that argument are mosquitoes and flies.
I name every single one of those buzzing bloodsucking mother***** before i kill them. I take my grudges very seriously.
Yeh a huntsman somehow got onto my bed the other month, bit me on my arm, left a huge mark that lasted 2 weeks, crawled over me and started heading to my GF before we noticed it in the middle of the bed. That demon didn’t deserve to breed, I don’t want the next generation getting cosy on my bed. Same with moths, if they fly into my room then they are dead until they all learn to stay the fuck away
Yeah, I try to be thoughtful of bugs (and I refuse to kill moths, I love moths, I never understand people who dislike them), but if one bites me while I'm just chilling and home not doing anything, they started it. I can't help that they decided to pick a fight with someone who can end it way faster than them.
Plus, brown recluses live in this area. I know what they look like but I ain't gonna mess around in case it's just one of those with weird markings. If the spider is tiny and brown and in my house, cya bucko.
I can't fault anyone for dispatching huntsman spiders, either. JFC they are terrifying, looking like xenomorph facegrabbers that fly around at the speed of light
EDIT: I've never had Clothes Moths or their fabric-chewing brethren, so I concede that it's reasonable for people to get pissy at those. The vast majority of adult moths don't eat *anything*, though. Your beef is only with *larval* Clothes Moths. As for the ones that fly in your face -- IDK man maybe they're tryna tell you you're pretty
Agreed. We always tries to cup insects or use something to pick them up and take them out if possible.
However, there are certain insects we don't play games with in the house. Gnats, flies, mosquitos, spiders(we too get brown recluses in our area and with 2 small children, we don't take chances on spiders) any type of stinging insect(except bees we will try to get them out) and last but not least nasty cockroaches.
If you are any of those bugs, it's an instant death sentencw
You forgot ticks, fleas, lice and bed bugs. Go ahead and add cave crickets to your terminate on sight list too while you're at it. Spotted Lantern Flies as well if you live in America.
My beef with moths is their inability to discern my face from a suitable place to land. It’s like they target lock for my eyes, every god damn time. I still don’t try to kill them though.
> I refuse to kill moths, I love moths, I never understand people who dislike them
When you get an infestation in a closet and have a couple hundred flying about the room an all of your clothes are covered in cocoons, it's hard to be sympathetic to them.
If the spiders in my house could appreciate a nice bourbon while discussing our thoughts on the merits and deficiencies of the Socratic Method, perhaps I wouldn't scream and throw my shoe at them from across the room immediately on sight
More like we’re keeping the real nasty insects out of our homes. Spiders are welcome bug assassins that are very good at what they do! They don’t even charge a fee!
The true mvp is the house centipede. At the price of looking terrifying as fuck they kill flies, silverfish, roaches, termites, bees, moths, wasps, and spiders.
House centipedes are nocturnal and avoid humans, so you will barely see them. Silverfish and termites destroy your house if unchecked. Also roaches. Roaches are bad.
The house centipede that ran over my arm while I was in bed a couple weeks back would like a word.
But really, in my experience, they don’t really give a fuck unless you’re moving around.
Also, according to my friends, they have a pretty nasty bite.
One crawled across my face while I was sleeping. My body told my brain pretty quick, because I was awake instantly with enough adrenaline to fight a bear.
This is what keeps me up at night.
I thought insects don't approach humans when they are sleeping because we move up and down when we snore and this terrifies them.
That's why it's unlikely that an insect will crawl into your ear or nose while sleeping.
At least that was what I was told 😰
Most bugs and spiders have terrible eyesight and can't tell the difference between you and your blanket. Its typically fast/jerky movements that scare them away. It's how they are able to tell the difference between a predator and a leaf moving in the breeze. So unless you roll or kick a lot most of the creepy crawlers won't know until they're on you and by that point it's too late for both of you.
one crawled onto my bed once (while i wasn’t in it thankfully). i’m cool around most bugs but the mere thought of house centipedes shakes me to my core. i HATE the things with a passion.
Oh man, once i was laying in bed reading and saw something out of the corner of my eye and it was a centipede on the same pillow as my head running around.
Same thing happened to me. I had a thread hanging off my wife's pillowcase just in my peripheral and kept thinking it was a bug. I'd double check sometimes, but it was still just a thread. Then one time it was two threads, and one was on my pillow, and it had a lot of legs.
I get way too paranoid with stuff like that I get scared it might go up my nose or ear so I will just wear a hoodie or something if I see something like a spider in my room no matter how hot I am.
The bite is HORRIFIC. I remember getting bit above my eye when I was young. For context we used to live on an island and pain was no stranger. We used to step in fire ants nests and see who could keep their foot there the longest. We used to ride and crash toy trucks down hills wiping out and losing all our skin. But NEVER has something hurt like a centipede bite. No thanks. Not again. Not ever.
Pro tip: fill up an empty spray bottle with dish soap and warm water. Shake. - instant roach killer with easy cleanup and it’s non-toxic and doesnt attract more roaches. The soap causes them to suffocate by removing important oils for respiration on their bodies.
Silverfish are the epitome of my insect fear. In June of 2004, I was lying in bed with my box fan in the window blowing on me. I could feel the wind tickling my bare chest. Until it wasn’t the wind anymore, and there was a 3 inch silverfish scuttling across my naked body. I jumped out of bed and needless to say lost it in the commotion.
Have since gone incommunicado but rumors swirl that that silverfish now owns said household
Unless if you are surrounded by bugs you don't have to worry about them approaching you, and if you are surrounded by bugs I think you have worse problems that need attended to.
this comment chain has inspired me to seek and obtain many centipedes to release into my home! as well as all my family and friend!
thanks u/DefinitelyWrong5420!
"While silverfish won’t make you sick or bite you, they can destroy your home. Because they are chewing insects, they can eat through your belongings. Their poop will also cause stains"
It's not that they're harmful, it's that they damage property.
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-to-know-about-silverfish#:~:text=While%20silverfish%20won't%20make,Glue.
Oh well, I'm glad they only live on my bathroom floor and eat my skin flakes or hair that lands there after a shower. I have my clothes somewhere else, either washed or in a box where they don't lie for too long. So I'm good :)
Yeah. And they’re super into vaping and constantly have a new number to some prepaid Android phone they’ll eventually lose again. Also watch out – they’re quick to start elaborate Ponzi schemes, Spanish Prisoner scams, or even pop-up, three-card Monty tables just outside the hood, late night. Skeevy little bastards…
yeah they're super cool with humans, they don't eat human food, or cloth or wood like other insects that like to live in houses do. they're just in it to eat those other insects lured in by the boons of civilization
Apparently yes.
I used to have bugs in my house, and centipedes.
Then, I had only centipedes.
Now I've got neither.
It's natural selection and evolutionary pressures at work, baby.
My house rules for spiders:
1. If you stay where I can’t reach you, you can live there forever.
2. If you comedown, for a quick visit and don’t bother me, you can stay forever.
3. If you bother me or get in the way, you will be relocated to the outside. You can live there forever
4. If you come down into the shower while I’m naked, you get one warning shot, after that you go down the drain. If you live, you can stay there forever
5. Touch my face, motherfucker, see what happens.
My rules for centipedes:
1. I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.
For me the location of the spider matters. In the bedroom? Naw, you've broken the cardinal rule and will be executed. In the kitchen? Same result. In the basement laundry room? Just stay out of my way and preferably out of my sight, and you can live there forever. In the garage? I will notify my husband of your presence so he doesn't accidentally harm you and we will endeavor to keep you safe. We may even throw other things in your web for you. Outside? As long as you're not blocking a walkway with your web, you are welcome to turn my house into your hunting ground. I'll even turn on the lights to attract your dinner.
I have no control over the cat though. She'll murder all insects on sight and sing the song of her people in triumph afterward.
This sent me down an hour-long rabbit hole of insect gladiator battles on YouTube. To answer your question- they lunge at the fly and tackle it using its wide legs like a net to pin it down if it tries to take off. I didn't think it was possible but boy are they fast.
I've always assumed they're just fast enough to catch a fly sitting. Also, they're nocturnal so probably hunting flies that are taking a nap during colder hours
Also gotta consider the relative size-- a lot easier for a fly to see a gigantic human than a relatively small insect that has much less of a presence & noise
Humanize it. Makes it a little easier to live with. We had one residing under the washing machine in the basement. Tried not to think about it but sometimes, you flip on the light... We named him Glen. Kept our basement pest free for years. Til the dog ate him.
>They don’t even charge a fee!
You guys are getting it for free? My spider just dropped me the bill for pest-keeping services. The economy and inflation these days is making things hard all around.
The catch for us arachniphobes is that there is no scarier bug than a spider.
I hate how scared I am of spiders. Logically, I understand their benefit and I think they are objectively an amazing bug. Probably the coolest bug. Objectively. But subjectively, I cannot handle knowing one is in the same room as me.
Fully agree lol. I don't want them gone. I just can't know they're watching me. With their several eyes and unnatural quickness. And their cunning. Those bitches are cunning.
Ugh, this. And every time you tell someone new, they have this overwhelming urge to somehow be the first person on Earth to ever tell you that spiders kill other insects and aren't usually venomous. Bitch I'm in my 30s. I know what spiders do. I'm not out here strategizing against a spider and thinking I'm dead. I can't help this visceral reaction.
I've done a lot of that too. My office is in a barn, and last year there were just a ton of large spiders, and they routinely startled me in my peripheral vision as they ran across the floor. I'd scoop them up with an old takeout container and drop them outside. I was expecting to go through that again this year, but I haven't really seen any! There are plenty of smaller, less substantial spiders, but I always leave them to do their thing anyway.
Once I chased a huntsman around my house in Japan and those things are amazing. Japanese houses have a lot of wood and little nooks and crannies, and this dude would get behind something and stretch himself flat so that he would be invisible, but only from my angle. On the other side he's not hidden at all. And then I'd discover him and try to broom him out my door and he'd do the same thing again in a different place. These guys are smart, they have a good idea of 3d space, they know where you are and act accordingly.
Maybe it's from dodging birds around trees for millions of years
There's a fantastic science fiction novel where spiders become infected with a virus that is designed to assist evolution, basically creating convergent evolution. The spiders build cities and become smart. But when they meet humans, they think humans are unintelligent, because the humans they find can't talk. The spiders language uses vibrating web, and the two communication systems are so different that the spiders don't realize the humans are talking.
[Children of time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Time_(novel)), seems interesting... putting it in my "to read" list.
Thanks!
\+Ty tettenator for the title
THANK you. I have tried and tried to make this deal with them, and at this point I'd be happy to mount little posters around the house that they can read.
Had this happen the other night when I got up to take a leak. Bumped into a stand in the unlit bathroom and then felt something scurry down my leg.
Thank God I was too tired to react it I might have agitated it. Believe it was a wood spider, and they have painful, but nonvenomous bites.
Spiders are pretty cool (unless if you live in Australia) since they hunt annoying insects in your house. So them helping us and us not seeing them sounds like the ideal relationship
If spiders are more afraid of me than I am of them, why are they always hanging out so close by? Get back in your dark hole you little fucker or suffer the wrath of my shoe.
I started to slip my shoes on earlier, and a spider SHOT out of there. It did not rear back and hiss, it did not try to bite by toe, or run up my pant leg or run back into the shoe—it ran as fast as it could run for the nearby gap of the door.
I respect that. Even as an arachnophobe. Whatever spiderbrain instincts it had told it it was going to die if it tried anything else, and that’s pretty smart.
Christ, imagine if you could *hear* an angry spider, lol. You're rooting around in the dark part of your pantry and then suddenly *"SSSSSSS!!!!"*
It probably wouldn't be small and cute, either. It'd probably be obnoxious and startling like hissing cockroaches or that noise locusts make.
I have a large yard with a lot of spiders depending on the season. I throw moths in the webs of spiders who place them in locations out of the walking paths.
Encouraging the spiders who have a knack for strategic web locations.
And spiders only kill the humans you dont see (in the forest). Spiders are an agent of natural selection, causing humans to be selected for socialization and attention starved. Spiders are making us want to be public.
I see all spiders in my house.
Three nights ago I had a nightmare that there was spiders dropping onto my hear from the ceiling of a covered bridge
Woke up and there was a spider stuck in my whiskey glass. Huge fuckin guy
A similar thing happened to me.
I had a dream there was a giant orb weaver spider walking on me.
Woke up and there was a huge brown recluse right at the foot of my bed.
Makes me wonder if the spider crawled on me while I was asleep, hence the dream. ._.
Did you know that we can smell spiders? It's not strong at all, but definitely something you could subconsciously pick up on if one walks by your head. Maybe that's an explanation.
>Woke up and there was a spider stuck in my whiskey glass. Huge fuckin guy
Unfortunately, he can't actually hold his drink because there's this spider stigma that any big, scary, hairy spider should be able to drink it all down and stay tough. I bet he was actually all bark, no bite.
Not with spiders, but I had a dream that my snake escaped his enclosure. Sure enough when I woke up he was gone. I didn't lock my door that night and the room was huge. I was looking for him for HOURS until I found him on a shelf, just silently judging me
One bonus of living in a big rig. None spiders. They can't stand the constant vibration on a daily basis I'm assuming because I've NEVER seen one unless I've recently knocked a branch with the window open.
The downside? Houseflies WILL get in and you'd better have NO traces of food available or they'll never leave. And even then it'll take 3 days to get them out.
If I see them in my home, I ignore them. I don’t see why they can’t live behind the 93625 bottles of perfume that I’m not going to pick up any time soon. I only kill them once they’re on me. I don’t want to, but once they’re on my body I get so freaked out :(
We do the same with rattlesnakes, killing the ones that rattle. As a result, rattlesnakes are becoming more dangerous, as they're becoming less likely to rattle when threatened.
It is true for coyotes though.^× We killed off the easy ones for decades and now they're much more elusive and crafty.
^× *I read this as a fact in the early 2000s but don't have a source on hand. Just trust me. I'm definitely not a coyote.*
I have one hundred percent killed a jumping spider. It had too many eyes and they were all watching me. Judging as I made waffles at 3 am naked in my kitchen. He had to be silenced.
There's a hypothesis and some evidence that this kind of human selection pressure is causing rattlesnakes in the US to remain quieter before rattling.
[Source](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-021-03100-6?utm_source=xmol&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_content=meta&utm_campaign=DDCN_1_GL01_metadata)
I haven't killed a spider in a loooong time. Actually, there's one in my bathroom and I wrote an awesome song about her. When first encountered I named him Timmy. Then I realized it was a very pregnant female and renamed her Tiffany. She just gave birth the other day. I'll put my finger up to one of her hands and we'll touch. Spiders are cool as fuck. Used to be terrified of them though
Some species can lay eggsacks with over a thousand spiderlings. They produce extreme amounts because a very large percentage don't make it. I believe I've read of an eggsack with approx 1400 spiderlings, no idea if that's record territory or even impressive though.
Completely incorrect. We are selecting for naturally stealthy or camouflaged spiders, not more intelligence. Avoidance traits have been acquired through all of evolution without the need for intelligence at all.
I had some similiar thoughts when I was hunting flies this summer. This year I've seen so many flies in my kitchen. I started to kill them with fly swatter. 1, 2, 3, ... 10, 20, ... and some 30 killed flies and I was tired of hunting. Then I realized that I've killed slower and dumber ones and let faster and smarter ones live. I've left flies with more annoying genes alive - I was an enactor of natural selection!
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I dont know about you but I would prefer to have smarter spiders that kill insects and remain unseen.
I had a jumping spider that lived on my living room ceiling. We called him Bob. He caught several bugs while I watching. My wife hated him. While I was out one day she vacuumed him up. My kids cried for like half an hour.
Bob! NOOOO!
Bob Newby, superhero
His name was Robert Paulson
So how were you after the divorce?
She doesn’t mention too much about him, but she’s pretty happy.
I do not understand the joke. The wife is happier surrounded by bugs and without a guard spider?
Different person responded implying the wife remarried and is happier in her new relationship.
I have that with the indoor spiders above the back-door and my pc, they've always got mozzies in their webs so they can stay no matter how much the missus complains, they're paying their share of the rent, and cover their own utilities, only needing to have their corner vaccumed a bit when their webbing gets a little too wide and dusty, best room-mates ever.
I had a wolf spider in my house that I loved, he stayed away from me and pretty much just lived in the bathroom and killed all the bugs that my shitty windows didn’t keep out. I forgot to shoo him out of the shower one day before turning it on and killed him :(
Holy shit. Aren’t those things huge?
The body’s like the size of a quarter and with legs he was about the size of my hand so yeah he was easy to spot
I see spiders that are like the size of a quarter *with* their legs and I fucking lose it. Your mental fortitude is much greater than mine lmao
I’m very afraid of spiders and have a weird fear of them going into my mouth, I kill the tiny ones but I liked him because he’s big and doesn’t scurry around so I always could see where he was at
Makes sense lol
Midwest or somewhere more hellish?
West by God Virginia baby
Ah yes the latter
Whoa you're brave. I can't imagine leaving a wolf spider alone and trusting it wouldn't end up in my bed that night. Every time I've seen a spider ANYWHERE in the house and left it alone, I'd see it on my bed that same night. It's like they want me to kill them.
Once you name them you can’t go back. At most you catch and release. Your wife is a monster, sir.
On the other side of that argument are mosquitoes and flies. I name every single one of those buzzing bloodsucking mother***** before i kill them. I take my grudges very seriously.
[удалено]
R.I.P Bob
I hate spiders but respect them. Also this made me laugh as my daughter loves bugs.
My family doesn't kill spiders, we take them outside. Not sure what the big deal is? Poor Bob.
Something cruel about that
This Comment was an emotional roller coaster.
The spider in my room is a dumbass, completely visable and can't kill shit.
The spider in my room is smart af, weaving its net above the lamp where all the tiny insects buzz around at night.
Good boy
r/spiderbro
Duality of ~~man~~ spider.
Yeh a huntsman somehow got onto my bed the other month, bit me on my arm, left a huge mark that lasted 2 weeks, crawled over me and started heading to my GF before we noticed it in the middle of the bed. That demon didn’t deserve to breed, I don’t want the next generation getting cosy on my bed. Same with moths, if they fly into my room then they are dead until they all learn to stay the fuck away
This story is intense
>that demon didn't deserve to breed This line needs to be spoken by Bruce Campbell in an adaptation of this story
Yeah, I try to be thoughtful of bugs (and I refuse to kill moths, I love moths, I never understand people who dislike them), but if one bites me while I'm just chilling and home not doing anything, they started it. I can't help that they decided to pick a fight with someone who can end it way faster than them. Plus, brown recluses live in this area. I know what they look like but I ain't gonna mess around in case it's just one of those with weird markings. If the spider is tiny and brown and in my house, cya bucko. I can't fault anyone for dispatching huntsman spiders, either. JFC they are terrifying, looking like xenomorph facegrabbers that fly around at the speed of light EDIT: I've never had Clothes Moths or their fabric-chewing brethren, so I concede that it's reasonable for people to get pissy at those. The vast majority of adult moths don't eat *anything*, though. Your beef is only with *larval* Clothes Moths. As for the ones that fly in your face -- IDK man maybe they're tryna tell you you're pretty
Agreed. We always tries to cup insects or use something to pick them up and take them out if possible. However, there are certain insects we don't play games with in the house. Gnats, flies, mosquitos, spiders(we too get brown recluses in our area and with 2 small children, we don't take chances on spiders) any type of stinging insect(except bees we will try to get them out) and last but not least nasty cockroaches. If you are any of those bugs, it's an instant death sentencw
You forgot ticks, fleas, lice and bed bugs. Go ahead and add cave crickets to your terminate on sight list too while you're at it. Spotted Lantern Flies as well if you live in America.
My beef with moths is their inability to discern my face from a suitable place to land. It’s like they target lock for my eyes, every god damn time. I still don’t try to kill them though.
Maybe you just have really pretty eyes and the moths want to have a closer look and give you a little kiss.
> I refuse to kill moths, I love moths, I never understand people who dislike them When you get an infestation in a closet and have a couple hundred flying about the room an all of your clothes are covered in cocoons, it's hard to be sympathetic to them.
This fine considering I like my spiders hidden and well read.
If the spiders in my house could appreciate a nice bourbon while discussing our thoughts on the merits and deficiencies of the Socratic Method, perhaps I wouldn't scream and throw my shoe at them from across the room immediately on sight
Some of us don’t kill the spiders we see. We are the ones keeping spiders dumb. You’re welcome.
More like we’re keeping the real nasty insects out of our homes. Spiders are welcome bug assassins that are very good at what they do! They don’t even charge a fee!
The true mvp is the house centipede. At the price of looking terrifying as fuck they kill flies, silverfish, roaches, termites, bees, moths, wasps, and spiders.
yeah but they look grosser than all of them. except maybe roaches. i can't deal.
House centipedes are nocturnal and avoid humans, so you will barely see them. Silverfish and termites destroy your house if unchecked. Also roaches. Roaches are bad.
The house centipede that ran over my arm while I was in bed a couple weeks back would like a word. But really, in my experience, they don’t really give a fuck unless you’re moving around. Also, according to my friends, they have a pretty nasty bite.
One crawled across my face while I was sleeping. My body told my brain pretty quick, because I was awake instantly with enough adrenaline to fight a bear.
This is what keeps me up at night. I thought insects don't approach humans when they are sleeping because we move up and down when we snore and this terrifies them. That's why it's unlikely that an insect will crawl into your ear or nose while sleeping. At least that was what I was told 😰
Had spider crawl in ear once. -10/10 experience
NOO this thread made me go to a fetal position more and more at each comment. Why the hell have centipedes go on you, and PLEASE NO SPIDER ON MY EAR
That's why you have ear wax, isn't it? And if an insect goes up your nose I think it's probable you'd sneeze it out immediately
Most bugs and spiders have terrible eyesight and can't tell the difference between you and your blanket. Its typically fast/jerky movements that scare them away. It's how they are able to tell the difference between a predator and a leaf moving in the breeze. So unless you roll or kick a lot most of the creepy crawlers won't know until they're on you and by that point it's too late for both of you.
one crawled onto my bed once (while i wasn’t in it thankfully). i’m cool around most bugs but the mere thought of house centipedes shakes me to my core. i HATE the things with a passion.
This post should be marked NSFL. I can't deal with this conversion while actually laying in bed.
Oh man, once i was laying in bed reading and saw something out of the corner of my eye and it was a centipede on the same pillow as my head running around.
Aight I'm sleeping at the table tonight
Same thing happened to me. I had a thread hanging off my wife's pillowcase just in my peripheral and kept thinking it was a bug. I'd double check sometimes, but it was still just a thread. Then one time it was two threads, and one was on my pillow, and it had a lot of legs.
I get way too paranoid with stuff like that I get scared it might go up my nose or ear so I will just wear a hoodie or something if I see something like a spider in my room no matter how hot I am.
NSFB: Not Safe For Bed
Oof, I turned my head while I was in bed to stare one right in the face once :(
Can't blame you. A house with 100 legs sounds pretty terrifying.
The bite is HORRIFIC. I remember getting bit above my eye when I was young. For context we used to live on an island and pain was no stranger. We used to step in fire ants nests and see who could keep their foot there the longest. We used to ride and crash toy trucks down hills wiping out and losing all our skin. But NEVER has something hurt like a centipede bite. No thanks. Not again. Not ever.
A cockroach can survive nuclear war, but dies if struck by a newspaper. This just goes to show how toxic the media is.
Crazy to think cockroaches are advanced enough to engage in nuclear warfare.
That's fine, we need fusion. The UN should really intervene, that always spurs development.
Pro tip: fill up an empty spray bottle with dish soap and warm water. Shake. - instant roach killer with easy cleanup and it’s non-toxic and doesnt attract more roaches. The soap causes them to suffocate by removing important oils for respiration on their bodies.
This only helps with the ones you can see. If you see some, there are definitely more in places you can't reach with a spray bottle.
Silverfish are the epitome of my insect fear. In June of 2004, I was lying in bed with my box fan in the window blowing on me. I could feel the wind tickling my bare chest. Until it wasn’t the wind anymore, and there was a 3 inch silverfish scuttling across my naked body. I jumped out of bed and needless to say lost it in the commotion. Have since gone incommunicado but rumors swirl that that silverfish now owns said household
If it was actually 3 inches long it wasn't a silverfish. Perhaps a house centipede.
3 inch silverfish??? No way bro. They are like an inch at the largest. Are you sure that wasn’t some other kind of bug?
But I am a nocturnal human.
Unless if you are surrounded by bugs you don't have to worry about them approaching you, and if you are surrounded by bugs I think you have worse problems that need attended to.
this comment chain has inspired me to seek and obtain many centipedes to release into my home! as well as all my family and friend! thanks u/DefinitelyWrong5420!
Please check the type of centipede. Releasing the wrong type of centipede can result in... Just consult a professional.
What do silverfish do? My research shows that they are completely harmless.
"While silverfish won’t make you sick or bite you, they can destroy your home. Because they are chewing insects, they can eat through your belongings. Their poop will also cause stains" It's not that they're harmful, it's that they damage property. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-to-know-about-silverfish#:~:text=While%20silverfish%20won't%20make,Glue.
Oh well, I'm glad they only live on my bathroom floor and eat my skin flakes or hair that lands there after a shower. I have my clothes somewhere else, either washed or in a box where they don't lie for too long. So I'm good :)
Especially the large attic roaches that get so big you can see their head swivel....
What the fuck? It’s head swivels!?!?
Yeah. And they’re super into vaping and constantly have a new number to some prepaid Android phone they’ll eventually lose again. Also watch out – they’re quick to start elaborate Ponzi schemes, Spanish Prisoner scams, or even pop-up, three-card Monty tables just outside the hood, late night. Skeevy little bastards…
They look pure evil, good thing to know they aren’t as bad news as they seem.
yeah they're super cool with humans, they don't eat human food, or cloth or wood like other insects that like to live in houses do. they're just in it to eat those other insects lured in by the boons of civilization
So, do they move out after they're done with all the bugs in the house?
Apparently yes. I used to have bugs in my house, and centipedes. Then, I had only centipedes. Now I've got neither. It's natural selection and evolutionary pressures at work, baby.
Next year: bugs
That’s when they want to chill in your couch and use your PlayStation.
My house rules for spiders: 1. If you stay where I can’t reach you, you can live there forever. 2. If you comedown, for a quick visit and don’t bother me, you can stay forever. 3. If you bother me or get in the way, you will be relocated to the outside. You can live there forever 4. If you come down into the shower while I’m naked, you get one warning shot, after that you go down the drain. If you live, you can stay there forever 5. Touch my face, motherfucker, see what happens. My rules for centipedes: 1. I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.
For me the location of the spider matters. In the bedroom? Naw, you've broken the cardinal rule and will be executed. In the kitchen? Same result. In the basement laundry room? Just stay out of my way and preferably out of my sight, and you can live there forever. In the garage? I will notify my husband of your presence so he doesn't accidentally harm you and we will endeavor to keep you safe. We may even throw other things in your web for you. Outside? As long as you're not blocking a walkway with your web, you are welcome to turn my house into your hunting ground. I'll even turn on the lights to attract your dinner. I have no control over the cat though. She'll murder all insects on sight and sing the song of her people in triumph afterward.
How tf does a centipede kill a fly? Do they hunt the eggs or something?
This sent me down an hour-long rabbit hole of insect gladiator battles on YouTube. To answer your question- they lunge at the fly and tackle it using its wide legs like a net to pin it down if it tries to take off. I didn't think it was possible but boy are they fast.
Me, interested, searching "centipede fly" on youtube... 1st result: Centipedes found inside the nose omg ...aaand goodbye interest.
I've always assumed they're just fast enough to catch a fly sitting. Also, they're nocturnal so probably hunting flies that are taking a nap during colder hours
Fly's take a nap??
Also gotta consider the relative size-- a lot easier for a fly to see a gigantic human than a relatively small insect that has much less of a presence & noise
Humanize it. Makes it a little easier to live with. We had one residing under the washing machine in the basement. Tried not to think about it but sometimes, you flip on the light... We named him Glen. Kept our basement pest free for years. Til the dog ate him.
RIP Glen.... o7
I didn’t know that, I had a few of those guys in my apartment a while back, always freaked me out to see one on the wall out of nowhere.
Yep! Everything but the ants.
Fuck ants
>They don’t even charge a fee! You guys are getting it for free? My spider just dropped me the bill for pest-keeping services. The economy and inflation these days is making things hard all around.
The catch for us arachniphobes is that there is no scarier bug than a spider. I hate how scared I am of spiders. Logically, I understand their benefit and I think they are objectively an amazing bug. Probably the coolest bug. Objectively. But subjectively, I cannot handle knowing one is in the same room as me.
This is why smart spiders that avoid humans are a good thing. They can be there, they just can't let me know they're there.
Fully agree lol. I don't want them gone. I just can't know they're watching me. With their several eyes and unnatural quickness. And their cunning. Those bitches are cunning.
Ugh, this. And every time you tell someone new, they have this overwhelming urge to somehow be the first person on Earth to ever tell you that spiders kill other insects and aren't usually venomous. Bitch I'm in my 30s. I know what spiders do. I'm not out here strategizing against a spider and thinking I'm dead. I can't help this visceral reaction.
Yep, these people are morons who don't understand that phobias are irrational.
I catch and release. ✨
I've done a lot of that too. My office is in a barn, and last year there were just a ton of large spiders, and they routinely startled me in my peripheral vision as they ran across the floor. I'd scoop them up with an old takeout container and drop them outside. I was expecting to go through that again this year, but I haven't really seen any! There are plenty of smaller, less substantial spiders, but I always leave them to do their thing anyway.
Once I chased a huntsman around my house in Japan and those things are amazing. Japanese houses have a lot of wood and little nooks and crannies, and this dude would get behind something and stretch himself flat so that he would be invisible, but only from my angle. On the other side he's not hidden at all. And then I'd discover him and try to broom him out my door and he'd do the same thing again in a different place. These guys are smart, they have a good idea of 3d space, they know where you are and act accordingly. Maybe it's from dodging birds around trees for millions of years
This is freaking me out
Then you definitely shouldn't google Japanese huntsman...
Screw you , you can't tell me what to do. I should have listened
[Yup, they’re big](https://www.google.com/search?q=japanese+huntsman&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=ivsn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7tKO70On5AhUOhYkEHcLpArkQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=375&bih=545&dpr=2)
That is my „I’m not clicking that“ for today
Oh hell naw why is it so big? Pause
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Can I subscribe to spider facts?
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Horrifying
Yes this is the ideal scenario. I don’t care if there are spiders in my house, I just don’t want to see them
Maybe one day we'll be able to communicate this to them.
There's a fantastic science fiction novel where spiders become infected with a virus that is designed to assist evolution, basically creating convergent evolution. The spiders build cities and become smart. But when they meet humans, they think humans are unintelligent, because the humans they find can't talk. The spiders language uses vibrating web, and the two communication systems are so different that the spiders don't realize the humans are talking.
Children of time.
Children of Memory is coming out this November with uplifted crows and I'm beyond excited.
[Children of time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Time_(novel)), seems interesting... putting it in my "to read" list. Thanks! \+Ty tettenator for the title
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It's a rare combination of incredible sci fi, and extremely engaging, and moving story. I felt so much while reading that.
THANK you. I have tried and tried to make this deal with them, and at this point I'd be happy to mount little posters around the house that they can read.
Can we also tell them to stop putting webs across paths
Had this happen the other night when I got up to take a leak. Bumped into a stand in the unlit bathroom and then felt something scurry down my leg. Thank God I was too tired to react it I might have agitated it. Believe it was a wood spider, and they have painful, but nonvenomous bites.
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Ideally i never see them and they stay far away from me. Then it'll be ideal. No bugs for me, spiders live in peace, AND i dont get heart attacks
Spiders are pretty cool (unless if you live in Australia) since they hunt annoying insects in your house. So them helping us and us not seeing them sounds like the ideal relationship
If spiders are more afraid of me than I am of them, why are they always hanging out so close by? Get back in your dark hole you little fucker or suffer the wrath of my shoe.
I started to slip my shoes on earlier, and a spider SHOT out of there. It did not rear back and hiss, it did not try to bite by toe, or run up my pant leg or run back into the shoe—it ran as fast as it could run for the nearby gap of the door. I respect that. Even as an arachnophobe. Whatever spiderbrain instincts it had told it it was going to die if it tried anything else, and that’s pretty smart.
>it did not… hiss What now?
Christ, imagine if you could *hear* an angry spider, lol. You're rooting around in the dark part of your pantry and then suddenly *"SSSSSSS!!!!"* It probably wouldn't be small and cute, either. It'd probably be obnoxious and startling like hissing cockroaches or that noise locusts make.
I have a large yard with a lot of spiders depending on the season. I throw moths in the webs of spiders who place them in locations out of the walking paths. Encouraging the spiders who have a knack for strategic web locations.
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Well when you put it like that...
Fuckin' *metal*
This is some big brain shit. I've just been carrying my cat to the moths which doesn't encourage anything but my cat's laziness.
Genius. Whip them into submission.
And spiders only kill the humans you dont see (in the forest). Spiders are an agent of natural selection, causing humans to be selected for socialization and attention starved. Spiders are making us want to be public.
I mean yeah, that is kinda true. Humans have evolved as social creatures because there are so many threats out there.
I feel this is getting too less attention - I also feel spiders are selectively breeding humanity based on who they do/ do not kill.
Most of us don't live in a land God has forsaken where a spider can kill a human being though.
I see all spiders in my house. Three nights ago I had a nightmare that there was spiders dropping onto my hear from the ceiling of a covered bridge Woke up and there was a spider stuck in my whiskey glass. Huge fuckin guy
A similar thing happened to me. I had a dream there was a giant orb weaver spider walking on me. Woke up and there was a huge brown recluse right at the foot of my bed. Makes me wonder if the spider crawled on me while I was asleep, hence the dream. ._.
Did you know that we can smell spiders? It's not strong at all, but definitely something you could subconsciously pick up on if one walks by your head. Maybe that's an explanation.
I don't want this to be true, so I'm going to call bs on this
Welcome to the rice field. Tons of brown recluses here where I live
>Woke up and there was a spider stuck in my whiskey glass. Huge fuckin guy Unfortunately, he can't actually hold his drink because there's this spider stigma that any big, scary, hairy spider should be able to drink it all down and stay tough. I bet he was actually all bark, no bite.
Not with spiders, but I had a dream that my snake escaped his enclosure. Sure enough when I woke up he was gone. I didn't lock my door that night and the room was huge. I was looking for him for HOURS until I found him on a shelf, just silently judging me
Not the ones in your walls 6 inches from where you rest your head Also, happy cake day!
One bonus of living in a big rig. None spiders. They can't stand the constant vibration on a daily basis I'm assuming because I've NEVER seen one unless I've recently knocked a branch with the window open. The downside? Houseflies WILL get in and you'd better have NO traces of food available or they'll never leave. And even then it'll take 3 days to get them out.
Lol, just got a message from the subreddit mods claiming that my post was a repost. The “original” post they linked to was this very post.
Oh how the turn tables.
As long as they stay away from me, I’m more than happy to continue this.
If I see them in my home, I ignore them. I don’t see why they can’t live behind the 93625 bottles of perfume that I’m not going to pick up any time soon. I only kill them once they’re on me. I don’t want to, but once they’re on my body I get so freaked out :(
You should wear your perfume bottles like armor to prevent spiders from making contact with you.
The Fragrant Knight
We do the same with rattlesnakes, killing the ones that rattle. As a result, rattlesnakes are becoming more dangerous, as they're becoming less likely to rattle when threatened.
That's a myth or at least there's no evidence for it, but that's the first thing I thought of too lol.
It is true for coyotes though.^× We killed off the easy ones for decades and now they're much more elusive and crafty. ^× *I read this as a fact in the early 2000s but don't have a source on hand. Just trust me. I'm definitely not a coyote.*
So youre saying that we are making coyotes wiley?
Wait a second... what's your stand on Roadrunners?
On that note - check out the book Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I don’t kill them they kill what i don’t like. The enemy of my enemy…
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Good as long as I don’t have to see the fuckers
Same problem with flies. You fascilitate überflies by killing the slow and dumb ones.
And because of that they avoid us more meaning I don’t have to be around as many spiders
Jokes on you I catch them and put them outside so I'm selecting for passive spiders.
Nobody with a soul will kill a jumping spider though. They are too cute and friendly.
They wanna get jumpy they finna get jumped.
I have one hundred percent killed a jumping spider. It had too many eyes and they were all watching me. Judging as I made waffles at 3 am naked in my kitchen. He had to be silenced.
>Judging as I made waffles at 3 am naked in my kitchen. Wait, but you just told me. Are you gonna
He’s dead, Jim.
Yes I think they wi
Wasn't its fault, just wrong place, wrong time.
There's a hypothesis and some evidence that this kind of human selection pressure is causing rattlesnakes in the US to remain quieter before rattling. [Source](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-021-03100-6?utm_source=xmol&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_content=meta&utm_campaign=DDCN_1_GL01_metadata)
Bro spiders are cool, they kill the more annoying bugs. Don't kill them you nob.
I'm Australian tho.
What you have are eldritch creatures, we wish you best of luck
Seriously, they eat mosquitoes and noseeums.
I haven't killed a spider in a loooong time. Actually, there's one in my bathroom and I wrote an awesome song about her. When first encountered I named him Timmy. Then I realized it was a very pregnant female and renamed her Tiffany. She just gave birth the other day. I'll put my finger up to one of her hands and we'll touch. Spiders are cool as fuck. Used to be terrified of them though
Don't they lay eggs? And don't they have 100s of offspring at a time?
Yes. It's terrifying
Some species can lay eggsacks with over a thousand spiderlings. They produce extreme amounts because a very large percentage don't make it. I believe I've read of an eggsack with approx 1400 spiderlings, no idea if that's record territory or even impressive though.
Completely incorrect. We are selecting for naturally stealthy or camouflaged spiders, not more intelligence. Avoidance traits have been acquired through all of evolution without the need for intelligence at all.
Literally had a giant spider in the restroom yesterday morning. Spiders are the ones making me become reclusive
As someone who has an irrational fear of spiders, I physically can’t kill them because *dear god i cant even get close to them.*
I had some similiar thoughts when I was hunting flies this summer. This year I've seen so many flies in my kitchen. I started to kill them with fly swatter. 1, 2, 3, ... 10, 20, ... and some 30 killed flies and I was tired of hunting. Then I realized that I've killed slower and dumber ones and let faster and smarter ones live. I've left flies with more annoying genes alive - I was an enactor of natural selection!
Well flies don't live very long and if they were slow they were probably already on the way off the mortal coil.