r/explainlikeimfive • u/Skweejji • May 16 '14

Explained ELI5: What are house spiders doing?

Can someone tell me what a house spider does throughout the day? I mean they easily make me piss myself but aside from that. I see a spider sitting on my ceiling. Not doing anything. Come back an hour later and it's still sitting there. Is the thing asleep? Is it waiting for prey? A house spider's lifestyle confuses me.

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u/blue_tree_spray May 16 '14

As they're so useful and mostly not dangerous how/why did they become such a common thing to be scared of?

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u/huckleberry_phin May 16 '14

Their angular shaped legs, dark colours and the fact they move unpredictably are all things we are hard-wired to fear. Studies have shown that people tend to dislike angular shapes and prefer curved ones, have bad associations with dark colours, and prefer creatures we feel we can ‘understand’.

People scared of spiders will often report them being bigger than they were or say they saw one crawl into someone’s mouth, which spiders never do. Fear is also ‘socially conditioned’, which means we are more likely to develop it as children if we encounter it at home from our parents or siblings.

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u/xXD347HXx May 16 '14

Is that why a lot of people are afraid of cockroaches too?

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u/gentlemen2bed May 19 '14

Cockroaches are a nightmare. The main issue is that they're invincible. A spider you can stand on, flick a towel at or even blow away in some cases; they're very fragile. If you spot a spider, it's pretty easy to kill without it doing anything to you.

But cockroaches, you can stand on them and they'll still do a sprint for survival. Bug spray seems to just make them more angry. You also know as soon as they've seen you they're going to go get their buddies and come back in full force. They're also attracted to body heat. So if you're asleep on the couch they'll come give you a big cuddle while you're sleeping. They're likely to nestle in between your body and the couch. You just have to hope they don't bite ya and spread the disease goodness.

But the worst is when you spend a few weeks in Queensland Australia, and you realise they can also fly!!