Spiders could theoretically eat every human on earth in one year

[Tanuki]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/28/spiders-could-theoretically-eat-every-human-on-earth-in-one-year/

"Spiders are quite literally all around us. A recent entomological survey of North Carolina homes turned up spiders in 100 percent of them, including 68 percent of bathrooms and more than three-quarters of bedrooms. There's a good chance at least one spider is staring at you right now, sizing you up from a darkened corner of the room, eight eyes glistening in the shadows.

Spiders mostly eat insects, although some of the larger species have been known to snack on lizards, birds and even small mammals. Given their abundance and the voraciousness of their appetites, two European biologists recently wondered: If you were to tally up all the food eaten by the world's entire spider population in a single year, how much would it be?

Martin Nyffeler and Klaus Birkhofer published their estimate in the journal the Science of Nature earlier this month, and the number they arrived at is frankly shocking: The world's spiders consume somewhere between 400 million and 800 million tons of prey in any given year. That means that spiders eat at least as much meat as all 7 billion humans on the planet combined, who the authors note consume about 400 million tons of meat and fish each year.


Or, for a slightly more disturbing comparison: The total biomass of all adult humans on Earth is estimated to be 287 million tons. Even if you tack on another 70 million-ish tons to account for the weight of kids, it's still not equal to the total amount of food eaten by spiders in a given year, exceeding the total weight of humanity.

In other words, spiders could eat all of us and still be hungry.".......(more)

[Throck]

1. And to think I put them outside when I find them in my bedroom.

I'll be sleeping with one eye open from now on.

[brooklynite]

2. Or, a meteor could hit the Earth and kill everyone...

...I'll sleep soundly tonight.

[lindysalsagal]

3. Any way we can have them start at the white house?????

Just asking for a friend.

[X_Digger]

4. Bah, bathroom spider and I are cool like that.

I clean up her corpse pile every week or so, she keeps eating the gnats, flies, and assorted critters that end up in her path.

I only move outside those spiders big enough for the dogs to notice / pester.

Tools and items in the shed get inspected closely before I grab them; all shoes, boots, and galoshes are stored inside and shaken out before being put on, just in case.

[Gabi Hayes]

5. Look out! 100 foot high CRAWLING TERROR!

[dae]

6. Interesting, anyone speak spiderese, i have a few thoughts on were they

couls start an all-you-eat buffet.
😂🤣😂

[Xipe Totec]

7. Are you issuing a warning, or proposing a solution? nt

[ProudLib72]

8. Don't kill the good spiders

If you kill the benign spiders in your home, you create space for black widows and brown recluse spiders.

[Poiuyt]

9. My cat eats the spiders in my bathroom

I know this because she spits out the legs.

I know, I know...those are the best parts!

[JI7]

10. Does that mean without Spiders there would be some other or more of other disgusting insects around

?

[sarisataka]

11. .

[Javaman]

12. Personally, I welcome our spider overlords. nt

[Throckmorton]

19. Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos. N/T

[MoonRiver]

13. It's my husband's job to save any spider who appears in the bathtub.

He's got it down to a fine science. Maybe they will remember our kindness when Spider Apocalypse goes down!

[pinboy3niner]

14. Help me! Please help me!

[Talk Is Cheap]

15. I don't kill spiders...

...but I do scoop up the larger ones and put them outside.

Spiders have feelings, well, at least instincts. Spiders do scream- literally.
I was about to kill a huge spider and it screamed at me, seriously.
That's why I don;t kill spiders and try not to kill anything else (sometimes you step on an ant)...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. Not joking, I read this as "Spicer could theoretically eat every human on earth in one year."

And don't test him, because he probably could.

[Takket]

17. Well... I'm never sleeping again

[Egnever]

18. Imagine the mess that would be left if we eliminated them

That is a lot of cleaning they do.

Makes me want to rethink my reaction to spiders when I see them.

But only for a second.

[arachadillo]

20. Count Me In With The Spiders

OK...so everyone enjoys a good spider story....just wanted to add a few more to the mix

Gratography