In Just One Year, Spiders Could Theoretically Eat Every Single Human On Earth

There are people who have arachnophobia and those who believe it to be a pointless fear which isn’t even real, but they may change their way of thinking very soon. While it is indeed true that spiders are almost always around you, no matter how clean or careful you are, there is something even more frightening of which you must be aware. A new study has revealed that spiders could theoretically eat all human beings on Earth in just one year.

A recent study from Peer J has revealed that 100 percent of homes in a North Carolina survey were found to have spiders in them. Out of all of those homes, 68 percent of bathrooms had spiders in them, and more than three-fourths of bedrooms had spiders in them.

Through identification and classification, it was revealed that there were numerous different species of spiders, but not all of them were collected. While it is terrifying to think that spiders are always around everyone, but there are more horrific facts to worry about.

According to the Washington Post, it is possible that spiders could consume, devour, and eat every human being on the planet in the span of one year. This is speaking entirely in theory, and it isn’t very likely to happen, but the real possibility for it to happen is there.

Yes, spiders do consume and eat insects for the most part, but they do also eat some birds, lizards, and even dine on small mammals. The idea that spiders eat so much in a year made a couple of biologists from Europe wonder what could be possible if that total was added up to see how much the entire spider population eats in a year.

Klaus Birkhofer and Martin Nyffler published their findings earlier this month in a journal called the Science of Nature, and the results are quite horrifying. They learned that all spiders kill an estimated “400-800 million metric tons of prey” every single year,

Insects and collembolans compose more than 90 percent of that total of captured prey. Spiders that are associated with grasslands and forests account for more than 95 percent of that annual total prey kill while spiders in other habitats are rather insignificant in that total.

While some of that extra information may be rather comforting to those who have arachnophobia, it is still frightening to think about how it all could go if spiders partnered together for a revolution.

Spiders end up eating at least as much meat in a year as all seven billion of the human beings on the planet combined. Humans are said to eat 400 million tons of fish and meat each year, and as you can easily see, spiders beat that out without much trouble.

Taking things a step further, The Washington Post put the biomass of all adult humans on the planet Earth at about an estimated 287 million tons. Throw in an estimated 70 million tons more for children, and it still doesn’t equal up the least amount of food that all spiders eat in a year.

So yes, in theory, spiders could easily eat every single human on Earth in the span of one year and still go out hunting for more. Let’s see if that ups the amount of people with arachnophobia.

The Verge has taken this new research and seems to be all right with the idea of spiders chowing down on the so-called dominant species. It has even spawned a petition that is being sent to Senator Al Franken from people who want to make this frightening theory into a reality.

Spiders are honestly one of those creatures that many people take for granted as they don’t always realize the seriousness of them. Many ridicule those with arachnophobia and think it truly isn’t a legitimate fear, but this new research should honestly bring about some frightening thoughts into everyone. While it isn’t likely that spiders will eat every single human being on Earth within a year’s time, it really is something to think about and try not to cringe.

[Featured Image by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]