A woman’s kitchen was filled with mysterious black spots, which terrified her.
After questioning the internet community, the woman wondered why she still had blackheads in her kitchen. She couldn’t think it could be “spider droppings.” “Does anyone know what these points could be?” she asked in a Facebook group.
“They initially appeared on the kitchen tiles this morning, then on top of the PC we keep in the kitchen.”
Someone wrote to him, “Look over it and you’ll probably find a canvas/spider.”
According to the Pest Guidance website, “spiders” do not leave solid excrement; instead, their excrement is thick and liquid, like ink stains that regularly appear on walls and surfaces. Dark splashes or drops are to be expected in most cases.
“These droppings contain a mix of food and other residual components released by the spider’s body.”
Spiders are scary for many individuals. Spiders cause more havoc than mice, birds, flies, cockroaches, or other public health threats.
Most people, incorrectly, assume that spiders will attack without warning, sinking their deadly fangs into any adult or child in their path, and that the resulting spider bite will be unpleasant and lethal.
Because of food contamination, knowledgeable PMPs are unable to persuade some people that mice, flies, and a number of other indoor pests pose greater risk to human health than spiders.
However, some entomologists have questioned the health benefits of spider droppings…
When investigating the filth at the bottom of a container harboring a “pet” spider, such as a black widow spider.
It’s only a matter of time before the area beneath the “pet” spider resembles the sidewalk beneath a troublesome resident pigeon colony (which we know is a cause for concern). Is spider poop safe?
How dangerous is it if one of the common spider species found near interior ceilings defecates on food, a food preparation table, pillows or towels, infant pacifiers or toys, or anything else that could come into contact with a person’s mouth? How dangerous are spiders that live within?
Are pathogens present in spider droppings?
Several common human diseases have been recovered from filth flies, including Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Salmonella spp., and E. coli (White 2006, Butler et al. 2010). According to investigations, pathogenic bacteria have also been detected in flies’ faeces or droppings.
In contrast, the microbiological residents of spiders and their droppings have received less research. What exactly happens when a spider feeds on dirty flies?
Is it feasible for dangerous microorganisms to enter the spider and land somewhere beneath it? Is there a public health need to avoid spiders indoors, aside from people’s dread of them?
Melissa Gaver-Wainwright, an entomology graduate student at Washington State University, conducted preliminary research to address these issues.
To examine the probability of disease transmission via black widow spider (Latrodectus Hesperus) waste material, a fecal sample was swabbed from a sterilized container and dipped in a growth medium to increase the number of bacteria in the sample.
In order to identify microbes associated with the feces, she utilized universal bacterial primers to amplify a conserved region of the 16S rRNA gene. There were no identifiable pathogens in the spider excrement.
The results were perplexing. Several studies have found that some spider venom (and blood) contains antibacterial properties, which could explain the lack of microorganisms detected. These broad-spectrum antibacterial peptides have been shown to be toxic to E. coli, Staphylococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and other bacteria.
Many questions remain, such as whether other species of web-building spiders have bacteria-free droppings, and whether different molecular techniques produce different results.
When it comes to protecting one’s health, controlling filth flies may be more vital than managing spiders. On the other hand, spider droppings should not be present indoors.
