Person Insists on Spider Eggs Inhabiting his Big Toe, while Specialists Remain Unconvinced
In an unusual and somewhat shocking claim, Colin Blake, a UK man, has shared his experience of a Peruvian wolf spider laying eggs inside his big toe while on a cruise. However, experts are sceptical about the validity of Blake's story.
Blake's swollen toe occurred overnight during a cruise to France, where he was bitten while eating a meal outdoors in Marseille. According to his account, the cruise ship's medical staff cut open his toe, revealing a "milk-like" pus containing spider eggs.
However, Sara Goodacre, an evolutionary biologist and geneticist who studies spiders at the University of Nottingham, doubts the validity of Blake's story about a wolf spider laying eggs inside his toe. "It is not biologically possible for a wolf spider to lay eggs inside a human's toe," Goodacre explains.
Wolf spiders lay eggs in silken egg sacs outside their bodies, which the female often carries attached to her spinnerets or guards in a silk retreat. The eggs develop inside these sacs until the spiderlings hatch, typically numbering 20 to 100 offspring per sac. After hatching, the young usually climb onto the mother's back and later disperse; they are not deposited inside other organisms, especially not human tissue.
The British Arachnological Society also finds Blake's claim implausible. The story of Colin Blake's spider tooth may not be factual, according to experts, joining other bug-related urban legends such as the one about a girl whose swollen jaw was filled with cockroach eggs from eating Taco Bell.
Despite the doubts, Blake is expected to make a full recovery, and a photo of his swollen toe is available for viewing. The specific species of the spider that laid eggs inside Blake's toe, if it indeed happened, has not been confirmed. The potential egg-laying arachnid was specifically referred to as a Peruvian wolf spider in a report given by Blake to a UK hospital.
As the investigation continues, it is important to remember that wolf spiders reproduce by external egg sacs carried or hidden within their environment, not by depositing eggs inside humans or any other animals. Any claim or fear that wolf spiders lay eggs inside a human toe lacks a biological basis and is inconsistent with their natural reproductive behavior.
