The question we are going to address in this post is whether or not a spider is going to lay eggs in bananas? The short answer is no, but it then leads us to wonder why this question is asked in the first place?
Spiders do not lay eggs in bananas. Spiders are unable to enter bananas, and the banana industry also scrupulously checks all produce.
It turns out that this is all connected to people being slightly misguided by what can happen with a spider and something it does do with a banana. Now, that sounds weird all in its own right, with us saying that, so let’s explore things in more detail.
I’ve come up with the top 6 facts to understand about this rather strange concept – do spiders lay eggs in bananas?
1. It’s an Urban Myth
We need to put things straight right from the outset. This is an urban myth. Nothing more, nothing less.
It’s one of those stories that emerges with the idea of scaring people, and the fact that people see evidence of spider eggs on bananas does then make it seem far more plausible than our mind would like us to think.
Urban myths do tend to set out to make us think twice about something, and this is one of those times.
However, we are going to put the record straight.
2. Where Does the Question Come From?
It turns out that the question comes from people seeing the egg sac of a spider sitting on a banana. Do note that we said it was sitting on the banana, and not in the banana. Yes, some people do believe that the spider manages to somehow burrow its way inside the banana and that we would open it up to eat, and be met with baby spiders.
Now, that would be a horrible thing to see, and would probably lead to you never eating bananas again, but it really doesn’t happen that way.
Also, there’s another reason why some people come up with this idea that a spider will lay eggs in bananas, and it’s connected to those times where spiders emerge from banana shipments in supermarkets around the world.
You see, people put 2 and 2 together, and come up with the wrong answer.
People come to the conclusion that the spider has managed to emerge from the banana shipment because it was born there inside the bananas. Well, that’s not true. Instead, what happens is that the spider has more than likely managed to work its way into the general container of bananas, and then hitched a ride to wherever it ended up in the world.
What makes this entire thing worse is that these spiders that emerge from a crate of bananas tend to be ones that you don’t find in the new location. Black widows, Huntsmen, Tarantulas, they have all emerged from time to time, and thousands of miles away from their home.
This makes for a real shock for the individual opening up the crate of bananas. It can even hit the news, and then it makes us feel on edge when it comes to bananas.
But there’s an important point to remember.
It was not born inside the banana and then emerged from some banana inspired cocoon to surprise us.
3. The Spider Egg Sac and a Banana
If you look online, you will come across images of a spider covering its egg sac in silk to protect it, and this is on the surface of a banana. [Source]
But this is the important point.
The spider doesn’t have some kind of penchant for bananas. They simply see a surface to put their eggs on, and when they did it, the banana was probably in a better spot than when we see it. They would have believed that it was safe for them to deposit their eggs there until they hatched.
When you think about it, a bunch of bananas does offer these small spaces where a small spider can lay its eggs, and they are effectively hidden from view. It makes a whole lot of sense, and also bananas are grown in areas where there will tend to be a vast number of spiders that are active. If you actually studied the area, there would be spider eggs everywhere, since they will all be aware of the best places to hide their eggs to give them the best possible chance of survival.
That is all that is going on with this idea, and nothing else.
4. A Spider Won’t Get Into the Banana
The main final point we need to make about this urban legend is that the spider is going to be unable to get inside the banana in the first place. The skin of the banana is far too tough for them to break through. If that’s the case, which it is, then how would the spider be able to lay its eggs inside of a banana?
When you think about it logically, it makes no sense. That’s why it’s an urban legend, and it’s one that’s designed to terrify people to such an extent that they even think twice about eating a banana.
The fangs of a spider cannot really pierce our skin, so how do you think it’s going to be able to get through something as tough as a banana skin? The answer is that it’s going to be very difficult to do, and then they would need to make a hole large enough to get into it. [Source]
A spider is just not going to put that kind of energy into finding a place to put its eggs. There are more than enough hiding places out there for them to choose from. They have no need to work hard when they are struggling with carrying the eggs in the first place.
5. The Egg Sac is Harmless to Us
So, what do you do if you find a banana with a spider egg sac on it? Well, the quick answer is that you simply wipe it away. It’s not harmful to us if we touch it, but you clearly don’t want to be eating it.
This is quick and easy to do. It’s not exactly stuck down hard enough to make this task impossible for us, so don’t stress about it. However, the sac is certainly secure enough for the spider eggs to hatch if left alone.
6. The Banana Industry Actually Checks
As a quick sidenote, the banana industry is supposed to check the bananas before they get shipped out, in order to remove any signs of spiders. They look for the sacs or any additional spiders that have worked their way into the banana shipment, just as we described earlier.
That’s why you may never have even come across this sort of thing before. People at the picking side of things take steps to make sure that we don’t see it as a problem. Of course, when it does happen, some people stress about it, but finding these eggs on bananas will be a very rare thing.
So, the Answer is an Emphatic No
As you can see, the answer to this question (‘Do spiders lay eggs in bananas?’) is an emphatic no, and it’s all just a myth that is brought up by people time and time again. It’s just not possible, or plausible, for a spider to be able to do this.
They can lay their eggs on the skin, but that’s as far as it goes. Also, forget that a spider has been born inside the banana. That’s just not possible.
A spider cannot work its way into a banana unless there is some kind of split that allows it to sneak in. However, that is highly unlikely, and it’s not as if there’s some species of spider that specializes in doing this sort of thing.
Overall, your bananas are safe from all of this, so just enjoy them even if you do come across that egg sac on the outside.
