{"id":11367,"date":"2022-05-05T14:20:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T13:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=11367"},"modified":"2022-05-05T14:21:04","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T13:21:04","slug":"cyclocosmia-spider-not-poisonous-to-human-as-claimed-by-facebook-user","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/cyclocosmia-spider-not-poisonous-to-human-as-claimed-by-facebook-user\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclocosmia spider not poisonous to human as claimed by Facebook user"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim:\u00a0A Facebook user claims<\/a> that a poisonous spider can kill a human being within five minutes of stinging an individual.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The original photographer had refuted the claim via a tweet in 2020 that the spider is not dangerous to humans. Our findings also showed that this particular spider is harmless to humans and are not most likely to be found in Nigeria.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria and Africa have been home to venomous insects and animals alike. According to a Premium Times<\/a> report in 2017, over 250 Nigerians died of snakebites in just three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Premium Times reported<\/a> that Nigeria recorded 2,000 deaths from snakebites every year, a statement made by the Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaria has also been an issue in Africa and 600,000 deaths were recorded in 2021 by the World Health Organization, according to The Cable.<\/a> As a result of these lingering dangers, Nigerians pay a considerable level of attention to their environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The screenshot of the claim on Facebook<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spiders are now the concern for this Facebook user, Lawrence Ukwu, who shared<\/a> a post warning beachgoers to avoid a poisonous spider capable of killing an individual within five minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post includes three pictures of the spider, accompanied with the warning statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor those of you who are going to the beach. Please beware of this. Don’t try to pick it up thinking it’s a work of art.\u00a0 It’s a very poisonous spider.\u00a0 If it stings you will die within 5 minutes,\u201d the user stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One commenter, Komolafe Sunday thanked the poster for sharing the information while Capitan Johnerro, who seemed to doubt the information, asked, \u201cHow true is this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such claims have the potential to scare people off the acclaimed environments these spiders are said to be found. A viable reason DUBAWA opts to fact-check this claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA carried out a Google Reverse Image Search on the image of the alleged picture of the spider. Results uncovered on Insect Identification<\/a> reveals the spider is called the cork-lid trapdoor spider. Insect Identification notes that the spider can be found in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada. This implies its rarity in Nigeria, a contrast to the claimant\u2019s earlier warning to Nigerian beachgoers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, a tweet <\/a>made by the original photographer, Nicky Bay, (@singaporemacro<\/a>) in 2020, admitting the virality of his piece of work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a Cyclocosmia, a genus of cork-lid trapdoor spiders with a posteriorly truncated abdomen,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The screenshot of the tweet in 2020<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The photographer did not mention whether or not the  venom of the spider is poisonous to humans as alleged by the claimant. He also never mentions that it can kill anyone within five minutes. In Fact, he debunked the claim, stating clearly that the spider is NOT dangerous to humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The screenshot of his tweet debunking the information<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is actually a very docile spider with medically insignificant venom,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA also found that Check Your Fact<\/a> interviewed an arachnologist,\u00a0 Sebastian Echeverri<\/a> to ascertain the claim of the photographer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arachnologist confirmed that \u201cits venom barely does anything to humans because no spiders can or need to eat humans.\u201d We also carried out a keyword search to find if the spider has caused any death and found none on the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Research has shown that the spider is harmless to humans. The photographer, expert and keyword search all showed that the spider cannot kill humans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim:\u00a0A Facebook user claims that a poisonous spider can kill a human being within five minutes of stinging an individual. The original photographer had refuted the claim via a tweet in 2020 that the spider is not dangerous to humans. Our findings also showed that this particular spider is harmless to humans and are not most likely to be found in Nigeria. Full Text Nigeria and Africa have been home to venomous insects and animals alike. According to a Premium Times report in 2017, over 250 Nigerians died of snakebites in just three weeks. In 2021, Premium Times reported that Nigeria recorded 2,000 deaths from snakebites every year, a statement made by the Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora. Malaria has also been an issue in Africa and 600,000 deaths were recorded in 2021 by the World Health Organization, according to The Cable. As a result of these lingering dangers, Nigerians pay a considerable level of attention to their environment.\u00a0 Spiders are now the concern for this Facebook user, Lawrence Ukwu, who shared a post warning beachgoers to avoid a poisonous spider capable of killing an individual within five minutes.\u00a0 The post includes three pictures of the spider, accompanied with the warning statement. \u201cFor those of you who are going to the beach. Please beware of this. Don’t try to pick it up thinking it’s a work of art.\u00a0 It’s a very poisonous spider.\u00a0 If it stings you will die within 5 minutes,\u201d the user stated.\u00a0 One commenter, Komolafe Sunday thanked the poster for sharing the information while Capitan Johnerro, who seemed to doubt the information, asked, \u201cHow true is this?\u201d Such claims have the potential to scare people off the acclaimed environments these spiders are said to be found. A viable reason DUBAWA opts to fact-check this claim. Verification DUBAWA carried out a Google Reverse Image Search on the image of the alleged picture of the spider. Results uncovered on Insect Identification reveals the spider is called the cork-lid trapdoor spider. Insect Identification notes that the spider can be found in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada. This implies its rarity in Nigeria, a contrast to the claimant\u2019s earlier warning to Nigerian beachgoers.\u00a0 Additionally, a tweet made by the original photographer, Nicky Bay, (@singaporemacro) in 2020, admitting the virality of his piece of work.\u00a0 \u201cThis is a Cyclocosmia, a genus of cork-lid trapdoor spiders with a posteriorly truncated abdomen,\u201d he tweeted. The photographer did not mention whether or not the  venom of the spider is poisonous to humans as alleged by the claimant. He also never mentions that it can kill anyone within five minutes. In Fact, he debunked the claim, stating clearly that the spider is NOT dangerous to humans. \u201cIt is actually a very docile spider with medically insignificant venom,\u201d he clarified. DUBAWA also found that Check Your Fact interviewed an arachnologist,\u00a0 Sebastian Echeverri to ascertain the claim of the photographer.\u00a0 The arachnologist confirmed that \u201cits venom barely does anything to humans because no spiders can or need to eat humans.\u201d We also carried out a keyword search to find if the spider has caused any death and found none on the internet. Conclusion Research has shown that the spider is harmless to humans. The photographer, expert and keyword search all showed that the spider cannot kill humans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,121],"tags":[3270,3272,3271],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3014],"class_list":["post-11367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-health","tag-cyclocosmia-spider","tag-is-cyclocosmia-dangerous","tag-poisonous-spider"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-2Xl","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3014,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"muktar-balogun","display_name":"Muktar Balogun","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Cyclocosmia-spider-not-poisonous-to-human-as-claimed-by-Facebook-user.jpg?fit=1600%2C1067&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11367"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11372,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11367\/revisions\/11372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11367"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=11367"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=11367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}