5 Preconceived Ideas About Spiders: Expert Deciphers Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Minuscule…

In connection with the theatrical release of Vermines, we spoke to Christine Rollard, teacher-researcher at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and author of over fifty publications on spiders. Nicknamed “Madame Spider”, the French aranologist received us in his laboratory, a kind of cabinet of curiosities, where spiders are queens.

Christine Rollard decodes movie scenes with arachnids for us: the scene with Arachne in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, with Aragog in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, scene. From Tarantula Maman I left out the plane, the bathroom scene in Vermines by Sébastien Vanicek, but also the scene where the characters of Minuscule – Les Mandibles du Bout du Monde are trapped in a web.

Misconceptions about spiders

In this extensive interview, the expert explains what is true and what is not, whether it is possible or not, and discusses the many and often wrong ideas about spiders. What is the largest known spider? Do giant spiders exist? Do we really swallow spiders in our sleep? Can they lay their eggs under our skin? Is a spider bite fatal for a person? Do all spiders weave webs?

Christine Rollard also returns to the bad image of the non-man in the human imagination, explaining that this is a very Western fear. Like jawed sharks, spiders suffer from a bad image mainly due to movies and a certain disconnect with nature in our societies.

After this interview you will know spiders!