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In September 2015, a meme asserting that walnuts were a natural deterrent to spiders was widely circulated on social media. While that meme specifically identified walnuts as an arachnid deterrent, similar home remedies for repelling spiders involving horse chestnuts, chestnuts, and the fruit of the Osage tree have long been touted: While the above-referenced method might be described as an old wives' tale, several prominent publications have mentioned it in recent years as a way to ward off spiders. The Independent, for instance, included walnuts in their list of Ten ways to ward off spiders this autumn in 2014, but that newspaper also noted there was no scientific evidence proving that their suggestion was effective: The Standard published a similar list in 2015 which included chestnuts: The Burke Museum of Natural History suggests that walnuts, chestnuts, and the fruit of the Osage orange tree should not even be considered in a spider defense system, bringing up three important points: First, house spiders don't actually enter homes from the outside, so placing walnuts (or chestnuts or Osage oranges or anything else) on windowsills won't keep them away (as they're already inside). Second, spiders don't seem to have an aversion to chestnuts in the wild, so why would they avoid them inside a house? Lastly, the idea that spiders are repelled by the smell of chestnuts implies that spiders can detect airborne scents, but spiders actually interpret smells through touch: The most effective method for keeping spiders out of your house involves taking steps to prevent them from getting there in the first place.
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