MOVIES - Aug. 1, 1990

Spider Slip-Ups: A dozen zoologists at the University of Florida say the movie “Arachnophobia” is filled with errors and is sexist from a spider’s point of view--but they enjoyed it just the same. “We spotted all kinds of mistakes,” said zoology professor Jon Reiskind. “But we jumped with everyone else at the scary parts.” Mistakes included mating a tiny crab spider with a tarantula. “That would be like mating a dog with an elephant,” Reiskind said. And the film is distinctly sexist in its assignment of the choice roles to male spiders. “The spider world is dominated by females,” said visiting researcher Mark Stowe, who has seen many a black widow spider devour her partner for lunch.