I really hate how culture normalizes fear of bugs and reinforces and fuels insect phobias until they make it impossible to coexist with nature
I would never dismiss someone’s phobia. I know what kind of hell on earth that shit is. And I don’t mock people for being scared of wasps or bees because some people have allergies that can kill them and it’s kinda dumb to be rude to someone who is afraid of something that might kill them. But it’s done people such a disservice that culture tells people it’s reasonable to be afraid of all bugs and that most bugs will hurt you or your house or your pets.
I see so many comments and tags on posts about nature saying things like “I would love to spend time outside but I can’t handle being around bugs” as if it’s normal! If you can’t sit on grass or go on a hike because of your fear of bugs, that’s like…clinically significant highly disabling stuff. It’s locking you away from so many experiences.
Fears like this often get reinforced by witnessing other people’s responses to a stimulus. We are social creatures and if you watch the people around you show disgust and fear in response to bugs, you will learn to respond that way too. If you hear on the internet and TV and elsewhere that most bugs are dangerous and want to hurt you or will give you diseases, it will be reinforced even more.
The fact is, bugs are just guys. We depend on them for almost every part of our lives. Our planet is teeming with so many wondrous life forms, and many of them are insects. They come in every color and every form of iridescence, they glow and sparkle and they are fuzzy and striped and spotted. They are not “gross” or dirty.
Insects worldwide are now dropping in number, and it could mean disaster for us and every life form on earth. Most flowering plants (80% or so) have a symbiotic partnership with insects where they are dependent on insect pollination to fertilize their flowers. Wasps, bees, flies, butterflies, and even ants and beetles are all important pollinators, and each plant’s flowers are designed to be pollinated by a different group of insects. Without these insects, the majority of flowering plant species would not be able to exist. They would go extinct. That includes most of the plants we eat. No wasps, bees, flies and other pollinators= no apples, no berries, no peaches, no plums, no anything. That’s a simplified summary but it expresses just how important they are.
A big reason for it is the use of insecticides that are highly toxic to a wide variety of non-target insects. For instance, carbaryl, typically known as Sevin in the US, was for a long time sold in every garden center in a powdery dust form, to put on garden plants that had holes in their leaves.
Carbaryl dust is incredibly toxic to bees and can be picked up by them in the same way as pollen, and in that way it can be carried back to the hive and kill the whole hive.
Many of these insecticides are also highly dangerous to humans, and using them in and around your home exposes you to poisonous and/or potentially cancer-causing substances. The residues of these insecticides linger basically forever inside homes. There have been studies done that found insecticides that have been banned for a long time still lingering in people’s carpets and floors.
So it’s not good that so many people are terrified of insects. And the best antidote is to learn. Learn about bugs and their diversity and unique beauty and intelligence. If videos are no good, look at books with pictures; if you don’t want to look at pictures, books without pictures or podcasts might help. Maybe start with bugs that seem less frightening and move on to learning about others from there.
Learn about their ways and behaviors and how they are similar to animals you are more familiar with, such as birds or cats. Learn the ways in which they are similar to you—you will find that you share many important qualities, like “enjoy fruit” and “would defend friends and family.” Join bug identification groups online. Learn from people who keep bugs as pets.
It is so, so rewarding and important.
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