Spiders are probably the smallest animal that inspires the greatest amount of fear in humans.
More people are afraid of spiders than dogs, which kill many, many more people - but not only do the vast majority of spiders not pose a real threat to human life, they are also more afraid of us than the arachnophobes among us are afraid of them, and we have a summary of studies that prove this, which we wrote with the help of Claude.
Take for example the Jorō spider - the nickname for a large, colorful and very menacing looking spider that is common in Southeast Asia, and in recent years has caused a lot of concern after it was reported that it has also become common in parts of the USA. When they sense the presence of a potential threat - such as a human – They pretend to be dead for more than an hour.
Other defense strategies include hiding, camouflage, or even dangerously approaching relatively small predators to avoid the larger "predator".
Obviously, spiders see humans as threatening giants to be avoided, not attacked.
According to researchers and spider experts, media coverage tends to exaggerate the threat posed by spiders, fueling arachnophobia.
In reality, no spiders appear on the World Health Organization's list of dangerous animals - again, unlike some of our best friends.
Our disproportionate fear of spiders probably stems from a general human need to control our environment, which spiders tend to subtly invade and 'contaminate' their webs.
But this overreaction causes problems: using pesticides to kill spiders in agriculture can cost them their 'control' services against more resistant pests.
We also underestimate the medical promise of spider venom, and rely on emotional responses, rather than facts, in spider coverage.
Thus we tend to overlook the impressive evolutionary adaptations and their ecological roles.
Bottom line, there is no need to be afraid of spiders.
If you see a spider around, you should consider the reaction carefully based on facts, and not panic.
Not every spider in a human environment needs to be killed by trampling or spraying poisons.
Sometimes it is better to let them continue on their way and not scare them with our fearful reactions from them.
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