Why do so many people fear spiders despite the fact that most of them are totally harmless?

Because they are ugly.

I don’t fear them at all…BUT am not pleased when one makes it’s way into my bed an bites me!

Because I am a big chicken. I’ve never liked spiders. It annoys the piss out of my husband, too. He goes into the size comparison thing and shakes his head.

Truly, I don’t know. I’m guessing because I just don’t like most insects. I think it’s also when you hear how poisonous some of the spiders are, it just furthers the fear.

When it comes to snakes, truly, I am scared to death of them. I was bitten by one and it hurt, big time. Sitting in the ER, being treated, it just pushed the fear. Again, you hear about how deadly the venom can be, how damaging – just drives that fear…to the point where you become me. I absolutely hate snakes and freeze when I see one. I am trying to work on it this year…we’ll see how it goes!

<—- Major Arachnophobe. I can only tell you this. The shape of a spider is archetypal to me. It is different from any insect. I can recognize it from far away. Size does not matter.

My fear is from birth. I did not have a bad experience as a child. I think it is, in fact, genetic. Young relatives, not raised in proximity to me or my sister (the two arachnophobes in the family) also have it.

I don’t like bugs, period. I won’t go anywhere near them. I don’t know why…I can’t explain my fears.

Because they sting and it hurts! Just like people run when they see a bee. They are totally harmless and are very tiny, but they sting and hurts like hell.

Same reason most people hate/fear snakes. They are predatorial, silent, and most will bite you whether they are venomous or not. It’s a primordial gut reaction, and the creepiness of the reaction differs from the reaction one feels upon viewing an apex predator (like a lion or shark) up close.

Now I’m all weirded out.

The fuckers have EIGHT legs!! That’s unnatural!

@SpatzieLover, while a common belief, house spiders do NOT bite humans. Unfortunately, people who find a mark or a small wound on thier body assume it was a spider that bit them, when they have no evidence of it actually happening. There are many other reasons for you to have a wound with no apparent cause, but I am pretty positive that uynless you saw the spider do it, and have the spider as evidence, assuming it was a spider that bit you is erroneous.

A great place to learn the truth about spiders and the myths everyone assumes are true about them is here I have to go to work now, but I will be back for more of this question.

Great Question, mattbrowne

@evelyns_pet_zebra I HAVE indeed been bitten by spiders within the confines of my home. I had to be checked by the doc for one of them as it was highly unpleasant (so much so I missed a day of school).

I have also been bitten by spiders in my garden, but I figure, out there it’s their home and I’m messing with it.

Again, I don’t kill them, but I can understand why people don’t like them.

@evelyns_pet_zebra I also have had a spider bite and known others who have had.

Gross Out warning. Image not for the faint of stomach.

They are nothing to mess around with.

Yes, because they look creepy. That’s the worst, the way they look, i can’t stand it! And, i only squish / spray the venomous ones, the others i have thrown out the house or over the wall. And sometimes, you don’t even know which are venomous or not, so…..they have to go then too.

I saw a special on TV once about irrational fears and it suggested that spiders have a strong resemblance to a human hand creeping around, so it unnerves a lot of people’s subconsciouses.

@ubersiren That is a really interesting idea. I don’t fear hands though.

I got bit by a spider and ended up in the hospital when I was little. That’s my excuse!

If you’ve ever been bitten by a brown recluse, you would understand the fear of the eight-leggeds.

We have lots of Black Widows in our area, don’t tell me they are harmless, so yes, I get freaked around sticky webs and when I see them.

Plus, spiders are fast and they might just run up to you and bite you before you blink.

I’m not scared of house spiders though, they are harmless.

Last night I had a dream that I was bit by a Black Widow and it was painful, even in my dream. Yeah, I’m scared.

because they scare the shit outta me! i have panic attack-like reactions when i see them

After reading this question, I tried to analyze what I don’t like about spiders. This is what I have come up with:

1. They look very different than mammals.
2. They move in a creepy fashion, that is to say, very very different from the way we move.
3. While my mom is not the type to freak out about spiders, I have seen many reactions wherein someone freaked out.
4. They startle me when I find them in unexpected places.
5. I’m totally irrational.

Because they are just too damn creepy.

There are lots of nasty ones in Australia, red backs, funnel thingys, I don’t like them but try to sort of coexist with the non poisonous types!

Because the movie Arachnophobia scared the crap out of them?

They do nothing at all to hide what they are.

that drives humans crazy

I doubt it is possible to come up with a rational reason for an irrational feeling. I am very afraid of spiders, even the cartoon ones, and pictures of real spiders make me very uncomfortable. I have been able to force myself to touch a picture of one, but it is hard to do.

I’m not going to argue about spider bites, because people will believe what they wish, and no amount of experts are going to change their minds. Incidentally, many doctors have no idea of what a real spider bite looks like and will often misdiagnose other insect bites and bacterial infections as so-called spider bites.

What I do find funny is that a man who has handled spiders for 37 years has only been bitten a couple of times, but people who only come across spiders at random have been bit many more times. And, Marina, that picture proves nothing. That could be any disease besides a spider bite. Remember, this is the Internet.

According to the latest medical research, 80% of Brown Recluse bites require NO medical attention and heal just fine on their own.

I’ve handled many house spiders in my house, and I’ve never been bitten, not once. Humans are not seen as food by spiders, but hey, you guys perpetuate the fear if it makes you feel good.

Out of the 30,000 known species of spiders in North America, only about 4 are considered harmful, not fatal. Black Widows, Brown Recluse, Tarantula and the Hobo spider. That’s .001% of all spiders.

And excerpt from this website.

Myth: A spider bit me while I was asleep. (No, I didn’t see any spider, but what else could it have been?)

Fact: The notion that “if you didn’t see what bit you, it was a spider” is (to me) one of the strangest of the widespread spider superstitions, already well established in 1901 according to a medical article published then. Even some physicians, who really should know better, accept it! I have no idea how this belief originated, but it is quite false.

Here are some facts: Unless you are sleeping on the basement floor, a spider might wander onto your bed as often as twice a year. Not every night! If you take elementary precautions like not letting the blankets or bedspread touch the floor or walls, the incidence of spiders on the bed will be effectively zero. If a spider does get on a bed, usually no bite will result. Spiders have no reason to bite humans; they are not bloodsuckers, and are not aware of our existence in any case.

If you roll over onto a spider, most likely the spider will have no chance to bite. Being crushed against a bedsheet by a human body just doesn’t work well as a biting scenario (despite what everyone thinks) because spider fangs are underneath the spider. When pressed on from above, the spider may reflexively bite what it is standing on: the sheet, not your body.

True spider bites (which are rare events) occur when a spider is trapped inside clothing or when someone foolishly puts a hand or other body part in a spider habitat without looking, or even more foolishly slaps at a spider that is crawling on them.

Skin bumps and sores noticed in the morning are generally caused by non-bite disease conditions: see this article for a partial list. Currently MRSA bacteria (see this article and this one) are among the leading causes of alleged “spider bites.” The minority that are really bites are caused by bloodsucking insects such as fleas, bedbugs, kissing bugs, lice, or assorted flies; less commonly by mites or ticks. Genuine spider bites in this situation are possible, but very rare.

@casheroo – Spiders are not bugs. Spiders eat bugs. So they are your friends ;-)

@evelyns_pet_zebra fair enough, I will accept that as the truth. My comment above “a spider bit me when I was little..” occured when I was too small to distinctly remember the actual moment I encountered a bug or bacteria, so I am going off of what my parents had told me.

I just remember my leg swelling up somewhat (there was some kind of oozing bump), being excited about going to the hospital after midnight, and being frustrated that I was too little to work the wheels on the wheelchair myself and had to be pushed around.

A bacterial infection of some kind seems more likely?

However… what is up with your tone? “because people will believe what they wish, and no amount of experts are going to change their minds” and “hey, you guys perpetuate the fear if it makes you feel good.” Like many folks here, I am open to input from others and I’m willing to accept that I may be wrong and someone may know more than us. I accept what you say is likely true, but really, must you be so abrasive and unpleasant about it? Your opinions seem to indicate a willful and concious ignorance, as apposed to the naive kind of just being un-informed. I agree that you are right, but I can’t say my impression of you is a good one. It makes me really not look forward to futher input from you.

@Knotmyday – Yes, primordial gut reaction is probably the best explanation. Part of the brain stem like fear of height.

@evelyns_pet_zebra – Thanks for the interesting spider myth link!

@Bluefreedom – Yes, let’s blame it on Hollywood ;-)

Spiders are archetypal female symbols, their hairy, fanged, alien appearance being associated with vagina dentata (and thus the male fear of castration). Just as fear of snakes is associated with anxiety related to the phallus (and patriarchal male power), the fear of spiders is the result of the fear of the so-called female mysteries.

Because they just look scary. And also, one doesn’t always know which are venomous and which are not – here in SA there are a big variety of spiders and plenty of venomous ones. And sometimes they do get onto your bed without your blankets having been laying on the floor.
Also, apparently some are venomous to humans and not pets, and others are venomous to pets but not humans – who knows which are safe and which not?!