Talk about INSECTZ or get outta here:)

[February Beetle]

A spit bug and his home!

[oortclouddomicile]

it's a strange thing. i've met only about 3 guys till date who willingly handle insects. and i think that only people who realise that insects aren't all that sinister during their late childhood really manage to admire them when they become grown ups.
if you are bitten or painfully stung during this exploratory period, you are a goner.

i've read a book by Desmond Morris where he claims that humans have an inborn fear for certain animals.. snakes, spiders. may be the list also includes insects. but hate butterflies?? that's EXTREME! my mom's mortally terrified of moths. i've tried explaining but no use.

'insect-awareness T-shirts' is a good idea by the way.

[February Beetle]

I don't believe that we have an inborn fear of those animals. I just am deciding not to I guess Is there a lot of historical evidence for it? I always assumed it had more to do with our culture.

Most people I know are not terrified of insects and are okay with them. It is hard for me sometimes to understand somebody else's feelings when I haven't felt the same way. I didn't always like bugs as much as I do now, but the way some people feel about insects is just startling. I have never had such a fear or hatred for anything! I have just decided this year my concentration of study will be insects and I have been thinking a lot about this problem. I have two younger cousins who are 7 and 9 and I am helping mold them into bug-lovers : ) My aunt found a dead velvet ant for me last week. She told me she was stung by one when she was young and she is accepting of insects. Maybe she wasn't in her exploratory period

[oortclouddomicile]

i just remembered i was stung by a wood ant when i was some 5 yrs old. but i don't know why it didn't deter me. perhaps my hypothesis has some flaws. Morris says that because the ancestors of human lived in forests, they had to be wary of snakes and that one still carries that trait no matter from which part of the world one's from. cultural background probably accents the fear i suppose. i don't think it CAN have any historical evidence.. but surveys and stuff have given a pretty good picure.

it's a nice thing you are doing.. just take care they don't find squashing the bugs very entertaining. that can be disastrous.

[oortclouddomicile]

talking of inborn fear, i noticed these in the first page of this thread.

jimmystang
New Member

"i don't know, i've some sort of insect-phobia"

.

Oscerot
Senior Member

"I remember I was on this hike and a random beetle flew on my pants. I started running around and smacking myself. "

.

sachin
Super Member

"I was.........afraid of that.

before I took admision into Masters degree in Entomology(Insect study)"

funny. and it seems 'bugz' is scared of larvae with small legs.. hehe..
i was afraid of cockroaches until a couple of years back when i learnt about them in entomology and tried to apply my newly found knowledge. now, roaches are bigger than god for me.

[sachin]

I apprecite you beetle both about awareness of invertebrate to world and insect bhobia.

Its not that world can not apprecite insect and other organisms but they like big animals instead.

But they still not aware of fact that "SIZE DOESN'T MATTER ALWAYS, BUT NUMBER DO"....

One bite of COBRA makes man dead, But one sting of honey bee can make sense as painful as cobra bite and 200 bites can make man dead.... remeber honey bees wont sting alone they attacks in 1000s.

There is less chance that cobra can find you except jungle, But there are more chances that honey bees can find you even in your home. They can make you to leave your place forever.

"SO NUMBER IS THE STRENGHT OF INVERTEBRATES"

[Bugz]

hehe, yeah, I daren't to touch the larva's worm like body

but hey, I m not afraid of slugs, look~~~~

[oortclouddomicile]

tell me, bugz, since when were you not afraid of slugs?

[Bugz]

ummm...I dont know, I think I never scare of them...

[oortclouddomicile]

hmmm.. i can't find any reason why humans shouldn't have an inborn fear of slugs. you must be an anomaly, bugz.

anyway, we have to make a lot of field observations before we can get to any sort of conclusion. so, for the time being, i am taking leave of the thread. will keep you people informed if i find anything interesting.

[Bugz]

haha...maybe...

I always feed snails when I was a kid

you know snails and slugs..they look similar~~

But I think that I ll be crazy too if there are 100 slugs crepping on my back~~

[Bugz]

btw, how old are u, oort? may I ask?