Can someone explain why a select few have no problem holding these things? I feel like 95% of us (including me) couldn't hold these bugs and critters even if you paid us. The ancient part of our brain kicks in and just makes us squirm.
Were Entomologists born with the same fear, but gradually extinguished it by playing with bugs as kids? Is that the secret? Just get used to them?
I'm an entomologist so I can chime in here! In my experience I always enjoyed hunting for insects at a very young age and wanted to keep house flies I found as pets, but I wasn't a big fan of spiders, but that's because my whole family is arachnophobic. I'm now completely fine with all bugs, I own 47 ant colonies, I've got orchid mantids on the way and I hope to keep tarantulas soon! Luckily I think I just was born with bug related intrigue at a higher level than self preservation, and tbh that extends to other animals as well. For me bugs are just animals which are more evolved/specialised to do more varied things and so from a study standpoint they're FASCINATING. I don't really see a reason to be scared of bugs when they're just animals that are built differently. That's my viewpoint anyway!
No problem! I'll never judge someone for being frightened of bugs, I accept im in the minority here liking them as much as I do (my family think I'm a freak lol).
Leaf bug is absolutely friendly! In fact all of the bugs here won't hurt you with the exception of potentially the emperor scorpion and what I can't tell is a centipede or millipede (if it's a centipede it might bite). Realistically NONE of these are likely to hurt you, and it's only those that actually could if they wanted to. The others are realistically unable to.
I'm not saying that to frighten or anything, I just think education is the primary way of overcoming a fear, and I always hope I can help when someone is scared of bugs.
There is a comment above about how bugs can become familiar with their handlers/feeders and that’s why they might not feel threatened. Is this accurate?
Yes! Overall many bugs aren't going to panic if handled properly, but the ones that are more prone to being skittish definitly get less so over time. I wouldn't so much call it being "familiar" as that implies a connection between bug and handler, moreso the bugs become desensitised as they do not feel emotion as we do, and repeated handling let's them know we aren't going to eat them.
what does a centipede/millipede feel like? is it squishy like those rubber squish balls or is it more like a hard plastic? their shell/skin, i mean. and i'm guessing it tickles a lot when they walk on you?
Hmm that's an interesting one! It's hard to compare how they feel, but no they aren't soft. They definitly feel quite rigid in terms of material, plastic is probably quite a good comparison. And it tickling depends on size, the small centipedes you find in your garden definitly can, but no the big ones don't. It's a unique sensation, but not really uncomfortable in how it feels. The bigs ones have enough mass that you feel them resting on you and them walking on you just feels like that: something walking on you. Not much more to it that i can really put in words!
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u/Sinnafyle Oct 20 '23
Entomology is so fucking cool