# USA: a nation of arachnophobes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 28, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346 "2019-02-28T17:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/81 "2019-03-04T19:11:58Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > _Truly_ terrifying are the Haitian zombie spiders. Their preferred method of attack is to hook their back legs onto your eyebrow, and then swing down and plonk their fangs into your eyeball. From there it’s a short trip to burrow into your skull where they eat your brains and shit. Favorite comebacks (so far): [ol] [li]I’ll bet you say that to all the girls.[/li][li]Yeah, but at least I’d go doing what I love![/li][li]The Aristocrats![/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/82 "2019-03-04T19:49:16Z")
Spiders, man Spiders, man This isn’t a friendly neighborhood for Spiders, man ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/83 "2019-03-04T19:52:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Clearly the country needs far more etymologists, to help the people who are interested in insects to find one of the thousands of jobs open to them. > > [xkcd: Wrong Superhero](https://xkcd.com/1012/) Easy way to remember. **Ent** omolists study bugs like **ants**. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/84 "2019-03-04T19:52:59Z")
I confess, I was once an irrational ninny, as little girls are wont to be. A tiny spider jammed into the highest corner would catch my eye instantly and elicit a 1950s horror movie style scream. That lasted into my tweens, which by then they didn’t visit my room anymore (or I was too stoned to notice / care). Now I live in the land of Hindenburg sized cockroaches so when I see a wee spider (and everything is wee compared to the roaches)I’m so grateful to them for not being one of The Evil Ones that I’ll happily scoop it up in a glass or onto a piece of paper and put it outside. What can you say, phobias are irrational. Wouldn’t it be funny of our mates in Oz, land of the horrifying life forms, were afraid of bunnies and kittens 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/85 "2019-03-04T20:39:04Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Easy way to remember. **Ent** omolists study bugs like **ants**. How do ants study bugs? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/86 "2019-03-04T21:29:59Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > How do ants study bugs? One delicious bite at a time… ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/87 "2019-03-05T06:07:53Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Easy way to remember. **Ent** omolists study bugs like **ants**. but… but… Ents are great big walking trees! ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/88 "2019-03-05T09:59:27Z")
It would appear that any SDMB thread concerning spiders, is guaranteed to turn out to be a lively one ! I started this thread just because I was struck by the frequent US occurrence of “killing spiders” in a particular figure-of-speech context, and wondered how often, and how selectively or otherwise, same was replicated in real life. Just for fun; linking (I hope) to a thread from eight years ago, which I’ve come upon completely by chance: this one largely centred on Australian spider issues – that part of the world being often reckoned spider hell or heaven, depending on one’s attitude to the creatures. > **[Argh! Spiders!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=595771)** > > I live in Australia, which amongst others has the large and hairy Huntsman spider that roams around and about. It’s not considered dangerous, it’s actually rather passive for the most part, but it’s big and ugly and freaky looking. I don’t see them... ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/89 "2019-03-05T10:37:53Z")
I’m ok with spiders. I used to trap and release, but I don’t even do that anymore, they don’t bother me and I don’t bother them (although I do occasionally have to clean up their webs). Mice I kill. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/90 "2019-03-18T21:24:03Z")
I ran across [this](https://bugguide.net/node/view/107851) spider photo today. So, you know, enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346/91 "2019-03-18T21:32:22Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Wouldn’t it be funny of our mates in Oz, land of the horrifying life forms, were afraid of bunnies and kittens 😛 I dunno about kittens, but the Australians _have_ built [thousands of miles of fences to keep the bunnies out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit-proof_fence). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-a-nation-of-arachnophobes/830346.md?page=4)