[Poll] Are you Arachnophobic?

[Cybele]

In Portugal it is common to say that spiders should not be killed because they are associated with a symbolic belief that they bring luck and/or money

Seems like a common old belief in Europe. "If you want to live and thrive let a spider run alive".
I see not point in harming them, as long as they don't harm me.

[rothaer]

(...)

I've not, but two daughters of mine have.

I guess it's a genetically determined remnant that once was selected for in an area where early humans experienced deadly spiders. Would be funny to get the SNPs determined.

[Ruggery]

Here in Croatia we have poisonous Latrodectus mactans, Cheiracanthium punctorium....and other harmless but fat big and "hairy" spiders European garden spiders, they grow really big here.

In Croatia there are tarantulas?

[Teutone]

I've not, but two daughters of mine have.

I guess it's a genetically determined remnant that once was selected for in an area where early humans experienced deadly spiders. But be funny to get the SNPs determined.

Arachnophobia could be a product of human evolution, according to new research.

Spiders presented such a great danger to humans during the early evolutionary stages that a fear of the species became part of our DNA.

In Africa, early in human evolution, those with a keen ability to spot the creatures outlived their less wary counterparts, according to The Sunday Times.

Joshua New of Columbia University in New York said: “A number of spider species with potent, vertebrate-specific venoms populated Africa long before hominoids... and have co-existed there for tens of millions of years.”

“Humans were at perennial, unpredictable and significant risk of encountering highly venomous spiders in their ancestral environments.

“Even when not fatal, a black widow spider bite in the ancestral world could leave one incapacitated for days or even weeks, terribly exposed to dangers.”

The study tested how quickly people could spot a spider when presented with a number of other images.

Of the 252 people reviewed in the study, most recognised the spiders much quicker than other images known to induce fear, such as flies and needles.

[Sylvanas]

In Croatia there are tarantulas?

Lycosa tarentula, not Theraphosidae

[Hektor12]

Generally no but those living in Australia are different.

[Cossack]

No. I have 9 tarantulas as a pet.

[Rædwald]

No, but there are no dangerous spiders where I live. The largest we have are maybe small wolf spiders and orb weavers.



This chart doesn't have all species we have here, but the most common. Still, none of them are particularly dangerous.

[Sylvanas]

The largest we have are maybe small wolf spiders ...

Yes, Lycosa tarantula (name comes from Taranto in Italy), not dangerous, people confuse wolf spiders with "real" tarantulas because of name, they are not the same family of spiders.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

No, I'm not afraid of spiders. I'm afraid of creepy dolls and clowns. Those are the real dangers!