Media framing of spiders may exacerbate arachnophobic sentiments

Mammola, Stefano; Nanni, Veronica; Pantini, Paolo; Isaia, Marco

doi:10.1002/pan3.10143

Cited by 27 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 105 publications

(136 reference statements)

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“…Despite their fearsome reputation in public media (Mammola et al, 2020), venomous arachnids such as spiders and scorpions have gained increasing popularity as pets in recent decades in some industrialised countries in Europe, Northern America and Asia. The continuously increasing demand for new arachnid pet species has wide-ranging implications including illegal trading (Fukushima et al, 2020;Law, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Love Bites – Do Venomous Arachnids Make Safe Pets?

Hauke¹,

Herzig²

2020

Preprint

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With a global estimate of tens of thousands of arachnid enthusiasts, spiders and scorpions are gaining increasing popularity as pets in industrialised countries in Europe, Northern America and Asia. As most spiders and all scorpions are venomous and due to their mostly negative image in the public media, several governments are already considering introducing legislation to regulate the domestic care of potentially dangerous captive animals. We aimed to investigate the circumstances and effects of exposure to arachnids kept in captivity. Thus, we collected and analysed data from 354 reported bites and stings attributed to pet arachnids. Our data revealed that on average there were less than 20 recorded envenomations per year with ~90% preventable by due care. We also categorized the severity of the resulting symptoms and found that the vast majority of symptoms were either local (60.7%) or moderate (32.8%), 5.4% were asymptomatic, only 1.1% were severe and no fatalities were recorded. Based on our database of bite and sting reports, we performed a risk assessment for arachnid pet ownership and concluded that with the proper care arachnids can be safely kept as pets and pose a lower risk than many other recreational activities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Love Bites – Do Venomous Arachnids Make Safe Pets?

Hauke¹,

Herzig²

2020

Preprint

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“…Although arthropods live all around us, their high diversity makes it difficult to know them all. The fear of the unknown as well as sensationalist media coverage results in insects and spiders being generally seen as threats to the health of humans, pets, and crops [10]. This is especially true in urbanized areas, which are associated with reduced insect knowledge [11].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“What’s This Bug?” Questions from the Public Provide Relevant Information on Species Distribution and Human–Insect Interactions

Picard

Giroux

Saint‐Germain

et al. 2021

Insects

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In general, insects and arthropods polarizing: they either fascinate people, disgust people, or both, and they generate lots of questions. Museums are perceived as reliable sources of information and, as such, a go-to destination for the public to receive answers. Since its opening in 1990, the Montreal Insectarium has offered an entomological information service, allowing the public to send questions, photographs, and specimens for identification. All requests are answered by entomologists. Spatiotemporal variations in taxonomic, geographic, and thematic profiles of the 4163 requests received in 2010–2011 and 2017–2018 were analyzed. Requests came from 35 countries, and most of those requests came from Canada. The majority of requests were identification requests. Representing 25% of identification requests, the five most frequent species were the eastern dobsonfly Corydalus cornutus, the masked hunter Reduvius personatus, the giant water bug Lethocerus americanus, the western conifer-seed bug Leptoglossus occidentalis, and the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica. A comparison with the data from the citizen science platform iNaturalist shows that the EIS can be a valuable tool for invasive species detection. Frequent subjects included school projects, entomophagy (eating insects), and wasp and bee nests. Finally, we discuss the role of entomologists in providing scientific information but also in addressing common concerns regarding cohabitation with arthropods.

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“…As illustrated in the European Commission report on the attitude of European citizens towards the environment (Eurobarometer, 2008), the best informed citizens are likely to live in the northern and western part of the EU, while those who tend to feel they lack information are likely to come from southern Europe and the new Member States. The media representation of spiders in Southern Europe does not help either (data from Italy; Mammola et al, 2020a). Accordingly, it seems likely that an enhanced awareness of wildlife promotes wildlife conservation even in a neglected group such as spiders.…”

Section: Spiders In Legislation In European Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spider conservation in Europe: a review

Milano

Blick

Cardoso

et al. 2021

Biological Conservation

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Despite their ecological importance and diversity, spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) are underrepresented in conservation policies in comparison to other groups. We review all extant conservation tools focusing on spiders in Europe, highlighting general patterns, limitations, gaps, and future directions. We assembled a comprehensive online database reporting all available information concerning the legal protection and conservation status of 4,154 spider species. Existing international legislation has limited coverage, with only one species listed in the Bern Convention and EU Habitats Directive. At the national and subnational levels, 178 species are formally mentioned in the legislation of 19 European countries. Moreover, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) includes assessments for 301 species worldwide, 164 of these threatened and eight native to Europe.In addition, spiders are mentioned in Regional Red Lists and Red Books in 28 out of 42 European countries considered in this review. Northern and Central European countries have the highest percentage of species assessed at the regional level in Red Lists and Red Books. The Mediterranean basin has the highest spider diversities in Europe but conservation efforts are lacking, both in terms of assessments and national or subnational legislation. Among European species, Dolomedes plantarius, Argyroneta aquatica and Eresus kollari are the most frequently mentioned in European conservation measures, possibly due to their ecological traits and their strict association with declining habitats.Considering the current threats to spiders in Europe, the protection of large areas of suitable habitat should be considered as the most effective approach to spider conservation.

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Media framing of spiders may exacerbate arachnophobic sentiments

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 27 publications

References 105 publications

Love Bites – Do Venomous Arachnids Make Safe Pets?

Love Bites – Do Venomous Arachnids Make Safe Pets?

“What’s This Bug?” Questions from the Public Provide Relevant Information on Species Distribution and Human–Insect Interactions

Spider conservation in Europe: a review

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