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I'm obviously well aware of phobias like that, e.g. arachnophobia is a fairly common and recognised condition. What I mean is the sort of hysterical Internet reaction to whatever picture has gone 'viral'.
Demonisation of animals can also have serious ecological consequences, same as the sort of fetishisation that makes people believe ground rhino horn is an aphrodisiac, etc.
Oliver Schick-
I obviously wasn't suggesting you weren't aware of phobias, but if you're bothered by people "demonising" scary looking insects, you should know that's obviously driven by phobia of scary looking insects, and those phobias can't be reasoned away by saying the scary insect is harmless.
I'm not really sure what you mean by the demonisation of insects anyway. Despite being terrified of them, I'm still interested by them, and suspect people expressing shock at crazy looking insects are just doing the same.
neu
Just to say that while you are 100% correct, fear of big leggy insects and spiders has nothing to do with how harmful they are perceived to be. Knowing their fangs are just for show, or that they get rid of flies doesn't stop the adrenaline bolting my spine upright the second any sizeable spider enters the room with any sort of gusto. The only thing I have on my mind is if it's going to touch me, nothing else. The association is touch = apocalypse. It is not touch = bite = itchyness and pain.
I'm not anti-spider or insects, I avoid killing them, but the fear is entirely irrational and basically feels like a physical reflex. It's like saying a horror film is just a film to someone when they can't sleep afterwards. For some reason insects and spiders occupy a primal part of our psyche, I guess it's part of what makes them so fascinating.