Spiders, those charming unloved

Spiders get bad press. Literally. Half the time the media peddles falsehoods about them and the stories are often sensationalized.

Mary Tison
The Press

This is shown by a vast international study, published in Current Biology Magazinein which André-Philippe Drapeau Picard, entomological information officer at the Montreal Insectarium, took part.

“I have been one of many authors around the world who have reviewed media stories about spiders,” he says. I did it for French-speaking Canada. »

Participants examined what had been published about spiders between 2010 and 2020 using an analysis grid to identify different types of errors and to determine if there was sensationalism.

Mr. Drapeau Picard specifies that the proportions were similar in publications from French-speaking Canada.

According to the study, the percentage of sensationalist articles is higher in national and international media than in regional media.

However, according to the study, the more an article is sensationalist, the more likely it is to contain errors.

There is less sensationalism and errors when an expert is consulted. But beware, not just any kind of expert: a spider specialist. Doctors or exterminators do not necessarily provide accurate identification or bite information.

Two hypotheses

The authors emphasize the importance of providing accurate information that does not demonize spiders. Indeed, false information leads people and institutions to spend large sums to get rid of harmless critters.

But precisely, why are they so unloved? Why are there so many arachnophobes?

“There are two main hypotheses,” says Drapeau Picard. According to one of them, it would be something innate, of evolutionary origin: our ancestors learned to be afraid of spiders to avoid potentially dangerous bites. »

The problem with this assumption is that spiders are rarely dangerous.

To be reassured, of the 700 species found in Quebec, none represents a real danger to humans.

What is particularly interesting is that in the regions where humanity has developed, Africa, the Middle East, there are not really any dangerous spiders. “It makes some researchers say that the evolutionary hypothesis does not hold water,” observes Mr. Drapeau Picard.

It could be that humans first developed a fear of the scorpion, a cousin of the spider. There are precisely scorpions that can be very dangerous in Africa and the Middle East. “Humanity would have initially been afraid of scorpions and this fear would have been transferred to spiders”, indicates Mr. Drapeau Picard.

The other major hypothesis is that the fear of spiders is more culturally related. “It would be acquired, transmitted by our parents, by literature, by cinema, by the media. »

Mr. Drapeau Picard notes that these two main hypotheses are not mutually exclusive. “There is an interaction between the perception that people have and the perception that the media have of it because journalists are also human. And the media can use people’s fear to get clicks or ads. »

He wishes people liked spiders more. If some bite, it’s mainly out of fear or to get out of a bad situation. “My father was bitten by a spider which had entered a t-shirt which he had left to dry on the gallery. The spider felt trapped. »

Learn to appreciate spiders

Mr. Drapeau Picard maintains that spiders have a great utility. “They are allies, in agriculture for example, since they eat a lot of insect pests. Inside houses, they also eat small, nasty insects like fruit flies.

Spiders still remain unknown. “There is less research on them than butterflies, for example, which are more charismatic. »

Mr. Drapeau Picard points out that there are different therapeutic approaches that can desensitize people who fear them — virtual reality, for example. And even watching movies.

“There is a study that shows that people who are arachnophobic are a little less so after listening Spiderman. »