<p>Actually, it’s not an irrational fear. It’s just a natural, instinctive fear gone out of control.</p>
<p>Insects are dangerous because many are venomous --and even those that wouldn’t kill anyone can give a nasty sting or bite. So primitive humans would have been wise to avoid them – and those type of fears are kind of hard wired to develop if triggered at an early age. Now obviously there is a big difference between a black widow or scorpion, and a harmless daddy long-legs - but the instinct thing just isn’t that good at nuance. So people (and monkeys) will tend to react to and develop more intransigent fears to insects and snakes than to other things. It helps to be hyper-vigilant and hyper-reactive, precisely because venomous spiders usually bite people who haven’t noticed that they are there. </p>
<p>Now you might wonder why this doesn’t extend to a fear of dogs, as wolves can also be dangerous – but wolves don’t tend to infest one’s bedding - and running from a wolf isn’t a particularly useful way of avoiding one (canines are particularly fond of chasing their prey). So a strong and agitated fear response isn’t particularly useful when it comes to sharing one’s environment with wolves – better to stay calm and quiet when encountering one. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to an article about snake-fear that gets a this concept somewhat:
<a href=“Eeek, Snake! Your Brain Has A Special Corner Just For Them : Shots - Health News : NPR”>Eeek, Snake! Your Brain Has A Special Corner Just For Them : Shots - Health News : NPR;