How to break the stigma

[River Dane]

It saddens me how many people, online and in my personal life, will see any bug and say something like “kill it with fire,” “burn down the house,” or, worst of all, “only humans are welcome in this house.”

Why did society ruin bugs’ reputations? There’s been evidence that babies aren’t afraid of bugs or snakes, so “entomophobia” is mostly a social construct.

i feel like I can’t convince these people not to be so cruel to bugs. Is there anything you can say? You can tell them all you want “they’re not harmless,” and the most civil response I’ve ever gotten was “but it’s gross, so ima kill it anyway.”

If it poses a real threat to you or anyone else, yeah, kill it. But if it’s something like a silverfish, why bother killing it? Most people don’t kill jumping spiders and mantids, at least, so that makes me feel a little better. But I do remember this one time in Elementary school, a group of kids stomped on a mantis for amusement. It makes me wonder what could convince these kinds of people to stop.

 

[Mantis Lady]

I think the parents/schools can do their part to teach their childeren that insects are not creaures that needss "to be killed with fire."

I have seen some of the adults can react when you have a mantis in your hand. (saw it on my camping trip)  They think it is dirty, creepy or something.  I saw it when I was showing Cochise to other friends there. But saw that a few of their childeren wanted to see Cochise and starting to ask qiestions. I liked it that i could tell the kids about mantids keeping. My nephew wants now one too. And his mother says it is ok if he takes care of it himself. He get one if I get nimphs of Cochise, or I will buy him one next year for his birthday.

But it is indeed sad when people don't see the beauty of the insect world like a praying mantis.

 

[MantisGirl13]

@Little Mantis @River Dane I agree. It is sad how people can be so cruel to insects, especially mantids, because they are 'scary' or 'dangerous'. We insect keepers can make a difference, though, by letting people get to know us or our mantids, and then they realize how wrong they have been about mantids and other insects. I have already turned several sworn insect haters into people who are begging me to let them hold my mantids, and are enthusiastically telling me about how they 'kept a caterpillar alive for a whole week in their room', and so on.  

- MantisGirl13