Jeffrey Lockwood, an insect ecologist and philosopher at the University of Wyoming, explains that our fear of bugs and insects comes from cultural influences. "In the modern world we have very little experience with positive encounters with insects," he told Popular Science, giving house flies, bed bugs, and mosquitoes as examples.
"Culture overlays our evolutionary tendencies. You could think of our fear and disgust of insects of being as a conspiracy of evolution and culture. And that is the state of the human mind at this point in our history."
What do you think of this selection of photographs from "Naturfreunde," Pandas? Are you averse to insects, bugs, and similar critters, or do you appreciate their long, thread-like limbs just as you would any other animal in nature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Also, don't forget to check out our previous publications featuring animals, like these poor souls whose day didn't go as planned and these funny pics of animals doing the most random things imaginable.
