Why are we so scared of spiders?

Spiders have a bad reputation and many people in the Western world fear them. According to data from 2022, more than 6% of people have arachnophobia, an irrational fear of spiders. When thinking about spiders it can be all too easy to conjure the menacing images of large, hairy tarantulas or venomous black widows.

However, most spiders will never meet a human and most people will never be bitten by a spider in their entire lifetime.

The vast majority of spider species are harmless, and they are some of the most critically important creatures for the health of the biosphere.