entomophobia
Sign in to saveAlso known as insectophobia
Entomophobia, sometimes known as insectophobia, is a specific phobia characterized by an excessive or unrealistic fear (disgust) of one or more classes of insect, and classified as a phobia by the DSM-5. More specific cases include katsaridaphobia (fear of cockroaches), melissophobia (fear of bees), spheksophobia (fear of wasps), myrmecophobia (fear of ants), and lepidopterophobia (fear of moths and butterflies). One book claims 6% of all US inhabitants have this phobia.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- phobia
- Subclass of
- animal phobia
- Main subject
- insect
Show 1 more fact
- different from
- Coelogyne entomophobia
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Encyclopedic overview
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Entomophobia, sometimes known as insectophobia, is a specific phobia characterized by an excessive or unrealistic fear (disgust) of one or more classes of insect, and classified as a phobia by the DSM-5. More specific cases include katsaridaphobia (fear of cockroaches), melissophobia (fear of bees), spheksophobia (fear of wasps), myrmecophobia (fear of ants), and lepidopterophobia (fear of moths and butterflies). One book claims 6% of all US inhabitants have this phobia.
Entomophobia may develop after the person has had a traumatic experience with the insect(s). It may develop early or later in life and is quite common among animal phobias. Typically, one has a fear of one specific type of insect. However, in some cases, this fear may encompass all organisms of the phylum Arthropoda. Entomophobia leads to behavioral changes: the person with entomophobia will avoid situations where they may encounter a specific type of insect. Cognitive behavioral therapy is considered an effective treatment.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “entomophobia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.