Scorpions are the most scary arthropod in Somaliland

 

It is well known that many animals and especially arthropods cause fear and phobias in humans (e.g. arachnophobia). Hassan Sh Abdirahman Elmi and co-workers have recently published a study investigating which arthropod group elicited most fear in test persons from Somaliland. The study was done by showing pictures of different arthropod groups.

Interestingly, it was scorpions that were perceived as most frightening among the respondents. This is logical, as there are some dangerous species in the Horn of Africa, but I guess this is also the case for centipedes and spiders.

Strangely, they used a picture of the North American buthid Centruroides vittatus (Say, 1821)  in the test, and not a native species like a member of the medical important genus Parabuthus Pocock, 1890.

Abstract:
Spiders and other arachnids evoke fear in humans. This may be interpreted as a consequence of encounters with these venomous invertebrates during our evolutionary past. However, fear of arachnids has been poorly studied in human populations inhabiting the African savannas, where human ancestors evolved. Here, we analyzed patterns of subjective fear elicited by terrestrial invertebrates (47 species) among Somali people (207 respondents). The scorpion emerged as the most frightening of the examined species, with the giant centipede ranking second. These fears were reasonable, as both scorpions and centipedes possess venom with pronounced toxic effects and are abundant in the region. In contrast, spiders were less frequently ranked among the top  positions in reported fear. This finding further supported the view that scorpions, rather than spiders, represent the most fear-relevant arthropods in the ancestral environment of human evolution. Thus, evolutionary explanations of spider fear are further challenged.

Reference:
Elmi HSA, Frýdlová P, Janovcová M, Berti DA, Král D, Kovařík F, et al. Scorpion first: fear of arthropods in the Horn of Africa. Human Dimensions of Wildlife. 2026:1–7. [Subscription required for full text]

Thanks to Frantisek Kovarik for informing me about this article!