What is Lepidopterophobia?
Lepidopterophobia (from Latin: Lepidoidea) is a fear or aversion to insects. It may also refer to the fear of any type of butterfly, moth, or other insect. Many people have experienced butterflies in their life and they are usually not afraid of them at all. Some people experience some sort of reaction when encountering certain types of bugs such as ants, spiders, wasps etc. Other people have no reaction whatsoever when encountering these types of bugs. There are many different reasons why someone might feel scared or even frightened by butterflies, moths, or other insects. For example, there could be a psychological reason behind it like being afraid of something familiar or having a phobias about certain objects. Another possible explanation is due to some sort of physical reaction such as allergic reactions or asthma attacks.
The word “phobia” comes from the Greek words phobos, which means fear and -logia, which refers to a mental condition. The word “phobia” itself is often used in medical contexts to mean a severe fear or aversion. However, in most cases it is still considered a psychological term because it does not necessarily imply that the person actually suffers from some kind of actual pathological disorder.
Lepidopterophobia is also known as entomophobia, fear of insects, horror insectum, or in popular slang as the fear of bugs. It should not be confused with apiphobia (the fear of bees) and meliponophobia (the fear of bees), or apiphobia (the fear of wasps) and vespaphobia (the fear of wasps).
The fear of insects is not as common as some of the other specific phobias on our site like the fear of snakes, but it still ranks in the top thirty.
Lepidopterophobia Definition: Causes, Symptoms and Effects
Lepidopterophobia Definition: Causes, Symptoms and Effects
What is lepidopterophobia?
How to overcome butterflies in stomach?
What causes fear of butterflies?
The fear of moths is called ‘Lepidopterophobia’. Perhaps you have heard this word before but may not be able to spell it correctly. The word is actually the combining of two different Greek words; lepis meaning scale and pteron meaning wing. These words form the base of our word ‘lepidoptera’ and this term means the group of insects that butterflies and moths both belong to. The main symptom of lepidopterophobia is an unreasoning fear and avoidance of butterflies and moths.
How do you get over the fear of butterflies?
Many people who have this fear find themselves simply wanting to get rid of it, as it can be limiting to their freedom at times. However there are ways to address it and get rid of the fear. If you find yourself with excessive anxiety when in the presence of butterflies or moths, you may have a serious case of lepidopterophobia. There are many ways in which you can get help for this condition, and most of them are very effective.
What are some of the causes of lepidopterophobia?
There are many things that can cause a person to experience this condition. It is not fully understood why some people have an intense dislike or fear of butterflies and moths, but a few reasons for it have been suggested by leading psychologists.
One theory is that it is a genetic disposition, which means that it can be inherited from one or both parents. While this is a possibility, it is not the only reason why one might develop this fear. There are certain environmental factors that can also lead to this phobia, including but not limited to the following:
Courtship : Some people are afraid of butterflies due to an unpleasant experience with them in the past. Maybe you were attempting to catch one and got stung several times, or maybe you brushed against a spider’s web while chasing one and got bitten. The point is, it is possible that your fear of butterflies is caused by a traumatic experience with one in the past.
If this is the case with you, then you may need to face your fears in order to overcome lepidopterophobia. This is not easy to do alone and you should consider seeking professional help if this is the cause of your phobia.
In fact, many psychologists recommend desensitization when treating this condition. This is a simple technique that involves gradually exposing the patient to what they are afraid of, in this case butterflies and moths, until they no longer experience any negative reactions.
There are many ways you can go about doing this yourself, for example you could simply go out one day and try to catch a butterfly with a net, or you could try drawing one. The idea is to first begin with something that causes a mild reaction, and then work your way up to something that causes a stronger reaction.
While there are many other techniques you can use to treat this condition, this article has hopefully given you some insight into whether or not you have lepidopterophobia and the ways in which it can be treated. If you have this condition, remember that many people experience it and live to overcome it. Whatever you do, do not let your fear take over your life, and seek help if need be.
Where do people get this fear from?
Lepidopterophobia has many causes, the main ones being genetics or a bad experience with a butterfly or moth in the past. Here is a list of different things that can trigger the fear:
1. Genetics
As mentioned, lepidopterophobia can be partly inherited. If any of your family members have it, you may also suffer from the same condition.
2. Negative experience
A single bad experience with a butterfly or moth can also lead to this phobia. For example, you may have gotten stung or bitten by one in the past and since then you’ve developed the fear.
3. Evolution
Some scientists have pointed out that this phobia is part of human evolution. Due to our (human ancestors) primitive nature, large insects such as moths and butterflies would have posed a threat to them. Their large size would make them seem dangerous, their bright colours could be seen as a sort of camouflage, and the pattern on their wings (which is common in butterflies and moths) might have resembled the patterns of shadows or other dangers, evoking fear.
Other types of phobias
In addition to this list of phobias, there are many others. Here’s just a brief list of some of the phobias that exist:
Acousticophonia (fear of loud sounds) Ailurophobia (fear of cats) Arachnophobia (fear of spiders) Astraphobia (fear of thunder and lightning) Barophobia (fear of gravity) Bathmophobic (fear of steps or steep hills) Comedophobia (fear of being funny) Chionophobia (fear of snow) Chiroptophobia (fear of bats) Cibophobia (fear of food) Chromatophobia (fear of colors) Cynophobia (fear of dogs) Demophobia (fear of crowds) Dentophobia (fear of dentists) Domatophobia (fear of houses) Ecophobia (fear of home) Egyptophobia (fear of Egypt) Eleutherophobia (fear of freedom) Eremophobia (fear of being alone) Geniophobia (fear of chins) Germanophobia (fear of Germany) Hong Kong Phobia (fear of Hong Kong) Hierophobia (fear of priests or sacred things) Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words) Hellenologophobia (fear of Greek terms) Horror Vacui (fear of empty spaces) Hypnophobia (fear of sleep) Japanophobia (fear of Japan) Lavaterphobia (fear of faces) Logizomechanophobia (fear of computers) Machimophobia (fear of machines) Macrophobia (fear of long waits) Masochism (self infliction of pain) Mechanophobia (fear of machines) Medical phobias (a large group of fears concerning medical situations) Musophobia (fear of mice) Myrmecophobia (fear of ants) Nomatophobia (fear of names) Numerophobia (fear of numbers) Ochlophobia (fear of crowds) Ombrophobia (fear of rain) Ornithophobia (fear of birds) Pathophobia (fear of disease) Pegasophobia (fear of pegasi) Pedophobia (fear of children) Phonomimophobia (fear of mimics) Pharmophobia (fear of drugs) Pluviophobia (fear of rain) Pogonophobia (fear of beards) Politicophobia (fear or Political things) Pyrophobia (fear of fire) Russophobia (fear of russians) Scriptophobia (fear of writing) Sclerophobia (fear of hard/painful things) Selacophobia (fear of sharks) Sinistrophobia (fear of things to the left) Social phobias (fear of social situations) Sphinxophobia (fear of sphinxes) Stasiphobia (fear of crowds) Stygiophobia (fear of the River Styx) Syngenesophobia (fear of relatives) Symbolophobia (fear of symbols) Taphephobia (fear of being buried alive) Teleophobia (fear of religious objects) Thanatophobia (fear of death) Theophobia (fear of deities) Theologicophobia (fear of theology) Topophobia (fear of places) Traumatophobia (fear of injuries) Typophobia (fear of typewriters
Sources & references used in this article:
Butterflies and Moths as a New and Nearly Ideal Model System for Research in Aesthetics by J Logan – Metamorphosis, 2020 – metamorphosis.coplac.org
Something to Fear: Perception of Defining Characteristics of Animals, Evaluation of Animals, and the Moderating Role of Speciesism by AE Waters – 2015 – tamiu-ir.tdl.org
Dangerous world of butterflies: The startling subculture of criminals, collectors, and conservationists by P Laufer – 2010 – books.google.com
