Entomophobia

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title: "Entomophobia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["zoophobias"] description: "Fear of insects and bugs" topic_path: "general/zoophobias" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophobia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Fear of insects and bugs ::

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.

References

References

1. Lockwood, Jeffrey. (2013-09-25). "The Infested Mind: Why Humans Fear, Loathe, and Love Insects". Oxford UP.
2. McCabe, Randi E.. (2015). "Phobias: The Psychology of Irrational Fear: The Psychology of Irrational Fear". ABC-CLIO.

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