Myrmecophobia is the inexplicable fear of
ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...
s. It is a type of
specific phobia
Specific phobia is an anxiety disorder, characterized by an extreme, unreasonable, and irrational fear associated with a specific object, situation, or concept which poses little or no actual danger. Specific phobia can lead to avoidance of the o ...
. It is common for those who suffer from myrmecophobia to also have a wider fear of insects in general, as well as spiders (see
Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia is a specific phobia brought about by the irrational fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions.
Signs and symptoms
People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they believe could harbour spiders or that h ...
). Such a condition is known as
entomophobia
Entomophobia sometimes known as Insectophobia is a specific phobia characterized by an excessive or unrealistic fear of one or more classes of insect, and classified as a phobia by the DSM-5. More specific cases includes arachnophobia (fear of spi ...
. This fear can manifest itself in several ways, such as a fear of ants contaminating a person's food supply, or fear of a home invasion by large numbers of ants.
The term ''myrmecophobia'' comes from the Greek
μύρμηξ, ''myrmex'', meaning "ant" and , ''phóbos'', "fear".
In 2019, an Israeli study from
Ariel University
Ariel University ( he, אוניברסיטת אריאל), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel (city), Ariel in the West Bank.
The c ...
and
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...
suggested that
exposure to short clips from the
''Ant-Man'' movies could help to reduce an individual's phobia.
See also
*
Entomophobia
Entomophobia sometimes known as Insectophobia is a specific phobia characterized by an excessive or unrealistic fear of one or more classes of insect, and classified as a phobia by the DSM-5. More specific cases includes arachnophobia (fear of spi ...
*
Fear of bees
Fear of bees (or of bee stings), technically known as melissophobia (from grc, μέλισσα, , "honey bee" + , grc, φόβος, , "fear") and also known as apiphobia (from la, apis for "honey bee" + grc, φόβος, , "fear"), is one of the ...
*
Zoophobia
Zoophobia, or animal phobia, is the irrational fear or aversion towards animals (excluding humans). Zoophobia is the general negative reaction of animals, but it is usually divided into many subgroups, each being of a specific type of zoophobia. ...
References
Zoophobias
Ants
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