Arthropods play many roles in human
culture, the social behaviour and norms in human societies transmitted through social learning,[1] including as food, in art, in stories, and in mythology and religion. Many of these aspects
concern insects, which are important both economically and symbolically, from the work of
honeybees to the
scarabs of
Ancient Egypt. Other
arthropods with cultural significance include
crustaceans such as
crabs,
lobsters, and
crayfish, which are popular subjects in art, especially
still lifes, and
arachnids such as
spiders and
scorpions, whose
venom has medical applications. The
crab and the
scorpion are
astrological signs of the
zodiac.
Crustaceans are an important source of food, providing nearly 10,700,000
tons in 2007; the vast majority of this output is of
decapods:
crabs,
lobsters,
shrimps,
crayfish, and
prawns. Over 60% by weight of all crustaceans caught for consumption are shrimp and prawns, and nearly 80% is produced in Asia, with China alone producing nearly half the world's total. Non-decapod crustaceans are not widely consumed, with only 118,000 tons of
krill being caught, despite krill having one of the greatest
biomasses on the planet.[7][8]
Lobsters are caught using
baited, one-way traps with a colour-coded marker buoy to mark cages. Lobster is fished in water between 2 and 900 metres (1 and 500 fathoms), although some lobsters live at 3,700 metres (2,000 fathoms). Cages are of plastic-coated galvanised steel or wood. A lobster fisher may tend as many as 2,000 traps. Around 2000, owing to overfishing and high demand, lobster
aquaculture expanded.[10] As of 2008[update], no lobster aquaculture operation had achieved commercial success, mainly because lobsters eat each other (cannibalism) and the growth of the species is slow.[11]
Arachnids such as spiders, scorpions, or
mite are also used as food worldwide.[15] Fried
tarantula spiders are considered a delicacy in
Cambodia,[16] and by the
Piaroa Indians of southern Venezuela – provided the highly irritant hairs, the spiders' main defence system, are removed first.[17]
In science and engineering
Insects feature in a variety of ways in
biomimicry, where for example the cooling system of
termite mounds has been imitated in
architecture.[18]
Spidervenoms may be a less polluting alternative to conventional
pesticides, as they are deadly to insects but the great majority are harmless to
vertebrates. Australian
funnel web spiders are a promising source, as most of the world's insect pests have had no opportunity to develop any
immunity to their venom, and funnel web spiders thrive in captivity and are easy to "milk". It may be possible to target specific pests by
engineering genes for the production of spider
toxins into
viruses that infect species such as
cotton bollworms.[19]
Arthropods appear in folklore, in mythology,[27] and in religion.[28] Since
Insects in mythology and
in religion are covered elsewhere, this section focuses on other arthropods.
Spiders have been depicted in stories, mythologies and the arts of many cultures for centuries.[34] They have symbolized patience due to their hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for prey, as well as mischief and malice due to their venomous bites.[35] The Italian
tarantella is a dance supposedly to rid the young woman of the lustful effects of a bite by the tarantula wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula.[36] Web-spinning caused the association of the spider with creation myths, as they seem to produce their own worlds.[37] Dreamcatchers are depictions of spiderwebs. The
Moche people of ancient
Peru worshipped nature,[38] emphasising animals and often depicting spiders in their art.[39]
The
scorpion appeared as the
astrological sign Scorpio, in the twelve signs of the
Zodiac, created by
Babylonian astronomers during the
Chaldean period, around 600 BC.[40] In South Africa and South Asia, the scorpion is a significant animal culturally, appearing as a
motif in art, especially in
Islamic art in the Middle East.[41] A
scorpion motif is often woven into Turkish
kilim flatweave carpets, for protection from their sting.[42] The scorpion is perceived both as an embodiment of evil and a protective force that counters evil, such as a
dervish's powers to combat evil.[41] In another context, the scorpion portrays
human sexuality.[41] Scorpions are used in folk medicine in South Asia especially in
antidotes for scorpion stings.[41] In
ancient Egypt the goddess
Serket was often depicted as a scorpion, one of several goddesses who protected the
Pharaoh.[43]
^Meyer-Rochow V.B., Nonaka K., Boulidam S. (2008). "More feared than revered: Insects and their impacts on human societies (with specific data on the importance of entomophagy in a Laotian setting". Entomologie Heute. 20: 3–25.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Global Steak - Demain nos enfants mangeront des criquets (2010 French documentary)
^E.M. Costa-Neto, N.T. Grabowski (27 November 2020): Edible arachnids and myriapods worldwide – updated list, nutritional profile and food hygiene implications. In: Journal of Insects as Food and Feed: 0 (0), pp. 1-20. doi:
https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2020.0046
^Ray, N. (2002). Lonely Planet Cambodia. Lonely Planet Publications. p. 308.
ISBN978-1-74059-111-9.
^Katherine Berrin; Larco Museum (1997). The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York:
Thames and Hudson. p. 216.
ISBN978-0-500-01802-6.