Nobody likes seeing a bug where it doesn’t belong, whether it’s a roach scampering across the kitchen tile at midnight or an army of ants invading an otherwise lovely picnic. Mild to severe distaste for our insect and arachnid neighbors has been mankind's default setting throughout most of human history. But now, thanks to a survey of 2,000 people commissioned by Zevo and conducted by OnePoll, we finally have hard data exploring the depths and nuances of our distaste for bugs, including a look at the all-time most hated insects in the U.S.
The survey results cover a wide spectrum of entomophobia (fear of insects) topics and—from the results given—it’s crystal clear that people dislike bugs with every fiber of their being. When encountering a bug in their home, only 27 percent of respondents said they’d try to catch and release it outside. The others say they immediately reach for the shoe, rolled-up newspaper, spray, or flamethrower.
With the average respondent to this survey apparently losing 36 hours of sleep a year stressing about insects, it’s no wonder the group said they’d pay an average of $2,241 to never encounter a bug anywhere in the world for the rest of their lives. Such a drastic measure feels like it might result in some long-term ramifications rippling across the global environment—but fears aren’t rational, are they?
As for the most hated insect, the survey also gave us a definitive ranking of people’s 15 least favorite creepy crawlers. Read on to see the full list, from least to most reviled based on the percentage of respondents who said they disliked them. Think you can guess the most hated overall?
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15 | Cicadas
Shutterstock4 percent
14 | Ladybugs
Shutterstock4 percent
13 | Yellowjackets
iStock5 percent
12 | Gnats
iStock5 percent
11 | Worms
Shutterstock5 percent
10 | Centipedes
Shutterstock8 percent
9 | Hornets
Shutterstock9 percent
8 | Wasps
Elliotte Rusty Harold / Shutterstock14 percent
7 | Bees
Shutterstock15 percent
6 | Ticks
Shutterstock25 percent
5 | Termites
Shutterstock / Witsawat.S28 percent
4 | Mosquitos
Shutterstock28 percent
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3 | Ants
Shutterstock29 percent
2 | Spiders
Shutterstock37 percent
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1 | Cockroaches
Shutterstock / KoKiChs39 percent
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