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Fear and Loathing in Mosquito-Land

To the Best of Our Knowledge

    We hate mosquitoes.

    But why?  I mean, yes — West Nile, dengue, malaria, Zika…not to mention ruined picnics, sleepless nights, and bites you scratch until they bleed … Those are logical reasons to dislike mosquitoes.  But admit it – they also just creep you out.

    Jeffrey Lockwood gets at the psychology in his book “The Infested Mind.” He’s an entomologist who once had a truly horrific encounter with a swarm of grasshoppers.   He was left traumatized. Afterwards he wondered why we all fear and loathe insects so much.

    Lockwood told Rehman Tungekar the answer is deep deep in our psyches.

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