Yesterday I killed a spider and today I saved a potato bug. What makes us despise spiders so much, and yet we see a potato bug and instantly we want to hold it in our hands?
I think it has to do with the timidity of the potato bug as compared to that of the spider. A spider is not afraid to make a sudden move or to jump on you and the thought of not knowing to where it has gone, hiding somewhere in the depths of the corners of your room, makes it painfully scary. It is that lack of knowledge that scares me. Where is it? Is it going to come out while I'm sleeping and crawl on me? Or will I suddenly find it as I'm choosing a shirt to wear? Horrifying, really, even when they just sit there when discovered. One of the worst things is walking into a room (usually my bedroom or bathroom) and having that feeling that there is a spider around. Yesterday, I felt that and looked around, to see one of those giant red ones with the red abdomen in the crease between wall and carpet - the most dreaded place in my opinion, because they are "un-gettable". Even worse is the fear that it will move while you run to grab the spider spray and a brother's shoe, which it did, as they often do. Luckily, it moved to a spot where I could still find it, and I sprayed it to its death. My sisters hate that I leave it there after that, but A. I don't want to touch it, B. I don't want to see its corpse flop around, C. What if I drop it and have to pick it up or lose it entirely? and D. It is almost comforting to see it there and know that it's dead and not crawling around ready to do something creepy when you least expect it.
A potato bug, on the other hand, when approached, curls up into a little ball and allows itself to be picked up, making no sudden moves, and there is no possibility that it is going to bite you or leave poison with you or anything. So, when I saw a "grandpa-sized" one on the stairs at the University, I knew that this Grandpa wouldn't live long if it stayed there. I let it curl up, and I picked it up and gently tossed it into an area of dirt where no one steps. It obviously had lived a long life, and by the way it moved its little antennae, I could tell it wasn't ready to go yet.
And so, the question remains.