Giovanno Neigert is making a guest appearance in Unterhaching this Sunday with more than 500 species of spiders and insects. “Insectophobia” is the name of the exhibition by the 39-year-old Franconian, who has just about everything that creeps and flees in his luggage, from praying mantises to giant tarantulas – and frightens many people.
SZ: Mr. Neigert, according to studies, five percent of all people suffer from arachnophobia, i.e. the fear of spiders. Where does this great fear of small animals come from?
Giovanno Neigert: Opinions differ on this question. Some refer to man’s primal fear of poisonous animals, others to the unusual appearance of spiders. Personally, I believe that the role model of the parents plays a particularly important role. If the mother cries out loud as soon as she discovers a small spider in the basement, then the children do it. For example, my daughter held a tarantula like a hamster when she was six years old. She was never afraid of spiders.
In your exhibition you work specifically with people who are terrified of spiders. How do you go about it?
One or two visitors with arachnophobia always come to the exhibitions. The first thing we do is try to clear up their prejudices…
… that would be?
For example, spiders actively approach and bite you. In fact, almost all species flee when approached by a human. There is also a widespread misconception that the bite of a tarantula is fatal to humans – although this is not the case with any previously known species.
And when these prejudices are done away with, what happens then?
We start with the old skin of a tarantula and give it to visitors to touch. Then he first takes a small spider in his hand before we dare to approach the larger animals. If you proceed step by step, then many people take away their fear of spiders – at least during their visit to us.
Your exhibition includes more than 500 species of insects and, among other things, a 19 centimeter long tarantula – one of the largest of its kind in the world. How did you get all these animals?
As a child I lived opposite a pet shop in Nuremberg, where I was allowed to help out from time to time. For my twelfth birthday I was able to persuade my mother to give me a tarantula – and that’s when my fascination with these animals began. Later, my collection kept growing, and at some point I started showing them publicly. So I turned my hobby into my job and have been traveling all over Germany and Austria with my exhibition since 2011.
The spider and insect exhibition “Insectophobie” can be seen on Sunday, April 3, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Hachinga Hall in Unterhaching. On April 24, the show will come to the culture and congress center in Taufkirchen. Admission is €10 and €8 for children. More information is available www.insectophobie.de.