Arthropods in culture

Arthropods play many roles in human culture. Many of these 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.

Insects play many roles in culture including their direct use as food,in medicine, for dyestuffs, and in science, where the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster serves as a model organism for work in genetics and developmental biology.

Indirect uses include appearances in mythology,in religion, in biomimicry,in art,in literature and film, and in music.

...
Wikipedia