Arthropods play many roles in human culture, the social behaviour and norms in human societies transmitted through social learning, including as food, in art, in stories, and in mythology and religion. Many of these aspects 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.
Crayfish and Two Shrimps by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1835-1845
Gold plaques embossed with winged bee goddesses, perhaps the Thriai, found at Camiros Rhodes, dated to the 7th century B.C.
Crayfish party in Häringe Castle, Sweden 1991.
Cooked tarantula spiders are a delicacy in Cambodia.
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some species are found in brooks and streams, where fresh water is running, while others thrive in swamps, ditches, and paddy fields. Most crayfish cannot tolerate polluted water, although some species, such as Procambarus clarkii, are hardier. Crayfish feed on animals and plants, either living or decomposing, and detritus.
Crayfish
Cajun style crawfish
A man selling dried crayfish at an African market
Astacidae: Austropotamobius pallipes