Arthropods and humans share many of the same resources, frequently this includes both habitat and food sources. They can cause millions of dollars of crop damage, sometimes in a short time period. Farmers often use insecticides to control the arthropod populations, but insecticides also have unwanted side effects. 

Arthropods can also spread disease. Insects are vectors that carry the disease from one host to another host. Diseases spread by arthropods can have serious effects, some of the diseases that arthropods can spread are:

• Bubonic plague - a bacterial disease spread by fleas
• Yellow fever - a viral disease that is spread by mosquitoes
• West Nile - another viral disease that is carried and spread by mosquitoes.