Written by Olivia Twining
Sometimes I wonder what life would be like without insects. Sure there would be no more “icky bugs” such as mosquitos that bite you every time you walk outside, harmful pesticides and other bug killers such as toxaphene, dieldrin, and aldrin that affect your reproductive, nervous, endocrine, and immune system, and insect-borne diseases such as Malaria and Yellow Fever.
Click Here to read more: http://insected.arizona.edu/manduca/Insects.html
Even though an insect-free world sounds great to most people, it world would be detrimental to our environment in many ways. First, there we would see the starvation of insect-eating animals such as frogs, moles, birds, lizards, and spiders who feed off insects to stay alive. Next there would be the inability to naturally recycle materials through composting which reintroduces nutrients into the soil. Our world would be buried in waste from all the trash we produce without insects such as beetles and their larvae, worm-like larvae, as well as true worms like night-crawlers.
Another disadvantage would be the plummeting of crop yields due to lack of pollination. The honey bee alone is responsible for pollinating almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, sunflowers, watermelon and many other crops. Last and most importantly there would be a collapse in the food chain. It has been said, “many plants would disappear without insect pollinators, and entire ecosystems would collapse in the absence of insects in the food chain.”
A world without insects would be no world at all; we wouldn’t exist. However, even if our planet could exist, it would lack the wonder and beautiful that nature shows us everyday. People should think about the next they say, “I hate bugs,” for its because of bugs that we are alive.
Composting Source: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/newton/askasci/1995/environ/ENV137.HTM
Honey Bee Source: http://www.ebeehoney.com/Pollination.html
Food Chain Source: http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/history/insects.php
I agree with this Post 100 percent. As much as people complain about how much they hate insects, they should actually tell people about how much they love them and how they wouldn’t be here with out them. Insects are the dirty/hard workers on the planet and with out them we also wouldn’t have some of the flowers or plants we have now that help provide oxygen for us to breathe and help get rid of the Carbon Dioxide.
I agree with you that people shouild not complain about insects but rather be thankful for them. Yes, they are annoying but we never see the way they truly help the environment. They are the diry workers on the planet, especially since humans would never be able or even willing to do the jobs they do. Without them, the circle of life would be incomplete because they provide animals with food and keep plants existing. Like Dallas said, without plants we would not be given oxygen and carbon dioxide would remain in the air, causing humans to die off.
I agree! I personally am not a fan of many insects, but I do recognize the importance they have in our world. Without them, we wouldn’t be alive…what a weird thought. The fact that we, essentially, depend on insects is interesting to me and shows me that I should re-evaluate my views next time I go to kill a fly.
I do believe that insects get a bad reputation because of people who are uninformed about their affect on the world around us.While it is sad that we can’t exterminate all of them, our entire world would collapse. I do think we could get rid of mosquitoes.
Dallas, i couldn’t of said it better. Insects are a neccessity whether we like it ore not. Insects pollinate the flowers, fruits, and vegetables we eat today. Without insects the soil would not be rich and healthy due to the lack of decomposed nutrients. Worms would not be able to eat deomposed nutrients making the soil as healthy as we know it today. The food chain without insects would be crazy. First the birds and other animals that eat insects would die. Then the animals that eat those animals will die and so on. Our food chain would immediately collapse.
George nice examples! I think it’s safe to say that a world without insects would be hell. Each type of insect has its very own important niche in its community whether that be pollination, putting nutrients back into the soil, and even aiding decomposition. Insects as a whole represent a keystone species and without them, the animal environment as well as the human environment will begin to crash.
You guys both bring up good points here. Obviously nobody is a fan of pesky insects buzzing around their heads but it seems to essential to any ecosystem. Without insects we would not have beautiful flowers and it would completely throw off the food chain. I think it is amazing that even though an insect is so tiny it can have such a profound impact on all of the things that we need to survive.
I like Catherine’s comment when she says that a tiny think could have such a profound impact on all of the things that we need to survive. I couldn’t have said it better myself. A lot of people take the lower smaller aspects of our world for grated wether its in animal plant or human form. I think this would be the same if you take those who might have a lower job on the food chain out. If you take out all garbage workers out that would cause a disaster and same if you took out all insects. nothing and nobody is to small or unimportant in the way our world woks and is balanced.
I remember that there was a time when I brought up the point that insects do absolutely nothing in the world, that they are just annoying. Not really knowing much about insects then, I now have learned through out the years their great importance. This doesn’t change my feeling towards mosquitos, they’re horrible in every sense of the word. But a world without insects, like the article suggests, would not really be a world at all. Plants rely on insects to live, certain animals also rely on insects to live. Though they can be every day pests in our society, in reality they are one of the backbones of our ecosystem that keep it going.
Regardless of whether or not people like insects, it’s incredibly ignorant to think that the world would be better off without them. Each creature has its place in the circle of life, but humans tend to live with the idea that they are above everything . . . which is ridiculous. We are nothing without the smallest and largest of species. Each species is important.
I like this post because it highlights this concept. It provides numerous examples of the importance of insects, but still only lists a small fraction of the uses of insects. If we kept in mind the incredible amount of insect species in the world, and that each individual one has its purpose, than we can keep in mind the importance of bugs in general.
Zander you are completely right! Everythiong has a purpose on the earth- literally EVERYTHING, even poop! Humans assume that they are all that matters just because we have thumbs and some brain waves. Well we are important but we are as important as anything else. If we weren’t than natural selection would have diminished our existence because only the fittest can keep reproducing.
Zander, after reading this article I had almost the exact same reaction as you. It is incredibly arrogant, in this day and age, for one to believe that their are some creatures on this earth who serve no purpose whatsoever. If even one organism were to be taken away from it’s existance on this earth, the history of the human race would be completly different. I belive or at least hope, that I am not the only one who has felt compelled to dispell the constant ignorance displayed by those who complain about bugs, and state that world would be better off without bugs or any other animal for that matter.
I do recognize the importance of insects to this world. I used to scream like a little girl whenever I saw a big insect (jokes people!), but now I rarely even try to kill any insect that comes into my house. This is partly because I am super lazy and partly because I recognize the significance that they play in the world. There is no reason to kill them unjustly and people should know this so they do not kill them.
Insects have a role in the world whether people realize it or not. As mentioned, they can be extremely annoying and have disease risks. But, they have their place. I didn’t know that they had such a profound effect due to their often times rather simple jobs. Zander is right about humans thinking that they are above everybody and that something like an insect is unimportant. All the small things that insects do seem to add up to something and they contribute more than we know. Food chains would get thrown off and waste wouldn’t be taken care of in the same manner as it is now.
I completely agree with Zander. Thinking we don’t need insects is rediculous. If we didn’t have insects we would have a dull, colorless world and I think people would complain quite a bit more about that than a few bugs crawling around. The little roles bugs play in our world have a huge effect and we really do need them for our well being and for the well being of other creatures on our planet. We need bugs! Maybe no mosquitoes? They literally do nothing good.
I always though that every living thing on earth is there because it has a purpose. Even mosquitos and spiders, as annoying as they are, have a purpose. With out them we wouldn’t have food, we wouldn’t have forests, and many animals would cease to exist. They play a major role in decomposing organic materials. They are at the base of the food chain; many species depend on them including us.
I wish I could disagree so that we could have more of a diverse conversation, but there is no one that would argue against the fact that insects are a vital part of life (if someone did argue against it then they clearly aren’t understanding the importance of insects). Without them we wouldn’t have plants, without plants we wouldn’t have a majority of animals, and without animals we might not have humans either. I’m willing to deal with the mosquito bites and the annoying gnats because I know that even though they are small, they play a big role in the environment.
I feel that we can’t live without bugs and insects but I feel that we can live with less bugs and insects. When every you have an insect problem at your house you call an exterminator to come and kill them all. By killing these we are not altering the world, which leads me to believe that maybe we don’t need all that many bugs in order for our world to function. What do you guys think?
I think that’s a good idea. To be honest I didn’t think bugs were that big of a pests that everyone made them out to be. But i do agree that they are annoying. And that possibly getting rid of a certain percent won’t alter the effects of insects. But there is no way in telling. Earth needs insects. They are a crucial asset to planet earth.
Well when someone calls an exterminator to get rid of a bug problem in a home, it’s not a good enough example to say that we could do with less bugs. When bugs are in, and exterminated from, a human household, than it is a false environment. Bugs aren’t naturally born and live their lives in air conditioned places with custom designed furniture. Who knows what would happen if we had less bugs in the world. Having less bugs in your house does not equal the opportunity for less bugs to live in the world. Look at the recent honey bee disaster. Hundreds of species of honey bees were dying out and scientists flipped. It became a significant worry because honey bees are so important to pollination and honey. The same reaction would probably come from the disappearance of any type of bug in the world, because they’re all important.
Yeah but the amount of bugs exterminated by the entire world is a pretty large number, I guess it could have to do with the rate that bugs reproduce is so quick that killing a certain number of bugs does nothing? But you think that if we started to mass kill bugs but not to an extent were they were close to extinction you think that this world would be changed completely?
I used to consider insects to be public enemy #1, but after reading this post I have actually taken a 180 degree turn on my stance on this issue and am actually a huge proponet for insects and what they do for the environment. In response to Paul’s question over weather or not we need that many insects for our world to function, I personally believe that we could probably carry on with fewer bugs in the environement with little to no effect on the environement, but is their really any to kill bugs and if thier is even the slightest chance taht the bug you kill will drastically change the environment forever. Why do it? I am interested to see where other people stand on this thought provocking question that Paul has raised.
Similar to everyone’s comments, I also believe that insects are gross, but I also agree that they are a necessary component to our environment. Honey bees for example are responsible for the pollination of some 80% of our crops and flowers. The other thing that I always wish didn’t exist are spiders. However, spiders keep insects from getting out of control. Same with snakes. As much as humans are grossed out by certain organisms, we must learn to live and embrace.
I think Olivia has made a great point about how vital insects are to our every day life. One of the larger impacts would be on the food chain. Without primary consumers (e.i. the insects), secondary consumers such as birds, frogs, and small rodents that eat herbivores would quickly starve and die off. Without secondary consumers, tertiary consumers like foxes and lions would be the next to starve and die. And so we can see how quickly life without primary producers would be when looking at the food chain pyramid.
Like in class, Mr.Cohen talked about r-selected species and k-selected species. The r-selected species have a fast reproductive rate and allow for quick evolution. Through evolution and the right cases, humans came into existence all thanks to the simple creatures such as the insects. While humans exist, bugs are still essential to the environment pollinating plants, being consumed by higher-tier creatures and making sweet foods (honey and nectar). While insects are essential to biodiversity, mosquitoes can be killed.
This article is very good! I agree with all of the statements that insects are very crucial to everyday life weather people like it or not. I am also pretty sure unless there is a mass extermination the insects are here to stay. I do not think however that it would be so bad if some of them were to go away (mosquitos). But who knows maybe even mosquitos are some crucial part of the cycle and by getting rid of them could tear it apart even worse than could be imagined?
This post is dead on. It brings up the delicacy of the natural world’s survival. It seems strange to think that insects that are so small could have such a large impact but it brings to light the importance of every aspect of an environment. This highlights the necessity for humans to be more careful with what we tamper with in the natural world around us because if we make a mistake the results could be catastrophic. This article does give me a new appreciation for bugs seeing as we would not be here without them and makes me more environmentally conscious.
Like Mr. Cohen said in class, we should be thanking our insects!! Even though insects are small, they are a huge part in how the food chain and pollination work. Without insects there would be a collapse in the food chain, loss of insect products, without pollinators, starvation of species that eat insects, and we would be buried in waste!!
I think insects have a very important role in the world ecosystem. I think it would hard to imagine a successful world without them. They are very valuable to us because of what task the do that no other species can do. Even though some people may think they are annoying at times they are vital for our world and possibly the survival of many of other species that depend on them.
Although I think a world insects and mosquito bites would be awesome, in reality I think it would be very detrimental to the world as a whole. Insects provide the world with so many purposes. They serve as food for birds, frogs, bats, etc. They also help with composting, like mentioned in the article. Also stated in the article, they pollinate plants and crops so that they can grow and reproduce. Without the bees and other insects to perform this role, the farmers would be out of jobs. On the plus side, it would be much more uncommon for the spread of diseases, such as malaria, H1N1, and yellow fever. Overall, it’s quite hard to decide whether or not a world without insects would be good.
I love this subject, I visited a place in South Africa with many insects with the theme big bug expo, please visit the link below see for your self what other people are doing for insects and pass a comment.
http://www.sanbi.org/news/big-bug-expo-gigantic-insects-roam-walter-sisulu-national-botanical-garden