Insect Facts: What They Tell Us About Ourselves (PHOTOS)

People are more afraid of insects than they are of dying, at least if you believe "The Book of Lists." Only public speaking and heights exceeded the six-legged as sources of fear, although "financial problems" and "deep water" tied with insects at number three. Dying came in at number six. As a scientist, I am not too surprised. People have strong feelings about insects, most of them negative.

Yet for centuries, some of the greatest minds in science have drawn inspiration from studying some of the smallest minds on earth. It's not just that we publish scholarly articles about insects, or use them in our laboratories. Insects are special. We write about "Life on a Little-Known Planet," with "Bugs in the System." We muse about "Little Creatures Who Run the World," and we're only partly joking.

Why is that? What is it that keeps us coming back to insects? Why do they inspire such strong emotions, and what can we learn about ourselves from watching their joint-legged lives? I wrote "Sex on Six Legs" to answer those questions (images from Alex Wild: www.alexanderwild.com).

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Insects are everywhere

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Insects are more numerous than any other animal, making up over 80% of all species. Estimates of the number of kinds of insects vary wildly, because new ones are being discovered all the time, but there are at least a million, possibly as many as ten million, which means that you could have an "Insect of the Month" calendar and not need to re-use a species for well over 80,000 years. Take that, pandas and kittens! At any one moment, say while you are reading this sentence, approximately 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects surround you in the world.

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Insects are more numerous than any other animal, making up over 80% of all species. Estimates of the number of kinds of insects vary wildly, because new ones are being discovered all the time, but there are at least a million, possibly as many as ten million, which means that you could have an "Insect of the Month" calendar and not need to re-use a species for well over 80,000 years. Take that, pandas and kittens! At any one moment, say while you are reading this sentence, approximately 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects surround you in the world.

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farmerlady said on 5 Friday 2011 pm31 12:12 pm: shrimps aren't insects, man.

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Comments

[angolmois]

02:21 AM on 09/30/2011

I loved your brief documentary about insects on BBC, Marlene! You have gift of gab and you do it beautifullly. However, did you know that your last name, Zuk, is most likely of Polish origin? And the funniest thing is that 'zuk' in Polish means 'a beetle'! Isn't that a hoot? You probably already knew that, but hey, it's pretty amusing... :)

[Foxissocoolike]

09:59 PM on 08/16/2011

They are amazing and wonderful, i agree

[Erewhon7]

09:03 AM on 08/07/2011

Naive attempt to anthropomorphize insects.

[Issaquah79]

11:29 PM on 08/06/2011

I am one of those weirdos that is not bothered or scared of insects. I LOVE many of them actually. I have a serious love for spiders and snakes as well. Upon entering my home I tell guests they aren't allowed to squish anything because it's probably a friend of mine.

[Nolana]

08:52 PM on 08/05/2011

Bugs are fascinating and some can be horrifying, while others are just cute. I am fond of snow-fleas, minuscule primitive bugs that ping around on the surface of snow on warmer winter days.

A truly wonderful website - www.whatsthatbug.com . I do have to steer clear of the section on spiders, but can spend a lot of time meandering there and learning about interesting creatures like the wheel bugs, ant lions, craneflies (known in my family as "wallybugs", after a friend with long, gangly legs), giant silk moths, etc.

I am grateful that I was raised by parents who love nature, and taught all us "kids" to always be curious about the world around us.

[HappierWithLess]

07:42 PM on 08/05/2011

I live in Costa Rica and it is BUGY down here. Super bugy, and big bugs to boot. It's as if a nuclear accident occured and all the bugs few 10 times their size. Last night I am reading in bed and a scorpion crawls across my book. It's hard to get used to.
www.happierthanabillionaire.com

[dennis1943]

03:36 PM on 08/05/2011

Have witnessed as of late,(now that i am paying more attention),behaviours in insects i find intrigueing.Gray matter deficits aside,they seem to do quite well for themselves............

[PierreSD]

03:17 PM on 08/05/2011

One fact that was surprisingly omitted: humans, despite all of our intent or negligence, have not managed to cause a single species of insect to go extinct.

[bioShell]

02:36 PM on 08/05/2011

There are lots of bugs outside my house, they just like to hang out at my front door at night. Usually a few get inside, it really doesn't bother me to see them inside; but I usually grab them and gently take them outside, even spiders. I leave a few in the house, they probably grew up here, in a way it's their home. Bugs are gross only in your mind.

BTW, do you think bugs like to socialize with other insects? It kind of seems like they do, the front porch seems diverse with different kinds bugs, I'd like to think they aren't just eating each other.

here is a link that tells how to get rid of them (in a nice way) if you don't like them: http://www.peta.org/living/home-and-garden/natural-and-harmless-alternatives-to-garden-pesticides.aspx

[triplettam]

02:28 PM on 08/05/2011

Great article. Although I could have done without that earwig. Not my favorite insect. But now that I've learned what a good parent it is . . .nah, I'm still not going to like it. Still, fascinating stuff.

[nlightenup]

01:46 PM on 08/05/2011

Early 70's, scary movie named The Hellstrom Chronicle. Presented in documentary style, all about insects taking over the world. I just googled it and see that part of it is available on youtube.

[lovelybunchofcoconuts]

01:38 PM on 08/05/2011

That was fascinating.

[floridagirl872]

01:21 PM on 08/05/2011

I am so grossed out!

[Dee Gradee]

12:55 PM on 08/05/2011

Wonderful article. I thought I was going overboard with my anticruelty when I was having an ant invasion in my kitchen and i was feeling guilty when i sprayed them and killed them. I only did it twice out of frustration but most of the time I scooped them up and threw them outside and spackled all the cracks I could find them coming through. I knew I sensed they were totally concious beings like other earthlings.

[dennis1943]

03:38 PM on 08/05/2011

Read "City".........

[Dee Gradee]

06:26 PM on 08/05/2011

?

[dennis1943]

07:07 PM on 08/05/2011

"City".....Clifford D Simak.............interesting sub-plot involving ants with a great plot twist for a punchline..........read it 55 years ago so i hope i remembered the authors name correctly........

[stepintothelight]

12:44 PM on 08/05/2011

I still can not stand those centipede type bugs. They way the move still freaks me out and their postmortem motor skills are just disgusting.

[Maria Alvarellos]

02:41 PM on 08/09/2011

But they aren't insects ! :)