Is there really a need for insects to exist?

[Deleted]

what sort of question is this?
go & do a spot of reading up, then you will find your answer.
i cant believe you want to destroy a vast section of this planets creatures & the repurcussions that would have, simply because they annoy you.

[Starving Artist]

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=125636

Could have just searched on Google if you were really interested in an answer. It doesn't seem like you couldn't find a reason so much as you didn't want to find a reason.

I can't stand people who say this . You do know this is a forum right ?? People make threads to discuss stuff ...you do know that right ?? Not every thread is gong to be a topic you like or interesting to you so no need to chim in with a jerk response .

Anyways ..yeah I kind of see what your getting at ...other then the pollinating bugs I see little real use for them other then a food sourse which like you said most birds and mammals could just eat other things .

[Vulcanasm]

I cant seem to come up with any reason for insects other than for a food source. Anything that eats insects could just eat something else if they didnt exist. I see no good reason for them to exist as all they do is annoy us. They make our cars dirty, sneak into our homes, destroy our crops, spread diseases, poison us if they are toxic, and are generally an annoyance as they buzz past our ears and fly into our eyes. Why cant we just eradicate all insects? All we would have to do is spray for them like they do near rivers for mosquitos and black flies. They could spray everywhere for all bugs and eliminate them once and for all.

This, people, is why you fund PBS and public education.

[anabolicz]

Mosquito are food for birds, fish, insects.
Birds are food for hundreds, fish is food for us and other animals, Insects does alot of weird stuff which we need them to do. Spiders eat flying insects and reduce their population. If u hate mosquito go to the woods fetch spiders and put them in ur front-yard bushes.
Also hang bird food around ur house. Birds eat flying insects and spiders+ worms and shit^^
I guess what i'm trying to say is, we need those nasty creatures to have balance.
Insects also spreads nature. And they clean the woods for rotten things.

Remove them.. and DIE i guess. Would be like removing the fan inside the computer it will melt down and die...

[Deleted]

I can't stand people who say this . You do know this is a forum right ?? People make threads to discuss stuff ...you do know that right ?? Not every thread is gong to be a topic you like or interesting to you so no need to chim in with a jerk response .

Anyways ..yeah I kind of see what your getting at ...other then the pollinating bugs I see little real use for them other then a food sourse which like you said most birds and mammals could just eat other things .

You know what I can't stand? People who assume that because a thought wanders into their heads and despite the entire world of evidence at their finger tips that they'll turn up on a forum to show the world how wonderfully ignorant they are rather than try and educate themselves.

And please tell me what's to discuss here from the OP?

Nothing, it's covered in the first reply which *SHOCK* the OP could have found in less time using Google than it took make this frightening dumb thread.

[Deleted]

If that is the case, then why dont we all die in the winter when all the insects are hibernating and inactive

Because we stock up? Plus, hibernation exists for a reason in animals.

[Deleted]

Why do humans exist? Have you thought about all the shit we have done to this planet?

[Ycarene]

Insects make up the majority of the biomass on this planet classified as "Animals", moreso if you expand that to arthropods in general. They fill in every niche and much of the agricultural industry relies on one insect species or another to act as pollinators. Lots of things that eat insects that we enjoy having around would go away, like birds, for example.

Flies are annoying, but they have an important role in the decomposition of dead biomass. Disgusting they may be, but without things like maggots, a lot of what dies doesn't rejoin the environment. Imagine if an animal died and it stayed as an intact body, never decaying, never breaking down.

Bees are a major agricultural resource, both as pollinators and as a source of honey (and wax in some places).

I love shrimp, crab and lobster, (not insects, but are in the same phylum)

We can't just eliminate everything that bugs you. (Pun intended)

[Kerath]

I can't stand people who say this . You do know this is a forum right ?? People make threads to discuss stuff ...you do know that right ?? Not every thread is gong to be a topic you like or interesting to you so no need to chim in with a jerk response .

Anyways ..yeah I kind of see what your getting at ...other then the pollinating bugs I see little real use for them other then a food sourse which like you said most birds and mammals could just eat other things .

... and I hate responses like this.
You know there's nothing to discuss here, right? No bugs=our entire biosphere is fucked. 5 minutes with the internet at your fingertips would tell anyone that.
They pollinate plants, help get rid of dead plant and animal matter, aerate/turn soil.
Without them, plants would start to die out at a rapid rate of knots, herbivores that feed on those plants die out, carnivores that feed on those herbivores die out and so on.
It's not a simple case of animals that feed on insects having to eat something else. It would cause a chain of events that would result in the collapse of entire food chains.

[Simulacrum]

“if all insects on Earth disappeared, within 50 years all life on
Earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the Earth,
within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.”

- Biologist Jonas Salk

Didn't you just contradict that very quote with the preceeding parts of your post?

I don't understand.

Maybe you're just being misanthropic.

[The Small Hours]

it's all probuganda. There's no advantage to having creepy crawlies in the modern world.

[spelle]

no animal needs to eat humans to survive we do not help the earth in any way, we are destroying it so if anything humans is the least important creature on earth

[Fullmetal89]

Seriously? Please read a book or something on the subject; before posting something this inane ignorant...

Although I agree that OP should do a little research before making a topic like this. There's no reason to insult him for asking a question; it would be more efficient to answer him. Both proving that you know what he does not, and informing someone who would otherwise stay ignorant on the subject.

"To be blind is bad, but worse is to have eyes and not see." ~ Hellen Keller.

Insect are extremely important part of this planets ecosystem; just like every other species including parasites and bacteria. The planet has a very delicate structure that is built upon different species competing with one another, every organism plays an important role in keeping life sustainable. They have also been an inspiration for scientist, engineers, and artists since the dawn of civilization. Even though they are not sentient they manage to organize and construct structures that still baffle scientists and engineers. Many computer scientist and engineers look to insects for inspiration in creating a network of self sufficient robots.

[Reeve]

All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs.

You have that backwards.

[Jackmoves]

They are part of the eco system and as such important to nature. If none has posted this yet I think it's about time. Funny shit from a "great communist hero". rofl

It's in german, but for those of you who don't get it it's still worth a watch, oh there are english subs!

The Great Sparrow Campaign (打麻雀运动) was part of Mao Zedong's Four Pests Campaign (除*害运动). A part of the Great Leap Forward (*跃进) from 1958-1962, the goal of the Four Pests Campaign was to get rid of rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows.The extermination of the latter upset the ecological balance, and enabled crop-eating insects to proliferate.

The masses of China were mobilized to eradicate the birds, and citizens took to banging pots and pans or beating drums to scare the birds from landing, forcing them to fly until they fell from the sky in exhaustion. Sparrow nests were torn down, eggs were broken, and nestlings were killed. Sparrows and other birds were shot down from the sky, resulting in the near-extinction of the birds in China. Non-material rewards and recognition were offered to schools, work units and government agencies in accordance with the volume of pests they had killed.

Needless to say it backfired massively.

[Deleted]

There are many and very important reasons for insects to exist, but after posting that thread I really see no reason why your stupidity should exist anywhere on this planet.

Infracted

[Stir]

Insult.

Reported for just being too much.

[ultimar235]

I think people are being over dramatic.

People are forgetting that insects consume energy and with them gone all that energy is now free for everything else to consume. Over time things will 'evolve' and balance out. Yeah some animals will suffer and others will thrive and world will change but it will not end. Earth got hit by a smegging meteor/comet and there's still life. I don't think loosing insects = total destruction of world.

You can manually pollinate plants btw it's not a magic trick insects do.

[Stir]

I think people are being over dramatic.

People are forgetting that insects consume energy and with them gone all that energy is now free for everything else to consume. Over time things will 'evolve' and balance out. Yeah some animals will suffer and others will thrive and world will change but it will not end. Earth got hit by a smegging meteor/comet and there's still life. I don't think loosing insects = total destruction of world.

You can manually pollinate plants btw it's not a magic trick insects do.

The food chain... Doesn't work like that...
And then there's the laws of thermodynamics you're forgetting.

[cudomix]

You have that backwards.

On the contrary, bugs (heteroptera, or so called "true bugs") are an order of insects. People commonly use term bug to label most of terrestrial arthropods, although it is vastly inaccurate.