A World Without Insects Essay

Imagine a world without insects. Many people would be ecstatic upon first thought, thinking about a world without pesky mosquitos or various bugs eating their garden plants. However, now imagine a world without the singing birds, swimming fish, and vibrant flowers. This is the cost of living in a world without insects. Think about how drab and quiet the world would be. Think of how silent springtime would be without the songbirds, and how solent the summer would be without the sounds of cicadas. A world without insects, may mean a world without many plants and birds. Sadly, it is being found that insects are being lost very rapidly, to the point where it is environmentally unsustainable. Many people do not realize how important insects truly are to the environment they inhabit. For one, they are found at the very bottom of the food chain above plants. This means that their decline will also indirectly cause a decline in predatory species found at the top of the food chain. This is because their decline results in a decline of other species, which are prey to other species. This trend continues to the very top of the food chain. With this in mind, if insects are lost, everything in the

Sadly, these insecticides kill non-target species of insects as well, such as honeybees and butterflies. Following, target species are gaining resistance to the chemicals over time. With this, the non-beneficial species are gaining numbers, while other beneficial species are being lost. The loss of predatory insect species, such as a ladybug, is leading to an explosion of aphids. Aphids are a known garden pest, as they eat the vegetation. As the lady bugs are lost, their predator is being lost as well. This means they will reproduce faster, and therefore gain resistance to the pesticide faster. This is also happening with other non-beneficial species such as mosquitos