Though we humans are responsible for a lot of the things that go on in the world, we cannot take credit for them all. So, without all of the different insects at work, how would we get on as a society? Well, the results certainly wouldn’t be good, and we will explain exactly why in this article. Insects actually contribute more to the functions of the world that you might think, and they are always hard at work doing their jobs.
Different insects have varying jobs, but many of them ensure that the world functions in the way that it does, and we can tell you that things would be very different without them. There are lots of things that we would miss out on and things would definitely start to get very complicated very quickly. If you are interested in finding out how different insects affect our daily lives, then just keep reading this article.
Will Humans Survive If All Insects Were to Disappear?
If every single insect were to disappear, the human race would face some seriously difficult times. Interestingly, over half of all known species are insects, and if they all disappeared, there would be lots of problems to follow. There are lots of insects that we would probably all be glad to see the back of, but it turns out that even though we might not be particularly fond of them, they have very important jobs that we rely on.
Would Humans Survive Without Bees and Pollination?
Around 80% of all of the plants on Earth are angiosperms or flowering plants, and they rely on pollination from insects like bees, butterflies, and more. Without these insects around to pollinate these plants, the majority of plant life here on Earth would disappear. There are some other animals that assist with pollination, but it wouldn’t be enough to do the job as it is mostly done by insects.
What Would Happen to Our Food If We Didn’t Have Insects?
When we look at the human diet, we can note that anywhere between 50% and 90% of our food comes from flowering plants, and these plants provide us with things like wheat and rice, fruits, and vegetables. These are foods that many of us wouldn’t think twice about disappearing, but we heavily rely on such ingredients as a food source.
It is also a major food source for many different animals and fish, so if we were to run out of these plants, many of the animals like cows, pigs, and chickens, would not survive. This would eliminate yet another source of food as a lot of meat would no longer be available.
What many people do not realise is that the majority of our food that we eat depends on the work of insects, and if they were all to up and disappear, we would be in a very tricky situation when it comes to food. Without pollination, most of us would eventually starve to death with not enough food to keep us all going.
Additionally, it isn’t just us that would suffer, many other animals would too. There is also the domino effect that would occur in this situation, and if the beings that rely on insects themselves as food can’t get it, they wouldn’t survive. Then the animals that eat them wouldn’t survive, and so on. It wouldn’t just be us humans that suffer when it comes to finding food, the entire food chain would be affected.
Death and Decomposition Without Insects
Though it isn’t the most pleasant of things to think about, this is another process that would be affected if we did not have insects to help us. As it stands right now, we have insects to help with the decomposition of things like dead trees, animal carcasses, and more. Without insects, the decomposition process would take much longer, and even though we would still have bacteria and fungi, it wouldn’t happen nearly as quickly. Insects are a huge part of the process, and without them, there would be lots more death around, which nobody wants.
The Uses of Insects for Medicine
Interestingly, there are also lots of things going on in the world surrounding science and insects, and these insects can actually help us to make medical advancements. We will explain some of the medical trials that are being worked on below.
Tumour Paint
There are currently trials going on in the United States where they are looking at what is called tumour paint. This is a venom that has been taken from deathstalker scorpions, which actually attaches to tumours like a magnet. Biologists have worked hard to pair it with fluorescents to create an interesting system. So, with the use of these two things combined, they won’t have to solely rely on things like MRI charts, and they can instead see exactly where the tumours are due to the fluorescence.
This is really helpful for brain surgeons, who would then be able to see exactly where the tumour is and avoid cutting away at any healthy tissue. As well as this, this method can also help doctors to figure out if they have missed tumours in any places as they will light up, allowing them to find them much more easily. This is a huge step in brain surgery that would not be possible without these insects.
Antibiotic Resistance
Another medical discovery that is being worked on is the use of cockroaches to resolve the impacts of antibiotic resistance. We all know that cockroaches often live in some of the filthiest and most vile areas, but they are actually very clean themselves. This means that they have actually developed a resistance to many different infections throughout their dirty lifestyles. So, instead of looking to plants and fungi for all of the answers when it comes to antibiotic resistance, scientists are now researching these insects to come up with new solutions.
Summary
We don’t always appreciate all of the things that insects are able to provide us with, and it is easy for all of their hard work to go unnoticed. Without all of the insects to provide their services, lots of things would go wrong very quickly. This is why it is so important to preserve insect species where we can and do our bit to stop certain species from going instinct.
