When talking about bugs, we should probably start with defining what they are. To help us do that, Bored Panda contacted a couple of entomologists. They are people who study insects. One of them is Cole Gilbert, who is a professor at Cornell University and his fields of interest include insect behavior and insect physiology. And we also got in touch with Claudia Husseneder, who is a professor at Louisiana State University who specializes in population genetics and molecular biology of insects and symbionts.
Both scientists admit that this is a tricky question as the word ‘bug’ can refer to a number of things, like a computer bug or something that is ‘bugging them.’ Entomologists consider true bugs to be about 110,000 of the million different kinds of insects.
Professor Cole Gilbert explains what differentiates bugs from other types of insects: “They have the wings crossed over the back in an X pattern, rather than with a straight line down the middle of the back like beetles have. And they do not have chewing jaws, they have a tube for mouthparts. It is stiff, not curly like that of a butterfly or moth. They stab their food with the tube and inject salivary enzymes to digest the food, whether it is a plant or animal, and then suck the juicy insides out.”
Bored Panda was curious to know if all the million insects are important to keep the ecosystem going and even such creatures as cockroaches are really necessary to earth. And the scientists are have no doubts about that, because all beings have such intricate interactions between each other that “the loss of some could drastically change the environment,” as Professor Gilbert puts it.
Professor Husseneder explains in more detail: “Ecosystems consist of complex interwoven food webs and insects are part of the foundation/basis of the food pyramid. From the human perspective, cockroaches are pests, but they are the biomass cleaning and recycling crew of the planet, removing decaying plants and animal waste. And they make a tasty protein snack for animals.”
Of course, some species go extinct and if the process is slow, ecosystems will adapt, but if they are drastic, “it can disrupt the balance and, in extreme cases, lead to a cascade failure.” Professor Claudia Husseneder gives a metaphor to help you imagine it easier: “Imagine a net. You can cut a few strands and it still holds its shape and your weight, because other strands can compensate. If you cut too many strands, other connections will snap, and when the point of no return is reached, the whole thing collapses.”
#10 A Bumblebees Bum And Lil' Legs Hanging Out Of A Flower
So there are bugs like cockroaches that we hate to see and they gross people out, but they actually have a place in the ecosystem, whether we like it or not. But in this list, we found the most impressive bugs that look so colorful and unusual.
Entomologists have several explanations why some of them are less boring than others. Both professors agree that one of the reasons is to attract mates and the other is to intimidate the enemy. Cole Gilbert adds that bright colors often indicate “that the insect is dangerous in some way, especially poisonous. Even their toxin does not kill a predator that tries to eat one, the bold colors are more memorable and the predator will likely not try for seconds.” Claudia Husseneder adds that “Harmless insects mimic warning colors to 'pretend' that they are not good eats or they make themselves invisible by using camouflage.”
It was really fun to chat with these specialists and get answers to our questions, but what are the questions that these scientists ask themselves? What do they want to know the answers to? Well, both entomologists started with saying that if you ask different people, they will have different interests. Professor Husseneder thinks that the “greatest challenge of the future is the loss of insect abundance and the extinction of species that we didn’t even know were there.”
She thinks it is very important to collect data and determine what impact to the world even the tiniest creatures have, “to assess impact of challenges and devise solutions to make sure we can live in balance with the good, the bad and the colorful.”
Cole Gilbert also has his list of what he would like to know more about. Like “Is there really a decline in insect numbers worldwide, and if so, what is the cause?” Is it the pollinators? He suspects that they do have a part in that, but not all insects.
Another thing to think about is “Where did insect wings come from? All the other groups of creatures that fly, i.e., birds, bats, and extinct flying reptiles, lost the ability of their front legs for walking, but evolved them into wings. Insects did not lose the function of any of their 6 legs to get the two pairs of wings they have.”
What confuses entomologists is also “Why are there no insects in the ocean? Insects dominate the land and are abundant in freshwater, but not marine systems. Crustaceans, which are the closest relatives of insects, are present in oceans and freshwater systems, but not so much on land. What causes this separation?”
