# Stop hating on insects



## Kommandant (Jun 27, 2017)

I haven't done a dumb and pointless thread in a while so let's go.

I love insects. I could look at pictures of them for hours. I could also talk about them for hours. Unfortunately my dear friends and relatives either don't care or are... well disgusted. 

*Can people who dislike insects (think they're gross, are scared of them etc.) tell me what exactly is there to dislike?* Just a taste thing I guess? Like different people like different food/animals/movies and stuff? Is that it?

*And more importantly if you're interested in them share your insect k n o w l e d g e here with me.*


Also for no reason at all: Baby spider.


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## Judson Joist (Oct 25, 2013)

Totes. I've been a bug lover since I was an '80s kid in the '80s. Read lots of field guides and such. Once I had my meemaw tape record a cicada emerging from its nymph husk on a camcorder. I'm always trying to get my friends (and their kids) to appreciate what I call "living treasures," but they're not having it.

Strength and beauty are typically considered to be admirable traits. The Hercules beetle has both.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

bumblebees are very laid back and photogenic. Plus they are good pollinators.


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## Crowbo (Jul 9, 2017)




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## Samari (Jul 12, 2019)

Velvet ants are pretty cool. They're actually wasps that evolved the bright fuzz to keep lizards from eating them. The females don't have wings though. They have a very funny stuttery gait and a nasty sting.


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## Suntide (Dec 22, 2018)

> Can people who dislike insects (think they're gross, are scared of them etc.) tell me what exactly is there to dislike? Just a taste thing I guess? Like different people like different food/animals/movies and stuff? Is that it?


For me, I'm just creeped out by all of the legs... and all of the eyes... I'm also a germaphobe, and I see insects are inherently 'dirty' so we are not really compatible. Not afraid of them 'hurting' me or something, I'm just grossed out by them and don't want them in my personal space. I will admit some can be cute, like the harmless bumble bees, ladybugs, butterflies. But things like centipedes, spiders, roaches are a big 'nope nope nope' from me


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## Ziegel (Feb 11, 2019)

They're flying around and they're annoying so I kill them. I guess they look alright but whatever.


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## Aridela (Mar 14, 2015)

I really don't mind them outside. 

But when they're in my house they are intruding, and I won't have it. 

That being said I don't mind bugs that much, I'm ok with spiders and the such, unless they get stuck in the bathtub (not particularly fond of touching them to get them out; I'll just hang a towel and let them find their way out on their own). 

Slugs I absolutely hate in the house. I've stepped on one once and it was a very nasty experience (plus a lot of trails to clean up).


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## 74893H (Dec 27, 2017)

I'm pretty sure it's mostly just an instinct thing, what with all the stingy and bitey insects and insects that spread disease, we're probably conditioned to want to stay as far away from them as possible. Once upon a time we were much much smaller creatures and if really big spiders and whatnot still existed they probably wouldn't have had much trouble eating us.

With me it's mostly the fear of squishing them into me or them crawling into some orifice of my body or eeuugghhgh, or getting an infestation of them somewhere in my room. Or them crawling over my food and me either eating them or them laying eggs in it or something like that. Then there's parasites, even aside from them being assholes the thought of what they do is really disgusting to think about, makes me really squeamish, and it's hard not to associate them with other bugs. Mosquitoes and fleas and whatnot, assholes. Flies, moths, crane flies and them that fly in through your window and keep flying into you and making you jump, flying in front of your TV or computer screen and making loads of noise and being a massive distraction, I have ADHD and I physically can't focus when they're nearby or getting all in front of my screen and it makes me really mad, flying in front of your lights and casting massive shadows all of a sudden that make you jump, they really piss me off. Most insects if I find them in my room I'll try and put them outside but bitey insects or annoying flying insects I'll usually just try and kill, little wankers. And they just don't look very nice. Probably another instinct thing but all the eyes, their carapaces, all these things, the thought of touching them is just eehehererererehghghghghsfhfhf.

I think certain bigger bugs like the really big beetles and maybe very calm and still cockroaches I'd be okay with holding or something _if_ I'm feeling brave and in the right mindset, I held a cockroach at some tourist place once and it was okay, those sorts of bugs don't look quite as nasty and there's less risk of them crawling into you or accidentally squishing them into you, but as soon as they start flying around or crawling all over my room I'm out of there.

Edit: Oh but on the interest note I do find honeybees really really really fascinating, their whole life cycle and the way they live around the queen and the hive and how worker bees aren't even DNA carriers and basically just exist purely to be slaves for the queen while she sits all cushy in her hive passing on her DNA and continuing the bee family tree is just so interesting, it's so alien to our own way of life, and it's so fascinating that it evolved just as naturally as our own. Absolutely no sense of individuality in the hive, and with no way of passing on their genes the survival instinct isn't paramount, the only thing in the entire hive that matters is the queen, everything else is expendable. No queen = no species, protect the queen, let _her_ pass on her genes while the workers work themselves to death with no legacy of their own and no thoughts on the matter, just another random bee in the hive doing his job. So interesting.


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## Judson Joist (Oct 25, 2013)

Pizzafari said:


> Oh, but on the interest note I do find honeybees really really really fascinating, their whole life cycle and the way they live around the queen and the hive and how worker bees aren't even DNA carriers and basically just exist purely to be slaves for the queen while she sits all cushy in her hive passing on her DNA and continuing the bee family tree is just so interesting, it's so alien to our own way of life, and it's so fascinating that it evolved just as naturally as our own. Absolutely no sense of individuality in the hive, and with no way of passing on their genes the survival instinct isn't paramount, the only thing in the entire hive that matters is the queen, everything else is expendable. No queen = no species, protect the queen, let _her_ pass on her genes while the workers work themselves to death with no legacy of their own and no thoughts on the matter, just another random bee in the hive doing his job. So interesting.


That's why Robert Heinlein used colonial insects as a metaphor for communism (or collectivism in general).


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## Dustanddawnzone (Jul 13, 2014)

Baby spiders are adorable:kitteh:
But they're arachnids (surprised no one pointed this out yet).
Also, bumblebees are little fluffballs:kitteh:


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## Kommandant (Jun 27, 2017)

Pizzafari said:


> I'm pretty sure it's mostly just an instinct thing, what with all the stingy and bitey insects and insects that spread disease, we're probably conditioned to want to stay as far away from them as possible. Once upon a time we were much much smaller creatures and *if really big spiders and whatnot still existed* they probably wouldn't have had much trouble eating us.


Or we could ride them like horses or walk them on a leash like dogs (don't crush my dreams).




> With me it's mostly the fear of squishing them into me or them crawling into some orifice of my body or eeuugghhgh, or getting an infestation of them somewhere in my room. Or them crawling over my food and me either eating them or them laying eggs in it or something like that. Then there's parasites, even aside from them being assholes the thought of what they do is really disgusting to think about, makes me really squeamish, and it's hard not to associate them with other bugs. Mosquitoes and fleas and whatnot, assholes. Flies, moths, crane flies and them that fly in through your window and keep flying into you and making you jump, flying in front of your TV or computer screen and making loads of noise and being a massive distraction, I have ADHD and I physically can't focus when they're nearby or getting all in front of my screen and it makes me really mad, flying in front of your lights and casting massive shadows all of a sudden that make you jump, they really piss me off. Most insects if I find them in my room I'll try and put them outside but bitey insects or annoying flying insects I'll usually just try and kill, little wankers. And they just don't look very nice. Probably another instinct thing but all the eyes, their carapaces, all these things, the thought of touching them is just eehehererererehghghghghsfhfhf.


Yes that's actually understandable. I heard a story of a lady who started having a strange feeling in her ears after travelling to south america. Turns out a fly of some sort was laying eggs in her ear canal and the fly babies hatched. That's highkey gross and must be dangerous. Also apperently a human swallows 5-8 spiders in their sleep every year which makes me sad af


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## Kommandant (Jun 27, 2017)

Dustanddawnzone said:


> Baby spiders are adorable:kitteh:
> But they're arachnids (surprised no one pointed this out yet).
> Also, bumblebees are little fluffballs:kitteh:


Same, after I posted my thread I thought this would be the first and only response I get :^)
I was too lazy to add it since most people count them as insects anyways, but should have probably.


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## Suntide (Dec 22, 2018)

Kommandant said:


> Also apperently a human swallows 5-8 spiders in their sleep every year which makes me sad af


Spiders Georg, who eats 10,000 each day, is an outlier and should not have been counted


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## Pippi (Dec 24, 2016)

Aridela said:


> I'm ok with spiders and the such, unless they get stuck in the bathtub (not particularly fond of touching them to get them out; I'll just hang a towel and let them find their way out on their own).


You can use a long, clear glass vase to move them. Put the hole over the spider, so it either has to stay where it is or move onto the interior surface of the vase. If it doesn't move, you can slip a piece of paper next to the vase, and slowly nudge the spider onto the paper while the spider's still under the hole of the vase. If you get good at it, you also learn to just scoop them in gently sometimes. Just be careful so you don't catch their legs & hurt them. Once it's in the vase, you can either keep the vase hole covered with the paper, or just let it be (most spiders that I have don't climb out, but a couple have or have tried). Bring it outside & empty the vase into the bushes. The spider stays intact and happy, and it's out of your house. You didn't have to touch it.

You can see through the vase, so you know where the spider is the whole time.


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## Aridela (Mar 14, 2015)

Pippi said:


> You can use a long, clear glass vase to move them. Put the hole over the spider, so it either has to stay where it is or move onto the interior surface of the vase. If it doesn't move, you can slip a piece of paper next to the vase, and slowly nudge the spider onto the paper while the spider's still under the hole of the vase. If you get good at it, you also learn to just scoop them in gently sometimes. Just be careful so you don't catch their legs & hurt them. Once it's in the vase, you can either keep the vase hole covered with the paper, or just let it be (most spiders that I have don't climb out, but a couple have or have tried). Bring it outside & empty the vase into the bushes. The spider stays intact and happy, and it's out of your house. You didn't have to touch it.
> 
> You can see through the vase, so you know where the spider is the whole time.


Ingenious, thanks!


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## Judson Joist (Oct 25, 2013)

Dustanddawnzone said:


> But they're arachnids (surprised no one pointed this out yet).


I'm usually the one to point out that the general term people mean to use is "arthropod" (which encompasses insects, arachnids, crustaceans, etc.). Figured I'd let someone else have a go at it this time.



> Also, bumble bees are little fluffballs.


:kitteh:


















Try as I might, I can't get my friends (or their kids) to appreciate them the way I do.


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## Alice Alipheese (Aug 16, 2019)

i'll stop hating them when blackwidows stop crawling on me at night. (i got woken up by one crawling along the back of my neck one night, not cool)

mosqitous stop biting me. 

its also a survival response overall. dont know what it is? kill it/remove it. erring on the side of caution keeps you alive. 

that being said, there are a few i like praying mantis's are cool. but also way to ballsy for their own good.


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## APBReloaded (Mar 8, 2019)




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## pwowq (Aug 7, 2016)

Idk, European fire ants is PAIN. Aggressive prolific numerous bastards!!!


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## WickerDeer (Aug 1, 2012)

At first I thought Peeing was a typo or it was perhaps some name of a place in another language. But it's actually just dragontail butterflies peeing.






Insects are sort of nasty creatures sometimes, apparently.


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## crazitaco (Apr 9, 2010)

I hate the texture of insects.


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## incision (May 23, 2010)

Insects are fascinating until they enter my home without an invitation. Then, they shift from fascinating to dead.


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## Rydori (Aug 7, 2017)

I'm sorry, but if a cockroach decides to enter my house, lay eggs, shit while crawling around, then it's going to die.


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## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

I have nothing against them, until they come into the house and become a bother.
I actually think they are cool, and think it is fun to look at them, hold them and such.
Provided they don't sting or anything, yet I have no remorse and easily kill them if I deem it appropriate.


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## VoicesofSpring (Mar 31, 2019)

OMG The dragonfly peeing xD
Hmmmf yesterday I was chopping some eggplant and found this :














What is this ? Ô.O

Few millimeters more and this foolish caterpillar would have lost their head. What sort of caterpillar thinks it's fine to tunnel up and down my diner and hope to be spared ?...This one obviously !
Well, I left them in the eggplant, outside, hidden, hope they will be OK and survive.... And I had butternut for diner instead.


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## WickerDeer (Aug 1, 2012)

Here is a very big moth:






omg! These moths look like beautiful paintings!






I don't think people should be touching their wings--but bugs are definitely extremely valuable and precious creatures, that make life more fulfilling and meaningful.


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## WickerDeer (Aug 1, 2012)

Omg it's bug time. I found another really beautiful video of a bug.

But I want to say something also--I've noticed recently how severe it is when a species is going extinct. It's very sad to me that some species are struggling to survive...like down to a hundred of their species, or even less.

I guess I always understood extinction, but I never really felt in my bones how many species were teetering. I think it's important we appreciate the diversity of species on this earth since there are so many amazing creatures to learn about--I'm still finding out about creatures I've never seen. Even scientists are discovering new creatures never recorded, or new things about them. But I just never realized how close to extinction so many species were. It's so sad.

Hopefully not this guy though:


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## Abbaladon Arc V (Jan 16, 2018)

I'm like this when somebody speak about RrealitydumbTVshow


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## easter (Dec 13, 2015)

I only hate insects that step over my boundaries. Like mosquitos and pantry moths. Otherwise I don't mind them. I don't care about spiders or other insects that won't ruin my day


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## Kommandant (Jun 27, 2017)

VoicesOfSpring said:


> OMG The dragonfly peeing xD
> Hmmmf yesterday I was chopping some eggplant and found this :
> 
> View attachment 830395
> ...


Can't believe I never saw this post. That's so wholesome...
What a lucky boi!! Hope he's doing fine


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## Cacaia (Feb 5, 2018)

Kommandant said:


> I haven't done a dumb and pointless thread in a while so let's go.
> 
> I love insects. I could look at pictures of them for hours. I could also talk about them for hours. Unfortunately my dear friends and relatives either don't care or are... well disgusted.
> 
> ...


I also don't get why people get disgusted by insects. The picture you shared above is too cute for words! 
I never kill them when I find them in my house- I simply move them or place them outside if it's not too cold. Who am I to take a life, if life is the most miraculous thing on this planet?
Think of all the worlds we will never be exposed to, never get to experience, because they are small and because of sheer ignorance of people who are so afraid they'd rather kill than study these amazing little beings. Thanks for starting this thread!


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## Intricate Mystic (Apr 3, 2010)

I just don't feel any sort of biological kinship with them. They seem really alien.


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## 30812 (Dec 22, 2011)

Kommandant said:


> I haven't done a dumb and pointless thread in a while so let's go.
> 
> I love insects. I could look at pictures of them for hours. I could also talk about them for hours. Unfortunately my dear friends and relatives either don't care or are... well disgusted.
> 
> ...


Moth. I absolutely hate them because I have moth phobia. Hate because of fear. I'm fine with the most of the common insects I came across though except a few which are very disgusting to look at.


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## Kommandant (Jun 27, 2017)

t4u6 said:


> Moth. I absolutely hate them because I have moth phobia. Hate because of fear. I'm fine with the most of the common insects I came across though except a few which are very disgusting to look at.


I didn't know there is a moth phobia. Moths can't bite or sting. What is scary about them? Or is that a dumb question since it is a phobia?


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## 30812 (Dec 22, 2011)

Kommandant said:


> I didn't know there is a moth phobia. Moths can't bite or sting. What is scary about them? Or is that a dumb question since it is a phobia?


No particular reason. I'm scared whenever I see one near me. It's slightly better if the moth stays still and it is tiny (yet you never know when they start flying), but shit there was one time when a orange /black moth big as a frying pan with its wings open got inside our house and chased us. We ran as if a guiding missile was on our tail.

I remember clearly my fear started when I was around 6 or 7 when I read about moth in a science textbook with closeup shots. Its tail, antennae, the shape of its wing, the pattern on its wings and the fact that most of them leaves some kind of powder when you kill them are the main reasons and I always imagine it will fly and rest on my face when I see one.


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## VoicesofSpring (Mar 31, 2019)

@Kommandant I hope too ! I think next time I find a caterpillar I will keep it in a sort of terrarium to let them turn into butterfly/moth. I saw some people do it and it turned fine, could be interesting. 

Funnily, I suffered from childhood up to 3 years ago of moth phobia. Usually the phobia object is either born from trauma related to this object, or a substitution for the real object of the traumatic fears.


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## WickerDeer (Aug 1, 2012)

It is amazing how different ecosystems can produce different creatures--mantis are really very interesting looking. I am so glad these creature's natural habitats exist so that we can see them alive and they are not extinct.


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## FishOni (Mar 3, 2016)

What's there to like? They look alien and dangerous and the species most known to us are a nuisance. (It's good to preach their importance so they're not killed indiscriminately, but I'll keep hating any that gets into "my" house. :laughing


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## Judson Joist (Oct 25, 2013)

This was one of my favorite books when I was an '80s kid in the '80s.
:happy:









I also loved watching nature documentaries, especially if they involved insects and were narrated by David Attenborough (or marine biology-themed and narrated by Jacques Cousteau).


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