What's Buggin' You?

Not all Bad Actors!

BUGS! We hardly notice them unless they are bugging us! The word 'BUG' originally referred to a ghost or hobgoblin. Little mean spirited things. Today we call any small creepy crawly thing a bug. We hurl curses at them when they bite us. We spray, screen, and squash them. We try to electrocute them, trick them, and some folks even eat them - - chocolate-covered ants anyone?

Bugs and all other insects are from the phylum Arthropoda. Typically, an adult insect will have three pairs of legs, two pairs of wings and two antenna. There are only 23,000 species of true bugs (Hemiptera) compared to 150 million identified insect species. That means, not all insects are bugs, but all bugs are insects!

Animals such as spiders, worms and leeches are not bugs (or insects either) even though they creep, crawl, squirm, and wriggle. They are however all invertebrates - spineless wonders! Wonders we literally couldn't live without.

Insects prove to be versatile actors!

Insects perform a critical role as leading actors in the food web story. Some are dinner, some make dinner, some clean it all up. Humans should applaud the insects who perform their parts so well.

Insects police themselves with a delicate balance of predator and prey. To many aphids in your garden? Release a colony of lady bugs and your aphids woes will soon be devoured.

Insects shine performing an indispensable role

This world would be a barren place if insects were gone. Imagine the world without the magic of fireflies lighting up a warm summer evening. What if the cricket's song was silenced? Or the spring meadow was without flowers or butterflies. What if chocolate disappeared?

If you love chocolate - Thank a FLY!

If it weren't for a tiny little fly called a midge the cocoa flower would not be able to produce the seeds that make chocolate. The midge is the perfect size to fit down the tube formed by the petals. The midge is searching for the sweet nectar hiding deep in the flower. On the way in and out of the tube, the little fly becomes covered in pollen.

As the fly travels from flower to flower it picks up a little pollen and leaves a little pollen. Without this process the cocoa flower could not produce the seeds that we then roast and turn into chocolate!

New parts to play

Insects are helping our scientists make new discoveries all the time. The annoying bane in the kitchen, the fruit fly, is helping us unravel the mysteries of genetics. Many of our disease resistant crops are a result of genetic knowledge gained from studying the fruit fly.

Doctors are using maggots to clean wounds better than any current medicine or solution could do. Grasshoppers are teaching us how cancer mutates our human cells.

Termite Tacos anyone? One pound of termites has more nutrients than a pound of beef or pork. Lacewings are being ranch-raised to serve as natural pest control.

Bugs are major players!

When you stop long enough to watch these magnificent creatures as they act out their complex lives, you begin to realize how deeply intertwined our existence and theirs has become through the generations. Take a backyard safari and see how many different kinds of insects you encounter! Careful though, it might creep you out!

Caution: Though all insects have a role to play not all are good for humans. The common house fly spreads disease, ants can destroy homes, and mosquitoes … bats may love them-but I'm not a fan!

A little background about the author

I was part of an exhibits team for a large regional zoo once upon a time. Developing the BUGS! exhibit was one of the highlights of that job. We built the exhibit so you could feel and see what the insects in our lives experience. Many people freaked out standing under the "too scale" fly-swatter.

Story revised for vocal, originally published in medium.com