INSECTS—FRIEND OR FOE?
We cuss when mites do bite, but when we kill 'em, do we do right? Here're a few facts we all ought to know about
For years we have been hearing and reading that mankind is waging a losing battle against the encroachments of the insect world. We have been informed that the yearly loss caused by food destruction by insects alone would more than meet the complete cost of maintaining our army and navy. Moths and beetles attack our clothing, furniture and stored goods. The myriad armies of mosquitoes and houseflies transmit malaria, fever, dysentery, tuberculosis, cholera and dozens of other dread diseases.
In the light of all of this evidence against the insect kingdom, what should we do? If it were possible, would it be wise to wipe out all the insects that inhabit the earth in numberless billions?
The answer is that it would be decidedly unwise. Supposing insects do destroy ten percent of our crops. That is certainly a small enough price when we consider that without the aid of insect pollination we would have practically no crops at all. If we destroyed the insects we would not only lose our crops, but also the wealth produced by insects in the form of honey, beeswax, silk, dyes, etc.
We owe the insects a standing vote of thanks on another important point. And that is for their remarkable job of destroying dead and decaying animal matter, which would otherwise litter the face of the earth, providing a potential source of infection far greater than any the insects might be.
Three flies, due to their rapid multiplication, can devour a dead horse as rapidly as a lion might. And flies are somewhat safer in congested areas than would be a hungry lion.
Insects greatly aid man in the prevention of many diseases, as was proven so dramatically in the last world war. Then, doctors noticed, soldiers who had been lying unattended on the battle field for several days were, as a rule, less contaminated with dangerous infections than those who had spent the time in staff hospitals. The reason was that maggots cleaned away decaying flesh and bone, leaving open wounds to heal, sometimes in an almost miraculous fashion.
Now hospitals keep a number of sterile maggots on hand for treatment in certain types of bone infection. Again there is the use of bee venom for use in treating rheumatism. Take the case of the bee moth which is warred on from one end of the world to the other. Yet physicians are hoping that this insect will eventually point the way to a permanent cure of the worst scourge ever visited on man: tuberculosis. For some reason this bee is immune to the tuberculosis organism, and doctors are optimistically hoping that they will be able discover the secret of its immunity.
If a serum could be perfected through this insect mankind would have finally won its two-thousand-year battle.
All in all insects aren't so bad. Actually the most terrible thing they could do to the human race is simply to disappear.
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