insects

"Those beekeepers who are also engaged in general farming or who specialize in one or two farm crops are usually too busy elsewhere to give the bees the necessary attention at the time when they most require it and consequently few of this class of beekeepers rise to the ranks of the specialists. This is not so true of amateur beekeepers, since some of the many occupations which they follow usually permit the time and study necessary to the making of the proficient beekeeper."

"Appreciating the role that bees and their products have played in requires a cultural immersion. The honey bee can be found in many of the earlier examples of Egyptian writing. During the , shortly after the construction of the and the , we find carved reliefs showing that the Egyptians had already mastered the art of beekeeping and were processing honey (Kritsky 2010)."

"Bees were collected from natural nests for use in beekeeping in parts of Western Europe, as in other regions. Records from legal proceedings in various parts of Luxembourg between 1459 and 1738 (Poos, 1978) show that wild colonies were much sought, and that a substantial value was placed on them in law. For instance in 1663 a colony was classed with a calf or a young partridge, which was worth twice as much as a piglet, lamb or kid. It seems that from 1459 onwards, and probably before, the bees were wanted (to populate hives ...) rather than honey or , and that by the mid-1400s had largely been superseded by hive beekeeping in Luxembourg."

"Owning bees that look after themselves and keeping bees according to modern methods are widely different practices. Bees have been kept by man in various ways for centuries, but in the United States the science of beekeeping began when the hive with movable frames was patented on October 5, 1852, by , who has been called the father of modern beekeeping."

"Raymond Cannon (quote was found from x.com)"

"Whitefly-borne diseases of plants cause great concern in many tropical areas ... The fact that s, s, s, and other edible , which are primary sources of protein for the diet of many people in the Tropics, fall prey to some of theses agents have prompted local governments and international agencies to institute programs for their study and control ..."

"Virus diseases that have emerged in the past two decades limit the production of important vegetable crops in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions worldwide, and many of the causal viruses are transmitted by whiteflies (order Hemiptera, family Aleyrodidae). Most of these whitefly-transmitted viruses are begomoviruses (family ), although whiteflies are also vectors of criniviruses, ipomoviruses, torradoviruses, and some carlaviruses. Factors driving the emergence and establishment of whitefly-transmitted diseases include genetic changes in the virus through mutation and recombination, changes in the vector populations coupled with polyphagy of the main vector, ', and long distance traffic of plant material or vector insects due to trade of vegetables and ornamental plants. The role of humans in increasing the emergence of virus diseases is obvious, and the effect that climate change may have in the future is unclear."

"Whiteflies, Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae, Bemisia tabaci, a complex of morphologically indistinguishable species ... , are vectors of many plant viruses. Several genera of these whitefly-transmitted plant viruses (Begomovirus, Carlavirus, Crinivirus, Ipomovirus, Torradovirus) include several hundred species of emerging and economically significant pathogens of important food and fiber crops ... These viruses do not replicate in their vector but nevertheless are moved readily from plant to plant by the adult whitefly by various means ... For most of these viruses whitefly feeding is required for acquisition and inoculation, while for others only probing is required. Many of these viruses ... cannot be easily transmitted by other means."

"Exotic invasive whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in India cause direct and indirect yield losses in agriculture, horticulture and forestry crop plants. Around 25 years ago, the spiralling whitefly, Aleurodicus disperses Russell invaded and established on many host plants including economically important crops in India. Recently, within a span of five years, seven whiteflies invaded India viz., solanum whitefly, Aleurothrixus trachoides (Back) reported to breed on 37 plant species; rugose spiraling whitefly (RSW), Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin found breeding on 40 host plants; nesting whiteflies, Paraleyrodes bondari Peracchi on 34 host plants and P. minei Ιaccarino infest about 25 host plants; legume feeding whitefly, Tetraleurodes acaciae (Quaintance) infesting 5 host plants; palm infesting whitefly, Aleurotrachelus atratus Hempel on 4 host plants and woolly whitefly, Aleurothrixus floccosus (Maskell) infesting guava. These invasive species are native to the Neotropical region, mostly from Central America and the Caribbean. Extensive spread along the coastal regions and gardens near the backwater of India is predicted owing to the favorable weather factors and availability of host plants. Species of exotic whiteflies with similar habits co-exist in more or less the same niche and have a similar pattern of growth and development. The intensity of infestation of RSW on coconut, banana and oil palm, the woolly whitefly on guava and the palm infesting whitefly and nesting whiteflies on coconut was severe. The exotic aphelinid parasitoid, Encarsia guadeloupae Viggiani (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), a predator Pseudomallada astur (Banks) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and the entomopathogenic fungus, Isaria fumosorosea Wize (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) play a major role in reducing the population of these invasives. The most insidious spread of these species in India is likely mediated by humans through the movement of infested seedlings and plant materials. Extensive surveys revealed that these species spread rapidly in the large geographical region of India mostly through transportation of infested seedlings."

"In tomato production, both open field and greenhouse, management of whiteflies and the viruses they transmit ranks among the highest priorities of growers. Largely driven by the damage of two species, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood, a wealth of information has been developed over the last 150 years that informs current whitefly management programs and provides the foundation for such programs in the future. The literature on whiteflies is vast ..."

"• Whiteflies are plant phloem feeders and have diverse interactions with host plants. • Plants defend against whitefly attacks by alternations of morphology and physiology. • Whitefly oral secretions, honeydew and endosymbionts regulate plant defense. • Viruses may mediate whitefly–plant interactions directly and indirectly."

"In Kenya and the Comoros, the vector of the was ', the previously reported to be involved in transmission in Africa and Asia. In contrast, in Reunion and Mauritius, , was the primary vector. The devastating outbreak resulted from a human–mosquito–human cycle that, as in dengue, did not require an external nonhuman reservoir. A. albopictus is also prevalent in Mayotte and Madagascar, but it is unclear which vector was involved in most islands of the Comorian archipelago, where studies have not been conducted or are ongoing. There is recent evidence that the outbreak in India, where A. aegypti is the primary species of mosquito, was caused by the new variant of the virus. ... A. albopictus is generally considered to have a lower vector capacity for arboviruses than A. aegypti. Specific mosquito populations, however, may have a high vector capacity, ... as suggested by a massive outbreak of dengue that was propagated by A. albopictus in Reunion in 1977. It is also possible that the strain of chikungunya virus in the Indian Ocean became better adapted to the A. albopictus vector."

"... The Sierra mosquitoes are courageous and of good size, some of them measuring nearly an inch from tip of sting to tip of folded wings. Though less abundant than in most wildernesses, they occasionally make quite a hum and stir, and pay but little attention to time or place. They sting anywhere, any time of day, wherever they can find anything worth while, until they themselves are stung by frost."

"A swarming and consuming army of 110 trillion enemy mosquitoes patrols every inch of the globe save Antarctica, Iceland, and a handful of French Polynesian micro-islands. The biting female warriors of this droning insect population are armed with at least fifteen lethal and debilitating biological weapons against our 7.7 billion humans deploying suspect and often self-detrimental defensive capabilities. In fact, our defense budget for personal shield, sprays, and other deterrents to stymie her unrelenting raids has a rapidly rising annual revenue of $11 billion. And yet, her deadly offensive campaigns and crimes against humanity continue with reckless abandon. While our counterattacks are reducing the number of annual casualties she perpetrates, the mosquito remains the deadliest hunter of human beings on the planet. Last year she slaughtered only 830,000 people."

"The nasal botfly ' (, : ) is a myiasis-causing insect species, which affects the health of sheep, goats and humans. Gravid females are viviparous and larviposit into the animal’s nostrils. Host-searching and larvipositing flies are visually guided and influenced by climatic conditions, whereas olfaction seemed to play no role in this process. However, here, we show that the antennae of adult O. ovis female flies are relatively small but well developed and inhabited by several types of olfactory sensilla. Further, we show that the antennal lobes of this species receive input from antennal afferents and consist of a clearly defined glomerular organisation. We also give the first evidence of the fly’s ability to detect several synthetic odour compounds."

"... the way mosquitoes serve botflies in Central and South America. The size of a , the fly seizes a mosquito in midair and glues her own eggs to her captive's abdomen. Later, when the mosquito feeds on a person, the damp warmth of human skin causes the fly's eggs to hatch, leaving maggots to burrow into the new host. Soon, the maggot's breathing apparatus can be seen poking through the victim's skin. Within a week, it's as large as a small olive."

"... when the weather stays hot and mosquitoes are plenty, the hours of darkness, even in midsummer, seem painfully long. In the Bad Lands proper we are not often bothered very seriously by these winged pests; but in the low bottoms of the Big Missouri, and beside many of the reedy ponds and great sloughs out on the prairie, they are a perfect scourge. During the very hot nights, when they are especially active, the bed-clothes make a man feel absolutely smothered and yet his only chance for sleep is to wrap himself tightly up, head and all; and even then some of the pests will usually force their way in. At sunset I have seen the mosquitoes rise up from the land like a dense cloud, to make the hot, stifling night one long torture; the horses would neither lie down nor graze, traveling restlessly to and fro till daybreak, their bodies streaked and bloody, and the insects settling on them so as to make them all one color, a uniform gray; while the men, after a few hours' tossing about in the vain attempt to sleep, rose, built a little fire of damp sage brush, and thus endured the misery as best they could until it was light enough to work."

"It may be difficult to love the mosquito, but anyone who comes to know her well develops a deep appreciation. A few species, like the iridescent blue-lined ', are truly beautiful. All manifest exquisite adaptation to their environment. As an adult, she walks on water as well as land. She flies through the night air with the aid of the stars. She not only sees and smells but also senses heat from a distance. Lacking our kind of a brain, she nevertheless thinks with her skin, changing direction, and fleeing danger in response to myriad changes in her surroundings."

"', commonly known as the human botfly, is native to Tropical America. As such, cutaneous infestation by its developing larvae, or myiasis, is quite common in this region. The distinct dermatological presentation of D hominis myiasis allows for its early recognition and noninvasive treatment by locals. However, it can prove quite perplexing for those unfamiliar with the lesion's unique appearance. Common erroneous diagnoses include the following: , , and embedded with localized ."

"As time went on, I began to think the reputation of the Lapland mosquito had been exaggerated. Mosquitoes were common, but certainly not in the concentrated numbers I had heard of. The reindeer must be timid animals indeed, I decided, to be troubled by so few mosquitoes. Gradually, however, I began to scratch more frequently. Soon they attacked in such clouds that one was forced to breathe through clenched teeth to avoid making a meal of them. The wet Lapland summer ground was perfect for mosquito breeding. Unless there was a good breeze, to go outside was to suffer. Standard mosquito sprays and lotions were pitifully ineffective."

"… while mosquito management is a necessary public health service, common methods of control –aerial and ground spraying of pesticides– not only have questionable efficacy, but can also harm non-target organisms like pollinators, whose populations are already suffering elevated losses. … commonly used mosquito control pesticides and their application can potentially harm bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects, ultimately affecting overall biodiversity. While we do not underestimate the threat from new and current mosquito-borne diseases, an ideal mosquito management strategy adopts an integrated approach that emphasizes education, aggressive removal of breeding sites (such as standing water), larval control, monitoring, and surveillance. Alternative strategies, including introducing mosquito-eating fish, encouraging predators, such as bats, birds, dragonflies, and frogs, and using least-toxic larvicides, like ' (Bt), can be applied successfully without endangering pollinators and other organisms."

"Most cricket species are musical, sound-producing insects that have long been part of human life and lore. For instance, according to Polynesian creed, crickets are embodiments of the souls of loved ones, and in many countries a cricket singing at the hearth is thought to bring luck and protect the home against evil spirits. The fierce rivalry behavior of male crickets was well known in ancient China; games were organized and bets were waged on the outcome of their battles. But it is the elaborate behavior of crickets, and especially their acoustic communication, which has always drawn the most attention from biologists and the general public."

"When I was five years old and lived in the city—in Brooklyn, New York—a miraculous thing happened one summer. A cricket! One night I heard a cricket calling. What ab beautiful sound. It was the only one, a lonely soloist calling for a mate. Each evening I'd lie in bed listening to the cricket. A few nights after the serenading began, I happened to be outside with my father shortly after dark. I saw a big cockroach and dutifully stepped on it without a thought, as I'd been taught to do. "Dad, look at the big roach I just killed!" So proud. "That's not a roach, Carl; that's a cricket." I had killed the night's music. Whoa."

"In this review, we report over 60 cricket species that are consumed in 49 countries globally. Nutritionally, crickets are reported to be rich in proteins, ranging from 55 to 73%, and lipids, which range from 4.30 to 33.44% of dry matter. The reported amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is 58% of the total fatty acids. Edible crickets contain an appreciable amount of macro- and micro-mineral elements such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, zinc, manganese, and copper. Also, the crickets are rich in the required amount of vitamins such as B group vitamins and vitamins A, C, D, E, and K."

"Into the silver night She brought with her pale hand The topaz lanthorn-light, And darted splendour o’er the land; Around her in a band, Ringstraked and pied, the great soft moths came flying, And flapping with their mad wings, fann’d The flickering flame, ascending, falling, dying."

"You would be another : yet, they say, all the she spun in ' absence did but fill full of moths."

"There is much diversity in the social habits of the larvae of moths. Some are gregarious and exist in colonies which disperse at the time of ; but there are a few singular instances, in which the communistic instinct perdures, and leads the entire colony to form a common cocoon, or envelope of silk, in which each individual subsequently spins a smaller cocoon for itself."

"There are still lots of gaps in our knowledge of UK moths – hardly surprising given that we have 2,500 or so species here. For some, we still don’t know their natural food plant. For others, we don’t know if they still exist here. In this latter regard, it seems incredible to me that we are still arguing about the scale of in the UK, and what the causes of those declines are. We think moth numbers have probably dropped by 30% since 1970, but that information is only available for the commoner species of larger moths, and may be biased in various ways. While we have a rich history of moth recording, and some good data for moth population changes, we could really do with more."

"... ... a beautiful tangerine-toned species, banded with silver ... was unknown in Britain before 2002, but has spread far and wide across England and Wales, becoming common wherever Horse-chestnut trees grow. This is not, however, a zero-to-hero story but one of zero-to-alleged villain. Forestry Research, Britain's public body responsible for tree-related research, classifies Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner as a pest. The moth's caterpillars munch away the tree's leaves, causing them to discolour before prematurely falling to the ground. In truth, this does not appear to impoverish the tree's health. But that, for public body and general public, alike, is beside the point. This moth is a pest, and pests must be persecuted. By lazy association, all moths are vexatious. This one chomps leaves, but others devour our clothes and carpets. And we really don't like that. Ergo all moths are evil. ... Pilloried, slighted and vilified, moths are Mother Nature's bad boys. Butterflies, those poster children of the insect world, have it easy."

"The fundamental commandment of ethics, then, is that we cause no suffering to any living creature, not even the lowest, unless it is to effect some necessary protection for ourselves, and that we be ready to undertake, whenever we can, positive action for the benefit of other creatures."

""Crush not yonder [ant] as it draggeth along its grain; for it too liveth, and its life is sweet to it." A shadow must there be, and a stone upon that heart, that could wish to sorrow the heart even of an [ant]! Strike not with the hand of violence the head of the feeble; for one day, like the ant, thou mayest fall under the foot thyself! Pity the poor moth in the flame of the taper; see how it is scorched in the face of the assembly!"

"If I save an insect from a puddle, life has devoted itself to life, and the division of life against itself is ended."

"In conclusion, recent results from neurophysiological, neuroanatomical and behavioral sciences prompt caution when denying consciousness, and therefore the likelihood of presence of pain and suffering or something closely related to it, to insects. This strongly underlines earlier statements that while awaiting results of further research one should consider the possibility that at least some insect species might suffer pain and, as a precaution, always ensure humane handling of these animals, including the application of anesthesia and analgesia for painful procedures and humane killing techniques."

"Ultimately, we don't know for sure that invertebrates suffer in a comparative way to other animals, but given that at any moment the earth contains a billion billion insects, it seems prudent to take the precautionary principle. The potential for these insects to consciously experience some kind of suffering must have an impact on how we interact with them, and our crop fields are a very good place to start."

"Hurt no living thing: Ladybird nor butterfly, Nor moth with dusty wing, Nor cricket cheering cheerily, Nor grasshopper so light of leap, Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat, Nor harmless worms that creep."

"I too am subject to division of my will-to-life against itself. In a thousand ways my existence stands in conflict with that of others. The necessity to destroy and to injure life IS imposed upon me. If I walk along an unfrequented path, my foot brings destruction and pain upon the tiny creatures which populate it. In order to preserve my own existence, I must defend myself against the existence which injures it. I become a persecutor of the little mouse which inhabits my house, a murderer of the insect which want to have its nest there, a mass-murderer of the bacteria which may endanger my life. I get my food by destroying plants and animals. My happiness is built upon injury done to my fellow-men."

"The ant is the most pugnacious of all animals, and the most muscular compared with its size. It will boldly attack the biggest creature that walks if this creature invades its home. It will fasten its mandibles into an enemy, and allow itself to be torn to pieces without relaxing its hold. Among some savage tribes, certain species of ants are said to be used as surgeons. Infuriated ants are allowed to fasten their mandibles on the opposite edges of a gash, and in this way the wound is closed. The ants are decapitated, and their bodiless heads with their relentless jaws serve as stitches to the wound."

"Jumping spiders (Portia spp.) plan routes towards their prey; and hermit crabs (Pagurus berhnardus) show evidence of motivational trade-offs during shell choice. Furthermore, if their brains are implanted with electrodes, garden snails (Helix aspersa) will learn to displace a lever, an action new to their behavioural repertoire, to stimulate those neural regions involved in sexual behaviour. None of these represent concrete evidence of conscious emotion, but they at least suggest that if cephalopods are to now be protected across Europe, then arachnids, decapod crustaceans and gastropods should be too."

"Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum. And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on; While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on."

"So, given that we can't be sure whether insects experience pain, how should we treat these creatures? When I was teaching insect anatomy and physiology I insisted that the students anesthetized insects before conducting experiments that we would expect to inflict pain on a mouse. [...] It seems ethically obligatory to guard against the possibility that insects feel pain. If we use anesthetic and it turns out that insects don't experience pain, the material cost of our mistake is very low [...] However, if we don't use anesthetic and it turns out that the insects were in agony, then the moral cost of our mistake is quite high."

"We have literally no idea at what level of brain complexity consciousness stops. Most people say, "For heaven's sake, a bug isn't conscious." But how do we know? We're not sure anymore. I don't kill bugs needlessly anymore. [...] Probably what consciousness requires is a sufficiently complicated system with massive feedback. Insects have that."

"Considerable empirical evidence supports the assertion that insects feel pain and are conscious of their sensations. In so far as their pain matters to them, they have an interest in not being pained and their lives are worsened by pain. Furthermore, as conscious beings, insects have future (even if immediate) plans with regard to their own lives, and the death of insects frustrates these plans. In that sentience appears to be an ethically sound, scientifically viable basis for granting moral status and in consideration of previous arguments which establish a reasonable expectation of consciousness and pain in insects, I propose the following, minimum ethic: We ought to refrain from actions which may be reasonably expected to kill or cause nontrivial pain in insects when avoiding these actions has no, or only trivial, costs to our own welfare."

"This could potentially reduce consumption of vertebrate meat, moving farming away from intensive agriculture towards higher welfare organic systems. Yet entomophagy can only make a significant difference if insects are mass-produced [...] What if these trillions of insects also suffer? If we neglect this possibility, it is feasible that we will move from one intensive poor-welfare system to another, where conscious organisms are inhumanely farmed in greater numbers than anything we have seen before."

"And the poor beetle, that we tread upon, In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great As when a giant dies."

"Bee-eating Wasps [...] feed their larvae on Hive-bees, whom they catch on the flowers while gathering pollen and honey. If the Wasp who has made a capture feels that her Bee is swollen with honey, she never fails, before stinging her, to squeeze her crop, either on the way or at the entrance of the dwelling, so as to make her disgorge the delicious syrup, which she drinks by licking the tongue which her unfortunate victim, in her death-agony, sticks out of her mouth at full length [...] At the moment of some such horrible banquet, I have seen the Wasp, with her prey, seized by the Mantis: the bandit was rifled by another bandit. And here is an awful detail: while the Mantis held her transfixed under the points of the double saw and was already munching her belly, the Wasp continued to lick the honey of her Bee."

"The implications of the foregoing discussion, for insects and other invertebrates, need to be considered with caution. Clearly, it is not possible to provide a conclusive answer to the problem of pain in lower animals, as any subjective experience of an organism cannot be directly experienced by another and a means of communicating with lower organisms is not available to us."

"Several scientists and philosophers argue that because invertebrates such as insects, spiders, worms and snails may very well be able to feel pain or suffering, our moral concern should be extended to such beings. Different kinds of evidence have been used to infer whether they can feel pain, including facts about their nervous systems, observations of behavior that indicate learning to avoid harm, and evolutionary arguments about whether feelings of pain would give a fitness advantage. Despite a growing number of studies on invertebrate pain, the evidence is not conclusive, which raises the political and ethical question of what to do under this uncertainty. The uncertainty supports that we should care about the potential suffering of invertebrates such as insects, and take and avoid at least some actions to reduce their potential suffering in case they can suffer. Potential invertebrate suffering is worth paying attention to, even if it is unlikely that they can suffer, primarily because of the large number of individuals involved and the severity of the harms that they endure. For instance, thousands of insects can be killed by boiling to produce one piece of silk clothing. This means that if such invertebrates can suffer substantially, their suffering would be a large-scale ethical disaster. In addition, the fact that invertebrates are so neglected should appeal to effective altruists and others looking to have an outsized impact."

"If I died and was offered to be born again as an insect or cease to exist, I would definitely choose not to exist [...] There is enormous inequality among the fates of insects. Some die very young, either as larvae, pupae, or just after having emerged from the pupa stage as adults, and it is difficult to see how most such lives can be good on balance. Death often seems very painful so, because their lives are so short, they do not include enough positive wellbeing to compensate their suffering."

"[B]ees and other members of the vast class of insects are all capable of sophisticated, learnt, non-stereotyped behaviours that we associate with consciousness if carried out by people."

"[H]aving worked out the markers that identify both aspects of consciousness in the vertebrates, we apply these same criteria to the invertebrates, and find that the arthropods (including insects and crabs) and cephalopods (like the octopus) meet many of the criteria for exteroceptive and affective consciousness. This would mean that consciousness evolved simultaneously but independently in the first arthropods and first vertebrates over half a billion years ago."