Andrea Kamander Contributor 

You wouldn’t be able to tell based on how they are treated, but insects are actually important to the ecosystem. They are the most populous and diverse form of life on land, and they play vital roles in food webs everywhere (Allison et al., 2023). I have been told many times that mosquitoes are exceptions to this rule, that they serve no function other than to irritate and carry disease, but even that is untrue. They are pollinators and act as essential prey for a large number of animals. In fact, they change the migration paths of larger mammals like caribou in certain areas (Rafferty, 2025). Even without the value all insects provide, I would still argue against their needless slaughter.

Most people that I know are freaked out by bugs, including in the outdoors. For some, this is just for the ‘dangerous’ ones, like bees, but can also extend to the ‘ugly’ ones, like silverfish. Still, those same people would not kill a larger animal for the crime of being ugly, or even dangerous. They would not support the slaughter of an ugly bird.

We do not put down dogs because they are capable of danger; we would only consider euthanasia after multiple offenses, which honeybees would not even have the opportunity for (Petruzello, 2025).

The reason we do not consider insects with the same grace is that, at least subconsciously, we have a hierarchy for the value of animals’ lives. However, we have not found any objective, quantifiable reason that some animal lives are worth more than others, only traits like cuteness and rarity, which are often subjective and have no intrinsic correlation to value (Petrucci, 2023). This is not to make the argument that we should value all life exactly the same; I certainly value human life above any other. I may even prioritize the benefit of not having any insects in my house over the life of a few of them.

However, I do not devalue any animal lives to the point of killing them simply because I can. And I am judgmental towards those who do. In a world that is incredibly violent towards people whose lives are viewed as less valuable, I believe it is important to hold onto the sanctity of our own non-violence, especially for those weaker than ourselves. Despite not reserving equal value towards human and non-human lives, I do think that we should not allow ourselves to be comfortable with killing of any kind for no good reason. The stance that our treatment of animals correlates with our mentality towards people is backed up by philosopher Immanuel Kant, who said that, “cruelty to animals is contrary to man’s duty to himself, because it deadens in him the feeling of sympathy for their sufferings, and thus a natural tendency that is very useful to morality in relation to other humans is weakened” (Wolfensohn, 2020). According to him, animals besides humans still share many traits with humans, such as sentience and pain, and by killing them, we erode our ethics. These ethics impact how we act towards and relate with our fellow humans for the rest of our lives.

It is imperative that we protect the lives of insects because of the role they play in the natural world and because the mindset that would allow us to do otherwise is a callous one that we should strive to avoid.