If you could remove any one insect species from Earth...

[Joshimodo]

That's a tough one because quite frankly, if I had my way I would purge this Earth of almost every insect. ¬_¬

Which would destroy the most diverse range of creatures, and kill us too.

Fucking all of them. I hate insects. Well, ok, leave the ones who are useful. BURN THE REST!

Then very few insects would be killed. Plus, you'd end up killing some interest but useless ones, such as stick insects and mantises.



I'd kill mosquitoes. Only insect that's really dangerous pest. Well, Malaria is - But you get the point. It's killed 50% of all human life, ever (outside of wars).

While I wouldn't want them wiped out, I'd appreciate a drop in the sheer volume of flies in summertime.


Why would you want to kill wasps?

Spiders! Spiders! SPIDERS! A thousand times, SPIDERS!

Not an insect.

I live in the Chihuahuan desert and the insects are here bad but these are far worse

Spoiler

(and that one is kinda small)

or these bastards

Spoiler

Neither are insects!

 

[Xskills]

Mosquitos, they spread malaria, the disease known for killing the most humans ever. Not to mention they also spread west nile. Wasps are not actively seeking to f*** up or exploit you. You don't mess with them, they don't mess with you. Mosquitoes are engineered by nature steal blood from you with a dirty, used needle.

 

[Areani]

Bed Bugs.

Sure, people complain about mosquitoes - but mosquitoes are easily taken care of with DEET and a few other repellents. Their life cycle is easily interrupted with other mosquitoes that don't harm humans, fish, putting oil on the still water, etc. etc. etc.

Bed Bugs, on the other hand, are hearty bastards that survived every pesticide humans could devise and feed exclusively off of you while you sleep. They breed quickly, they hide during the day, and the most effective way to remove them from your home is heating your ENTIRE home to 150 F for 6 hours (basically baking your house).

I've had roaches, mosquitoes don't bug me, spiders are usually friendly, but bed bugs were - by far - the worst experience I have ever had with the insect world. Worse than dysentery. I am not joking.

I gotta agree with you there. Not only do they steal my blood when I sleep but they also have far more irritating and itchier bites than mosquitos. And they're next to impossible to get rid of. Seriously. Fuck them.

 

[bladester1]

Those Green Beetles that are ruining trees in the eastern part of America. I dont want them crossing the Mississippi River and start ruining the trees on the MO side. IL you can keep em.

EDIT: Also SILVER FISH. /shiver I freaking hate those things. soo nasty. Plus that one goosebumps episode with the glowing green ones never helped...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

 

[Rheinmetall]

Spiders, not from the real world-they are usefull in the ecosystem, but from video games. I hate spiders and I hate games designers that put spiders into their games. Sick, retarded disgusting and very cheap.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Easiest question in the world; FUCKING MOSKITOS THAT COME INTO MY ROOM AND BUZZ AROUND ME WHEN I TRY TO SLEEP EVERY SHITTING SUMMER EVER NODSFNJWDOFIJNWEDOFUUUUUUUUCK

 

[Coldster]

Black flies. God damn it if I had a dollar for every time I've been bit by a black fly I'd be pretty darn wealthy. Those buggers are too small to notice, but take a bite so big you bleed.

 

[Xenowolf]

Mosquitos. Man, do I hate those bastards... and I'm the unlucky guy who gets bitten by them in like, November, as they have always seemed to be attracted to my blood for some reason. Spread malaria, too.

 

[Brandon237]

Anything and everything that flies and stings. Including bees.
Because I hate anything that can fly and sting. >_>

You remind me of my one friend, he is at least 184cm and well built, yet he screams and runs when confronted by a bee (a creature whose sting he is not allergic to).

And for me... wasps. Yes it was in the OP, but really, they are such scary creatures to me. It can cause searing pain to you as many times as it wants without injuring itself and can get drunk and / or suicidal. And it can fly, making all the previous shit many times easier for it to do. Scary.

 

[MammothBlade]

Centipedes. Freaking fast creeps, can deliver a big nasty sting and have the flexibility of a snake... God help you if you find one crawling in your house *shudder*

Though scorpions and wasps are just as bad.

 

[Olas]

I'm going to assume that by "insect" the OP means arthropod since that category would actually include things like spiders, centipedes, ticks, scorpions, etc which aren't insects.

Which would I personally be happiest to get rid of?: All large spiders. I HATE spiders, especially big ones.

Which should I actually get rid of because it would benefit the world most?: Mosquitos, they statistically are the deadliest animal in the world because of the diseases they spread.

Which would I actually get rid of if I had the chance?: None. Removing any organism from an already balanced ecosystem can have enormous and totally unforeseeable consequences. For example, without bees there would be mass extinctions of plants that need pollination which in turn wipes out countless species of larger animals that ate those plants, each of which might have been similarly important in yet another food chain. The chain reactions can get enormous and scary.

 

[Nyaoku]

Gnats, the little flying things that form a swarm during the warm months and constantly hover around you reguardless of how much bugspray you have on. Anyone from the East coast U.S. knows what I'm talking about (at least in the rural areas.)

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Which one would it be?

Spoiler: For me the answer is obvious.

Begone flying fiends!

What about you guys? What insect would you abort from history?

Ninja's by the OP, if that's a thing. I saw the title, thought "Oh, fuck, Wasps!" within three picoseconds, and then clicked the link. You even have the image I was going to use. I hate wasps. Give me spiders anyday.

 

[suitepee7]

fleas, because fuck fleas.

god i hate them, and if you get an infestation in your house, good fucking luck getting rid of the bastards

 

[Rule Britannia]

Mosquitoes (they contribute to ecosystems though) hate the fuckers, I swear they're out to get me and just me, I read about things that supposedly makes the more attracted to you such as what you eat (bananas(i fucking hate bananas)), as well as blood type they're most attracted to blood type O, which I don't have.

Fuck Mosquitoes.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Mosquitos, becuase they have itchy bites, carry diseases and don't contribute anything else to the environment except to be eaten by bats.

And bats have more than enough other things to eat.

 

[Heronblade]

That's a tough one because quite frankly, if I had my way I would purge this Earth of almost every insect. ¬_¬

No you wouldn't, or at least you would soon regret it. Most species of parasites are safe to get rid of, since they contribute almost nothing aside from extra food, but the rest tend to at least collectively form a fairly vital link in the ecosystem.

Let me put it this way, if the insects die out, we die as well, along with most of the species, both plant and animal, on the planet.

OT: Slap another vote for mosquito genocide up there for me.

 

[Neaco]

Butterflies. I just, I can't talk about it. Therapy is helping but... so much blood.

 

[Evil Raccoon]

Flies, they have no function in nature, they're like the Paris Hilton's of the insect world!

 

[Yopaz]

Fun fact, if you remove one insect species most of you wont know the difference. There are 17000 flies and you need a microscope to tell the difference. There's only a few species of insects that you know the names for while in most cases you rarely know more than the genus. I wouldn't remove anyone because the only ones I can name are the ones I like.