Insects are not just meek, tiny little pests. Their lives can be wonderful and unbelievable too. Do you know who the world’s strongest animal is? It is not any massive animal, but the tiny Dung beetle. Dung beetles carry a weight of about sixty times their own, many times, just to build their homes. Impressive, isn’t it?
I have seen some strange reactions of insects too. Have you ever noticed that while scuttling about, ants knock themselves against each other, stay for a while, and then continue their journey. Just like this, there are many other strange behaviours of animals.
Sometimes insects can be troublemakers. Houseflies can be seen very commonly in households. Cockroaches can be troublesome too. And of course, our “best friends”, the mosquitoes! They suck our blood. Nice dinner!
But insects can be very helpful too. For example, dragonflies and fireflies eat mosquitoes. But now they are not seen everywhere, which is a great disadvantage. We need fruits and vegetables, and pollination has to take place for them to produce. Pollination depends on insects like bees and butterflies as they carry pollen. So now we realise how insects can be helpful to us.
I hope that insects will exist in the world, so that it remains as an advantage and not a disadvantage.
Lihini Wijesekara,
Grade 8,
Lyceum International School, Wattala.