54 Instinct or cleverness?

We have been brought up to fear insects.

We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do more harm than good.

We continually wage war on them, for they contaminate our food, carry diseases, or devour our crops.

They sting or bite without provocation; they fly uninvited into our rooms on summer nights, or beat against our lighted windows.

We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths.

Reading about them increases our understanding without dispelling our fears.