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 one like moths.Reading about them increases our understanding without dispelling our fears.Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highly organized society does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion,when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.No matter how much we like honey, or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of direction which bees possess,we have a horror of being stung.Most of our fears are unreasonable, but they are impossible to erase.At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinating.We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives.We enjoy staring at them, entranced as they go about their business, unaware (we hope) of our presence.
