For many people, insects are a nuisance. Annoying mosquitoes buzzing around your head, ants infesting your kitchen, or spiders weaving webs in the corners of your room. It’s easy to wish they would just disappear. But what would really happen if that wish came true? What if one morning all the insects on planet Earth suddenly disappeared?
The answer is simple and terrifying: the world as we know it would collapse. It wouldn’t be the loud, explosive apocalypse we see in the movies, but a quiet, gradual catastrophe that would lead to the collapse of ecosystems, mass starvation, and ultimately, the disappearance of much of life, including humans. Let’s take a step-by-step look at what that quiet apocalypse would look like.
The first weeks: The collapse of the food chain
The first and most dramatic impact would be felt in the animal world that directly depends on insects. Insects are the foundation of terrestrial food chains.
- Birds would be the first to disappear: Almost all songbirds feed their young insects, even those that eat seeds as adults. Insects are a rich source of protein, essential for the rapid growth of their young. For example, a single swallow family eats hundreds of thousands of insects while raising their young. Without this food source, entire generations of birds would starve to death in their nests. The sky would become eerily quiet.
- Amphibians and reptiles would follow: Frogs, lizards, chameleons, and many other species of reptiles and amphibians rely on insects as their primary food source. Their disappearance would cause mass starvation and the collapse of these populations within months.
- Freshwater fish would be at risk: Many freshwater fish, such as trout, feed on insect larvae that live in the water. The disappearance of these larvae would fundamentally disrupt river ecosystems.
Without insects, the animal world would begin to fall apart like a house of cards, starting with the smallest predators and moving up to the larger ones.
The first months: Flowers without bees and crops without a future
Another, equally disastrous consequence would be the complete cessation of pollination. About 75% of all crops in the world and almost 90% of all flowering plants depend on pollinators, and insects are by far the most important among them.
- Goodbye to fruits and vegetables: Without bees, bumblebees, butterflies and flies, we could say goodbye to apples, pears, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelons… The list is almost endless. Crops such as onions, cabbage, carrots, peppers, almonds, coffee and cocoa also depend on insects. Supermarket shelves would become eerily empty.
- The end of coffee and chocolate: Morning coffee and your favorite chocolate would become a thing of the past. Coffee and cocoa plants require pollination to produce fruit.
- Oil and textile shortages: Sunflower and rapeseed, key sources of edible oil, would disappear. Cotton and flax production, which also depend on pollinators, would drop drastically, leading to the collapse of the textile industry.
We could still grow wind-pollinated crops like wheat, corn, and rice. But our diets would become monotonous, lacking in vitamins and minerals, leading to mass malnutrition and health problems around the world. The world would lose its colors, smells, and tastes.
Year One: A Planet Choking on Waste
Insects are not just pollinators; they are also the world’s most important recycling team.
- Corpses and excrement would pile up: Insects like dung beetles and fly larvae play a key role in breaking down animal excrement and corpses. Without them, organic waste would pile up, becoming a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria and spreading disease. Imagine pastures covered in undecomposed excrement and forests littered with animal carcasses.
- Dead plants would remain intact: Termites, ants, and other insects decompose dead wood and leaves, returning nutrients back to the soil. Without them, forests would suffocate in their own waste, and the soil would become increasingly poor, making it impossible for new plants to grow.
Long-term consequences: Erosion and destroyed soil
The role of insects goes even deeper – they are ecosystem engineers. Through their digging and tunneling, ants, termites and beetle larvae aerate the soil, allowing water and oxygen to reach plant roots. Their activities are crucial for maintaining soil fertility and structure.
Without them, the soil would become compacted and infertile. This, combined with the disappearance of plants whose roots bind the soil, would lead to catastrophic erosion. Fertile farmland would turn into deserts, and the landscape would become barren and lifeless.
Is there any good thing?
In this bleak picture, one seemingly positive consequence could be found: the cessation of pesticide use. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tons of insecticides are used in agriculture. These poisons not only contaminate our food, water, and soil, but have also been linked to serious health problems, including cancer.
However, this “good” news would be little consolation in a world facing mass starvation and ecological collapse. It would be like rejoicing that you no longer have to lock your door because there is nothing worth stealing in your house.
A world without insects is not a world free from disturbance. It is a world without food, without color, without life. They are the tiny, often invisible workers who keep our planet functioning. Their buzzing, crawling, and flying aren’t just the background noise of nature—they are the heartbeat of planet Earth.
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