RE: Insect Studies: Do Researchers Have an Obligation to Their Subjects?
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Very good publication @agmoore, this is a somewhat complicated issue and with some controversy, as there will always be the side that will say that they do not feel pain and those who will say yes. The nervous system of insects is very different from ours or any mammal, so it is said that if they feel but not to the same degree as us, there may also be variants between insects, part of this is already reflected in some segments of the post. Another interesting thing is that they have a nerve cord formed by ganglia, so if they lose their heads the functions are assumed by these ganglia, so there are insects that can live for a while without head and die because they can not feed and so on, this is useful for some like mantids, as sometimes females remove the head of males in mating.
It is clear that they feel and therefore react to physical stimuli, the question would be to know to what extent they suffer, even caterpillars squirm when stung by ants. I have seen many entomologists in groups dedicated to sharing knowledge about insects debate on the subject, there are always divided opinions. I had read this post a few days ago, but today I come to comment. Hope all goes well, best regards @agmoore.
Hello my friend @abneagro,
I wondered what you would think about this, because you do research with insects. Of course, we can't know for sure. But shouldn't we err on the side of the insects? Imagine getting that wrong and inflicting needless suffering on the creatures.
I know it's a difficult issue, because they compete with us for space and resources. Of course we can't let them 'win'. But in dealing with them, perhaps we should try to devise methods that inflict less suffering. I think things like glue traps are especially cruel.
Thank you for commenting. I also hope you and your family are well. I hope peace prevails in your community. Peace seems to be a rare commodity these days.🌺
The fight against insects is never easy because they attack in large quantities, for industries it is much easier to sell very powerful chemicals to kill them, probably a slow and agonizing death for insects.
On the other hand, I am an agronomist engineer and my area is agricultural entomology, so I receive very often questions from acquaintances asking me for help to eliminate some arthropods that damage their plants, it is always necessary to see the affected place because sometimes the problem is not insects or other arthropods, there are also diseases, deficiencies or microorganisms that damage plants, but due to ignorance of many people usually blame insects for everything. In general, whenever I find insects damaging plants I try to implement more natural methods of control, for example, the use of their natural enemies for them to control them (biological control), I think this would be the least harmful method because it seeks to replicate what would originally occur within an ecosystem, sometimes plants when eaten by pests release compounds into the air to attract predators of pests that attack them. Also "trap crops" are often used, this means that very close to a cultivated area, places are selected to grow other attractive plants so that pests are interested in these and not in the crops from which we will obtain some benefit.
There are many methods and techniques that can be used, but I believe that none of them guarantees a quick death of insects 😞, but perhaps more respectful. Glue traps are more useful to collect specimens and thus know which are the most abundant in the area where the traps are placed, so you can create strategies to avoid possible pest attacks. Insects and other arthropods are part of the most attacked living beings on the planet, they are prey or food source of many forms of life, so evolutionarily they have great qualities to continue living, for example: camouflage, adaptation, poisons and a very high reproductive rate, a single female can bring hundreds of offspring into the world. Sorry for responding very late, but I'm back and hope to be able to comment more often and contribute more posts continuously, a hug @agmoore. 🙂🙂
This is amazingly indirect, and effective. Sounds like a great strategy.
I really appreciate your response. I have so much respect for what you do. It strikes the balance between protecting human interests and showing regard for other creatures on earth. In the end, we all share the same planet.
Every time I read something you've written, I learn.
Peace to you and your family, @abneagro