{"id":779671,"date":"2026-07-04T11:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779671\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:11","slug":"to-swat-or-not-these-scientists-suggest-we-rethink-our-fear-toward-insects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779671\/","title":{"rendered":"To swat or not? These scientists suggest we rethink our fear toward insects"},"content":{"rendered":"

LISTEN | Full interview with Jo Wimpenny:<\/p>\n

The Sunday Magazine21:55Wasps make you squirm? Step away from the swatter, says zoologist<\/p>\n

You are sitting at a picnic table on a summer afternoon when a wasp lands near your plate, or an ant climbs onto your hand. Almost instantly, the reflex takes over. You swat, you flick, you recoil.<\/p>\n

From bemoaning itchy mosquito bites to targeting invasive moths with insecticide, our relationship with bugs is built largely on fear, economic damage and medical anxiety, says ecologist Michelle Tseng.<\/p>\n

“People know a lot about the negative things,” she said. “And that narrative has dominated.”<\/p>\n

As summer draws Canadians back into gardens and parks, scientists and environmental caretakers say we need to reexamine how we view insects, swapping our repulsion for appreciation of the key environmental role they play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the insects on the planet are beneficial and necessary for proper ecosystem functioning,\u201d said Tseng, an associate professor at University of British Columbia. \u201cMost people don\u2019t understand that, but we also don\u2019t expect them to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MayflyMayflies serve as a vital food source for fish and various invertebrates. (Submitted by Michelle Tseng)Fear is learned<\/p>\n

Children typically start out deeply curious about insects, says zoologist Jo Wimpenny. But between the ages of four and eight, she says, they begin picking up fear from parents, caregivers and media. Wasps become \u201cvicious,\u201d and spiders become \u201csex-starved invaders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love putting things into categories,\u201d Wimpenny, author of Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature\u2019s Least Loved Animals, told The Sunday Magazine host Piya Chattopadhyay.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn animal that looks like a wasp or a spider is bad. An animal that looks cute like a panda is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wimpenny emphasizes that simplicity comes at a cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In her research, she warns that we are living through an era of catastrophic biodiversity loss, where panic around insects \u2014 in addition to insecticide use, habitat loss and climate change \u2014 is accelerating their decline. A 2019 global analysis found<\/a> that more than 40 per cent of insect species are declining and a third are endangered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust lumping them into good and bad is overlooking so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

What we don’t see<\/p>\n

Wimpenny says most people don\u2019t see what insects are actually doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people know that wasps are \u2026 nuisance wasps,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there are lots of other different species of wasp.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tiny wasps pollinate figs, some help with wine production, and most are predators that eat aphids, cabbage white caterpillars, and other sorts of larvae that would otherwise devour crops.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we didn’t have wasps, we would soon notice because all of these pests would just build up. So they’re out there just doing all of this for free,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In Grant Minkhorst\u2019s Toronto garden, that natural balance has slowly been restored by a common gardening practice called companion planting, where different plants are grown side by side to benefit each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aphids on his milkweed attract ladybugs, which naturally manage the aphid population. Planting native berry shrubs brought in birds that hunt his slugs. Today, he worries little about garden insects and pests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to thrive and survive \u2026 start to look at insects as partners and friends,\u201d said Minkhorst.<\/p>\n

\"CardinalCardinal Meadowhawk dragonfly species eats soft-bodied insects like mosquitoes, flies and flying ants. (Submitted by Michelle Tseng)Coexistence is messy<\/p>\n

Tseng notes that the relentless spread of invasive spongy moths in Ontario proved extremely difficult to control and triggered several targeted aerial insecticide applications, concluding most recently in 2022. Meanwhile, British Columbia mitigates the threat through precise spraying campaigns, a strategy Tseng says inevitably kills off blameless native moths and butterflies, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, she acknowledges the double-edged sword.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flip side is, if you let spongy moths get out of control, it’s economically a huge deal, and you don’t want that to happen,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n

Residential habits, as simple as lawn care when using herbicides, carry similar weight, she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt affects the plants, for sure \u2026 but it also affects large amounts of the overall health and well-being of all the bugs in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Minkhorst differentiates between native insects and highly destructive invasive species like Japanese lily beetles and Asian jumping worms. He picks them off and puts them in soapy water, avoiding pesticides entirely.<\/p>\n

Where he once reached for chemical interventions, he now gently reframes his relationship to his land. He points to how millions of backyard hobbyists proudly claim the title of \u201cplant mom\u201d or \u201cplant dad\u201d on social media, but to him, that’s incomplete.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not just a plant mom or a plant dad,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re like a slug mom. You\u2019re like an ant dad. And you\u2019re a bee parent.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, respecting insects doesn’t mean ignoring real dangers. Tseng emphasizes that awareness and prevention measures are key to safely navigating our shared environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a concern and we must be aware of the impacts insects could have on us like disease, but all of it is just in educating yourself and knowing how to prevent and also risk assess,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"yellowDrought-tolerant perennial coneflowers provide easy access to pollen and nectar to insects like honeybees. (Submitted by Grant Minkhorst)Don’t fret, take a breath<\/p>\n

Tseng says as society navigates its relationship with bugs, there are takeaways in Indigenous storytelling and frameworks that have long connected with the Earth as a living system. The natural world is viewed as a home, where the rightful human stance is stewardship and gratitude.<\/p>\n

This framework, Tseng points out, relies on seeing plants and animals as akin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s this sort of reciprocal responsibility for humans to take care of nature, and nature to take care of humans,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AWestern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly frequently found in wooded areas and flower gardens. (Submitted by Michelle Tseng)<\/p>\n

Wimpenny says rebuilding the relationship starts with crafting new stories where insects, such as spiders, aren\u2019t the villain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Miss Muffet doesn\u2019t need to sit on her tuffet afraid of the spider,\u201d she said. \u201cShe could easily invite it down to share something together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the next time you encounter an insect outdoors, Wimpenny urges taking a brief, quiet breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake the time to relax and actually spend some time with it,\u201d she said. \u201cAsk yourself: Why is it doing what it\u2019s doing? And how do you feature as part of that?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LISTEN | Full interview with Jo Wimpenny: The Sunday Magazine21:55Wasps make you squirm? Step away from the swatter,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-779671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}