Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2026

Document Type

Research Paper

Department

Whittier Scholars Program

First Advisor

David Mbora

Abstract

With brightly colored exoskeletons, an excess of both eyes and legs, and seemingly  unpredictable behaviors, insects and arthropods come across as unusual and strange to general audiences. For this reason, they are often classified as “gross,” “ugly,” or “scary,” antagonists  in popular culture. What is not recognized when being represented to the masses is how much human society depends on their presence, and how a world without insects would be a world without most things humans know and love. In order to help reduce the stigma of these tiny, yet mighty creatures, this project serves as a call to action to keep insect populations up, to keep human society functioning the way it has been for so many years. To complete this project, data from recent years, including the summer of 2025, was used in order to draw conclusions about how human society will be affected by whatever trends are present among the data. With data analyses, it can be discussed how these effects of insect population trends will remain for a much longer time than many think. These conclusions will not only increase the awareness of the impact insects have on the environment, but they will also serve as an argument to many that insects can and should be considered and viewed with the same levels of respect as any other organism on this planet, which can help direct more individuals towards the causes for insect conservation as a whole.

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