9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So people are more afraid of insects[br]than they are of dying.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
At least, according to a 1973 book [br]of lists survey which preceded all those

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
online best, worst, funniest lists[br]that you see today.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Only heights and public speaking exceeded[br]the six-legged as sources of fear.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I suspect if you had put spiders [br]in there, the combinations of insects

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and spiders would have just[br]topped the chart.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, I am not one of those people.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I really love insects.[br]I think they're interesting and beautiful,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and sometimes even cute.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I'm not alone.[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
For centuries, some of the greatest minds [br]in science from Charles Darwin to E.O. Wilson

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
have drawn inspiration from studying some[br]of the smallest minds on earth.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well, why is that?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What is that keeps us coming[br]back to insects?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Some of it of course, is just the sheer[br]magnitude of almost everything about them.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They're more numerous than [br]any other kind of animal.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We don't even know how many species[br]of insects there are because new ones

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
are being discovered all the time.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There are at least a million,[br]maybe as many as 10 million.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This means that you could have an insect[br]of the month calendar

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and not have to reuse a species [br]for over 80,000 years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Take that pandas and kittens!

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
More seriously, insects are essential.[br]We need them.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's been estimated that 1 out of every 3[br]bites of food is made possible

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
by a pollinator.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Scientist use insects to make fundamental[br]discoveries about everything

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from the structure of our nervous systems,[br]to how our genes and DNA work.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But what I love most about insects[br]is what they can tell us about

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
our own behavior.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Insects seem like they do [br]everything that people do.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They meet, they mate, they break up.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And they do so with what looks [br]like love or animosity.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But what drives their behaviors is really[br]different than what drives our own,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and that difference can be[br]really illuminating.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There's nowhere where that's more true[br]than when it comes to one of our most

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
consuming interests --[br]sex.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, I will maintain and I think I can[br]defend what may seem like

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a surprising statement.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think sex in insects is more [br]interesting than sex in people.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And the wild variety that we see makes us[br]challenge some of our own assumptios

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about what it means to be male and female.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Of course, to start with, a lot of insects[br]don't need to have sex at all to reproduce.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Female aphids can make little, tiny clones[br]of themselves without ever mating.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Virgin birth, right there.[br]On your rose bushes.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When they do have sex, even their sperm[br]is more interesting than human sperm.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There some kinds of fruit flies whose[br]sperm is longer than the male's own body.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that's important because the males [br]use their sperm to compete.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, male insects do compete with weapons,[br]like the horns on these beetles.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But they also compete after [br]mating with their sperm.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Dragonflies and damselflies have penises[br]that look kind of like Swiss Army knives