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The king was in pain. He had a cut on his foot - and it was not healing. For days, he had limped around his castle.

Now, his doctor had a cure: "We should use maggotsCreatures that look like very small worms and turn into flies. !" The king groaned.

For many years, modern doctors laughed at old treatments like using maggots to clean cuts. But now they are starting to take them seriously.

Maggots eat bacteriaA large group of single-cell microorganisms. Some cause disease in animals and humans. and dead cells. Today, more and more people in Britain are being treated with maggots.

But it is not only doctors that are using or copying insects. Using insects to inspire new designs is called biomimicry. And today designers think we can learn a lot from nature.

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Locusts can fly in groups of millions without bumping into each other. Car-makers hope they can use ideas from locusts to stop self-driving cars from crashing into each other.

And one furniture-maker, Marlene Huissoud, use thousands of silkworm cocoons to make a wardrobe.

Could insects solve all of our problems?

Yes! Humans have gone wrong by thinking we can design things better than nature. By studying other creatures we can find amazing new ideas.

No! Only humans could have invented cars, or cities or amazing medicines. We know a lot more about the world than insects.