Do bugs rule the world? Words on a comb tell a story of our long fight to control pests. But experts say we need insects more than they need us.
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Oldest known sentence found on head-lice comb
Do bugs rule the world? Words on a comb tell a story of our long fight to control pests. But experts say we need insects more than they need us.
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The oldest sentence in history says: "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard."
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Body lice carry typhus and have destroyed entire armies. Fleas spread the Black Death, which killed 75 million people. Mosquitoes caused almost half of all deaths in human history.
But the comb shows humans use tools to control insects. We rule the world because we have technology.
China learned how to farm silkworms to make cloth. Beekeepers have taken honey from hives for over 4,500 years. Chemists make powerful insecticides to destroy harmful pests. As many as two billion people eat insects.
But insect numbers have dropped and we need them to pollinate our crops. Love them or hate them, our future depends on bugs.
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<h5 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="question">Do bugs rule the world?</h5>
Yes! Insects existed long before us and will be here after we have gone.
No! They once ruled the world, but now we are wiping them out.
Oldest known sentence found on head-lice comb
Silky smooth: the nit comb, found here at Tel Lakhish, Israel, brushed lice from the hairs of our ancestors roughly 3,700 years ago.