In Praise Of.....Insects

The cockroaches have departed for the winter. And it is not yet the season for bogong moths, the only other insects that make their way to my high rise apartment. So I am having an insect free existence at the moment.

The cockroaches came from Brisbane. In Brisbane, they proliferated in the long, hot and wet summer. Brisbane cockroaches are different; they are small, brown, numerous and fly through windows. They don’t lay sacs, merely minute black eggs that are impossible to eradicate. Faced with an invasion, I tried everything from sage to boric acid to supermarket chemicals and kept it under some kind of control. I cleaned and packed each item before leaving. But they did arrive in Sydney, by way of a few eggs in an unreachable light fixture in the microwave. Clever. In the summer, they multiplied but not in any great proportion. Now they, like parts of the population, appear to have departed to warmer climes.

Apart from one occasion when a mouse traveling over my foot resulted in a ladylike scream, I am highly tolerant of most domestic animal and insect forms. Until I went to Brisbane and faced a cockroach plague I had rarely stamped on one; there, I regret to say, I took to stamping them out with some zeal. And because I loathe mechanical and chemical traps, it is not just roaches that have inhabited my house over the years. Still, the zenith of living with animals and insects remains Brisbane where everything from possums to ants lived in my large wrap around verandah. I didn’t mind them one bit and they didn’t mind me either. Apart from the roaches, let’s just say we resided in comfort without disturbing each other’s business.

To have insects roaming at free will in the house can seem a dereliction of domestic duties. People are always calling in pest control on sighting just the one and by definition cleanliness is the absence of insect life. Such an open confession to harbouring insects can therefore be like confessing to bad breath for example and equally detrimental to one’s social standing. Still, I admire their ingenuity. And I admire roaches most of all - their non-stop energy, late night partying, their fuck you to every attempt to control them – indeed one suspects that insecticides are their drug of choice. Yes I stamp on them when they start taking my generosity for granted but I admire them enough to have once penned a poem on them.

I am not sure when eradicating insect life became so important; is it those Baygon ads? Yes you don’t want locusts eating the crops or termites burrowing their way through the foundation of your house or leeches feasting on self (unless you are Demi Moore). But for the most part, domestic life forms are hardly bothersome. When I was growing up it was commonplace to spot centipedes, millipedes, frogs, snails, lizards, spiders and even the odd snake without anyone being unduly bothered. Now there is no everyday natural world to observe because we are so busy stamping it out. Instead we go to zoos to see exotic or “cute” species worthy of our attention and take our children along for good measure.

For the moment, things are quiet around my house. As the weather warms, a few insects will return. Mindful of my social obligations, I will keep them under control. But to the few roaches and moths around, I shall wish good health and cheer.