this post was submitted on 09 May 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 1 points 14 minutes ago

Remjnds me of...

Dennis Leary: My fluffy little dog.. He's so cute- There's the problem. We only want to save the cute animals, don't we? Yeah. Why don't we just have animal auditions. Line 'em up one by one and interview them individually.

Dennis: What are you?

Otter: I'm an otter.

Dennis: And what do you do?

Otter: I swim around on my back and do cute little human things with my hands.

Dennis: You're free to go. And what are you?

Cow: I'm a cow.

Denis: Get in the fucking truck, ok pal!

Cow: But I'm an animal.

Dennis: You're a baseball glove! Get on that truck!

Cow: I'm an animal, I have rights!

Dennis: (pointing at leather jacket) Yeah, here's yer fucking cousin, get on the fucking truck, pal!

Dennis Leary, Dennis Leary: No Cure for Cancer

[–] hamid@crazypeople.online 6 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Crushing cockroaches is a great way to spread its eggs and have more cockroaches in the future. Spray them with soapy water instead.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 32 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

the pests will destroy homes, and spread diseases. butteflys are much more benign.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 9 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

A lot of butterflies eat shit. Like literally, I'm not just hurling baseless insults.

[–] FluorideMind@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Cool. I'd rather they do that over eating and contaminating my pantry.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

cockroaches don't exist because trash exists. they have existed since before humans.

[–] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

There are a lot of things that we as an animal like or don't like due to evolutionary benefits.

For example we don't like the smell of excrement because those that didn't, stayed further away from it and caught less diseases.
Another good example is snake and spider phobias, those innately scared of venomous creatures survived more often than those that enjoyed their company.

I'm 100% that roaches (and relatives) fall into this category as well. We find them slightly disgusting because those that did, killed them and lived with less diseases than those that thought that they were cute.

Butterflies on the other hand posed no threat to us and remind us of flowers that were evolutionarily important to us (interest in agriculture).

Killing cockroaches is self defence. Killing butterflies is murder.

[–] Artemis_Mystique@lemmy.ml 5 points 20 hours ago

Butterflies on the other hand posed no threat to us and remind us of flowers that were evolutionarily important to us (interest in agriculture).

Butterflies are more associated with death, than pretty things in the east.

Source

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 7 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

I avoid killing insects and other small bugs but you're right, I only kill the ones that carry diseases like cockroaches and mosquitoes.

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

I only do if they are inside. If they are outside they are just part of the food chain.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago

house spiders can survive. they can food chain the inside bugs for me.

[–] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 1 points 14 hours ago

But I don't like being a part of the food chain when I'm outside -- unless I'm on top.

[–] pjwestin@lemmy.world 135 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Roaches infest your home and spread diseases. Butterflies live outside and spread pollen.

[–] Benign@fedia.io 43 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] witheyeandclaw@lemmy.world 8 points 16 hours ago

You hate pollen from plants that evolved to spread it without the help of butterflies and other insects. These plants' pollen doesn't float around causing allergies.

[–] prti@szmer.info 47 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Dlaczego wszyscy nienawidzą pyłki, pytam się do kurwy nędzy?

[–] Zwiebel@feddit.org 91 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 1 points 9 hours ago

Google translate for the Polish comment:

Why does everyone hate pollen, I ask myself for fuck's sake?

Dude was just having some fun with similar sounding words

[–] Brownie@lemmy.zip 39 points 1 day ago

I'm literally dying

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[–] tio_bira@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

well, sounds like a personal problem

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[–] obinice@lemmy.world 151 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Do butterflies infest homes and destroy property?

I feel like it's less what they look like, and more how they impact us. It's still very human-centric, but ya know, not so much a beauty thing as one might think at first.

[–] crapwittyname@feddit.uk 48 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yep. Spiders are top 10 ugliest creatures in history, but I would never kill one unless it was a lethally toxic variety. Because they keep the population of disease-carrying, filthy-egg-laying proboscidean-vomiting flying vermin down. Spiders are bros.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Spiders and centipedes won't actually meaningfully decrease the population of other insects in your house. Both populations will simply grow together if the conditions are correct.

[–] crapwittyname@feddit.uk 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

If I removed all of the spiders from my house, the fly population wouldn't increase? I don't remember my high school biology too clearly, but I seem to remember a definite link between predator and prey which would suggest rampant increase in an environment where predators are sparse.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 1 points 13 hours ago

Predators and prey will always maintain some equilibrium, yes. But you can simply look outside and see that equilibrium typically includes a shit ton of other bugs (or birds, or mice, etc). You can also look at homes with serious infestations to see that this organic control alone doesn't typically keep pest populations in check. Nobody has ever gotten rid of roaches by introducing spiders. Sometimes you do get infestations of spiders though, in which case the spiders are usually eating each other.

Generally, inside your home there are other factors keeping pest populations in control. With a few very notable exceptions, most insects do not actively breed indoors because the climate conditions are not correct, or there is not access to food, or they don't like the vibrations and noise. Most of what spiders in your home catch are bugs which get in by accident and would simply die in one way or another.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, same thing with house centipedes, but I'd argue they're even uglier than spiders.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

yeah and they try to pretend they are your eyelashes, lull you into a sense of security and then bam they're drinking your eye juice

[–] bampop@lemmy.world 4 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Imagine looking in the mirror in the morning thinking why are my eyelashes so tickly, and suddenly they start running around all over your face. This is why you should always keep a flamethrower in the bathroom

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago

you know funny you should mention that. one of the burners on our stove doesn't light well so we had a good excuse to buy that novelty lightsaber blowtorch

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

nope, its all moths, clothes moths, pantry moths are very hard to eradicate. notable mentions are drain moths, and pantry beetles. butterflies are specializes to mostly flowers, or sometimes carrion, since they are recently evolved from moths, moths are very ancient insects.

[–] a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

For real. I don't like mosquitos, either. Has nothing to do with the fact that they are ugly.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Mosquitos are actually quite beautiful https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58398905

Just lookup mosquito macro photography - they're all colorful and fluffy and everything

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

really? Because the Prince of Proboscis was talking smack about you, and he has a schnoz like a bent candy cane. i know you two used to mash face puckers. And then there's billy buzzbutt? the homeless blood addict who invented molotov cocktails? that motherfucker gave you leprosy. And menopause. and i don't even know how that is supposed to be contagious. He was ugly as sin. Then there was Virginialetta. I should call her.

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 42 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Textile moths do. Good thing that they’re drab looking.

[–] Velypso@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Moths are not butterflies.

[–] Zagorath@quokk.au 3 points 16 hours ago

Biologically speaking, there is no way to define butterfly in a way that includes everything people consider butterflies and does not also include moths.

[–] diabetic_porcupine@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago

If not butterfly why butterfly shape?

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[–] Lowleekun@hexbear.net 2 points 17 hours ago

There are no cockroaches where I live so I don't have to kill any bugs. The few spiders get put outside in a jar.

[–] morto@piefed.social 35 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Recently, my sister wanted to kill a caterpillar and I said that when she sees a butterfly, she looks in awe, but when she sees a caterpillar, she wants to kill it, and that it explains a lot about our society. It was enough to save the poor hungry caterpillar

By the way, I don't kill cockroaches, I just shoo them away. They're nice and usually don't come back

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 29 points 1 day ago (12 children)

I will 100% toss the green ones to the neighbour's chickens. They fuck up my cabbages leaving just the veins and little poop dots then fly away as detestable white moths to fuck up everyone else's shit. Sometimes I borrow a couple chickens and just let them go find all the yummy buggies themselves. They are so silly and make a fun show out of decimating my enemies.

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[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Idk man, all them spider bros prove this wrong.

Sure ascetics are nice but it’s all about utility at the end of the day

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[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I try to not kill any without asking my scientist friend if they're invasive.

She said I'm allowed to scrunch all the spotted lantern flies, and I think they're very neat looking?

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

lanternflies definitely defy this particular philosophical postulate

for those of us who like the way they look anyway

i stomped one nearby my toddler niece once and she looked a little too enthused by that, so I reminded her it's important to be a little sad when a living thing dies, even you killed it to help protect the environment :(

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