Insect-resistant corn containing the BT toxin, derived from a bacterium and used in organic farming, does kill butterflies and other good insects but far less than 1% of them.

FORBES: Green Genes

Until the arrival of European settlers, most of the area the cicadas inhabit was forest on the face of it, a good habitat for the insects.

ECONOMIST: The 17-year cicadas are about to emerge in force

However, the wet weather has been good news for some insects, such as the crane fly, drone fly and mosquitoes as well as molluscs such as slugs and snails, which all thrive in the damp conditions.

BBC: UK insect numbers 'very low' after months of wet weather

Some scientists have argued that consuming meat or at the least insects was a good part of the diet of heterodontosaurs.

BBC: Dwarf 'vampire' dinosaur was a plant eater

The UN is encouraging everyone in the world to eat insects for the good of our health and the future of the planet.

BBC: Is crawly cuisine the future of food?

Insects, clams, trilobites and plants are good buys, and rarer ones have as much chance of accruing in value as vertebrates.

FORBES: Dig It

The producers argue that the engineered traits such as resistance to certain brands of herbicide or types of insects and virus actually do ecological good by reducing chemical use and improving yields so that less land needs to go under the plough.

ECONOMIST: Who��s afraid?

Insects are healthful for people, but they also taste good.

BBC: Edible insects crawl onto menus

In recent years, some scientists have argued that such selfish genetic elements serve the greater good in the long run by making species more "evolvable, " like insects, and that this explains their existence.

WSJ: Matt Ridley on Selfish DNA | Mind & Matter

The most conspicuously selfless are the social insects, the ants, bees and wasps in which most individuals work tirelessly for the good of the colony and never reproduce themselves.

ECONOMIST: Bill Hamilton