this post was submitted on 09 May 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] obinice@lemmy.world 141 points 1 week 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 47 points 1 week ago (4 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.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week 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 6 points 1 week 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

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[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 35 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] Velypso@sh.itjust.works 25 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Moths are not butterflies.

If not butterfly why butterfly shape?

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[–] a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week 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 week ago (1 children)

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

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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.

[–] pjwestin@lemmy.world 112 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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

[–] Benign@fedia.io 39 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] prti@szmer.info 40 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Dlaczego wszyscy nienawidzą pyłki, pytam się do kurwy nędzy?

[–] Zwiebel@feddit.org 81 points 1 week ago (4 children)
[–] Dicska@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Something is telling me there is a language in which pollen sounds similar to their word for Poles. I'm getting German vibes.

[–] Brownie@lemmy.zip 31 points 1 week ago

I'm literally dying

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[–] witheyeandclaw@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week 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.

[–] tio_bira@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

well, sounds like a personal problem

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

More like you are ingesting their house

[–] pjwestin@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I don't think I could eat a whole house.

I'll acknowledge I made a typo, means to say invading, but I'll have to live with my mistakes

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

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

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] FluorideMind@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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

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[–] morto@piefed.social 32 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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 28 points 1 week ago (7 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.

[–] morto@piefed.social 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Don't the borrowed chickens eat your plants as well? Along with everything in their path, and even you, if they were big enough?

[–] SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

If mine are any indication, they’ll go hunting for bugs before they start scratching at stuff or eating plants. Even when I give mine pulled weeds the first thing they do is look for bugs on them. Those are the real prize.

They have an amazing eye for slight movement, and are quite good little hunters (they really like catching mice as well). If you don't give them time to destroy everything, and keep your eyes on them.

As a bonus they poop while they eradicate, and they do some mild scratching of the surface which is good for the soil.

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago

I don't leave them unattended. I let them do whatever they want with anything already destroyed, and they seem to have fun if I chase them around to distract them from other stuff seeing as they come to poke me then run away when I stop following them.

[–] Silic0n_Alph4@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Diocletian, is that you? The Empire needs you!

[–] HAL_9_TRILLION@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I understood this reference. Thanks @pugjesus@lemmy.world!

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He moved. @PugJesus@piefed.social or @PugJesus@kbin.social is the new username.

Despite the change in scenery, he's still one of the Lemmy GOATs 🐐🐐🐐

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[–] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 24 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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.

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

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

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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

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

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[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 week ago (1 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 18 points 1 week 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?

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[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Cockroaches tend to be food pests, butterflies are often pollinators. They're not on the same level.

[–] Dicska@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

... From the human perspective.

[–] harambe69@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 week ago

One spreads diseases, the other destroys my garden. Both are getting the boot.

[–] determinist@kbin.earth 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

so ... I don't crush either. I'm just not into it and I think they all have the right to have a fair go. I'm pretty sure they have enough to deal with without me fucking up their shit.

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Cockroaches can carry cholera, leprosy, and various strains of salmonella causing salmonellosis, typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, and deposit them all over your kitchen and food surfaces

[–] Evilsandwichman@hexbear.net 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Also they will absolutely crawl all over you in your sleep, and they may very possibly fly right at you (has happened to me and someone I know)

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[–] hamid@crazypeople.online 6 points 1 week ago

Crushing cockroaches is a great way to spread its eggs and have more cockroaches in the future

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

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

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