# Insects don't die of natural causes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034 "2009-02-16T03:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lawn\_Gnome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lawn\_Gnome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawn_Gnome)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/1 "2009-02-16T03:19:05Z")
Two questions: 1. I’ve heard some insects just don’t die of natural causes. Is this true? 2. Let’s say that a caterpillar, for what ever reason, does not synthesize the hormones needed to start metamorphosis. If this little caterpillar does not get eaten and it stays in an environment that will never kill it, How long could a caterpillar live for? Could it eat for weeks and get bigger and bigger? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/2 "2009-02-16T03:49:46Z")
Isn’t getting eaten by a robin a natural cause of death for an insect? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/3 "2009-02-16T04:48:17Z")
Are you suggesting that there are some insects that would live forever, if placed in a safe terrarium with properly controlled climate and all the food it required? That these insects would NEVER reach an age at which body parts would simply wear out? I’ve read that queen termites can live 50 or 60 years, which is mighty long time. Still, even THEY eventually keel over. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/4 "2009-02-16T04:56:01Z")
Insects age. A quick wiki search turned up [Joseph Graves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_L._Graves) who studies insect ageing as an analogue for human ageing. This wiki article is a bit unclear on whether the insects age or not (after all, he might be studying insects beecause they _don’t_ age) but [here](http://www.springerlink.com/content/m2080627qw526lw1/) is an abstract from one of his papers which specifically talks about altering their longevity. ---
**Author:** ![Lawn\_Gnome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lawn\_Gnome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawn_Gnome)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/5 "2009-02-16T05:46:13Z")
Well some insects I know die naturally, such as dying after mating/laying eggs or in the case of ants and bees, working themselves to death, but I’m only asking about a few exceptions. Could these particular organisms, like a non-metamorphosing caterpillar, live forever if it never gets eaten doesn’t die from a changing harsh environment? What internal problems do insects even experience? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/6 "2009-02-16T05:51:04Z")
I’ve heard the same thing about fish. Not sure I’d buy it without some serious evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/7 "2009-02-16T07:36:28Z")
There are viral diseases that kill insects. There are parasites that eat up insects from inside. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/8 "2009-02-16T07:46:39Z")
A friend of mine kept a pet roach. He fed it and watered it and took excellent care of it (it was huge). He kept it in his office for YEARS; however, eventually it started to look like a grandpa roach (if you can imagine such a thing) and after much time it died. You really couldn’t offer better care to a roach than this fella did and he was quite broken up about it when it died (so was I, oddly enough - I used to go and visit and bring treats to Mr. Roach) so I assume natural causes (i.e. old age) was the cause of death. If roaches can’t live forever, nothing can. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/9 "2009-02-16T09:10:28Z")
I wouldn’t think anything as small as most insects are gets the chance to die a natural death. As they are the opposite of apex predators (what–basal prey?) they presumably always end by being eaten or crushed. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/10 "2009-02-16T10:00:07Z")
> [@AllWalker](#): > > Insects age. A quick wiki search turned up [Joseph Graves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_L._Graves) who studies insect ageing as an analogue for human ageing. This wiki article is a bit unclear on whether the insects age or not (after all, he might be studying insects **beecause** they _don’t_ age) but [here](http://www.springerlink.com/content/m2080627qw526lw1/) is an abstract from one of his papers which specifically talks about altering their longevity. I make the best typos sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/11 "2009-02-16T10:55:56Z")
Here’s a short review article on[aging in drosophila](http://http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1855203) (fruit flies) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/12 "2009-02-16T11:58:21Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > A friend of mine kept a pet roach. He fed it and watered it and took excellent care of it (it was huge). > > He kept it in his office for YEARS; however, eventually it started to look like a grandpa roach (if you can imagine such a thing) and after much time it died. How many is “YEARS”? And how did he feed it? And how did he keep it from escaping? ---
**Author:** ![BlackFish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@BlackFish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackFish)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/13 "2009-02-16T17:00:13Z")
well, not about insects but about an (maybe) immortal animal: [Turritopsis nutricula](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula) > [@](#): > > from \*\* wikipedia article:\*\* > Jellyfish usually die after propagating; however, the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the ability to return to a polyp state. This is done through a cell change in the external screen (exumbrella). The ability to reverse the life cycle is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering the Turritopsis nutricula biologically immortal. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/14 "2009-02-16T19:34:23Z")
Amoebas don’t die of old age (though they can be killed). Instead they divide after a while. You could argue that this is “death” for an amoeba - but in that case, where is the corpse? There’s a sense in which every living amoeba is hundreds of millions of years old. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insects-dont-die-of-natural-causes/486034/15 "2009-02-16T19:59:25Z")
> [@Lawn\_Gnome](#): > > 1. Let’s say that a caterpillar, for what ever reason, does not synthesize the hormones needed to start metamorphosis. If this little caterpillar does not get eaten and it stays in an environment that will never kill it, How long could a caterpillar live for? Could it eat for weeks and get bigger and bigger? [Not particularly long](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7064277&postcount=15)