# What animal can we not live without? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905 "2006-08-08T19:55:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/1 "2006-08-08T19:55:23Z")
I just killed a little spider and afterwards remembered hearing that they ate bugs. So now I figure I am going to be infested with little ants and flys in my office. It seems that most animals/bugs serve some purpose in our ecosystem. This got me thinking, what animal(s) can we not live without? ---
**Author:** ![StinkyBurrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/2 "2006-08-08T20:02:20Z")
Well, I believe that there are essential bacteria in our guts that we physically can’t live without. Not sure if that counts as an ‘animal’ though. We can, however, live without mosquitos. DIE DIE DIE ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/3 "2006-08-08T20:06:52Z")
> [@StinkyBurrito](#): > > We can, however, live without mosquitos. DIE DIE DIE Aren’t mosquitoes a main diet of some bats (and some kinds of fish, oh…frogs too!)? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/4 "2006-08-08T20:10:45Z")
Cats. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/5 "2006-08-08T20:12:13Z")
Humans. We can’t live without humans. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/6 "2006-08-08T20:22:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Humans. We can’t live without humans. Damn, I meant to put a disclaimer “NOT COUNTING HUMANS”. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/7 "2006-08-08T20:24:14Z")
I’d be really sad if herds of ribeyes or venisons didn’t continue to inhabit the praries. Oh, and bacons too. ---
**Author:** ![StinkyBurrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/8 "2006-08-08T20:27:35Z")
> [@FormerMarineGuy](#): > > Aren’t mosquitoes a main diet of some bats (and some kinds of fish, oh…frogs too!)? I was kind of being sarcastic, but I was under the [impression](http://www.comosquitocontrol.com/Myths%20&%20Misconceptions.htm) that bats would rather eat other larger insects and only resort to smaller critters like mosquitos when their normal, larger food source is scarce. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/9 "2006-08-08T20:28:39Z")
The loss of bees might have a very disproportionate effect all the way up the line. They help to pollinate a great many crops. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/10 "2006-08-08T20:37:58Z")
> [@StinkyBurrito](#): > > Well, I believe that there are essential bacteria in our guts that we physically can’t live without. Not sure if that counts as an ‘animal’ though. Biologically speaking, bacteria aren’t animals. They aren’t plants either. They’re _bacteria_. In a kingdom of their own. ---
**Author:** ![StinkyBurrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/11 "2006-08-08T20:49:00Z")
> [@Alive At Both Ends](#): > > Biologically speaking, bacteria aren’t animals. They aren’t plants either. They’re _bacteria_. In a kingdom of their own. Thanks, I thought that might be the case. 🙂 In all seriousness to your OP, there have been hundreds of species that have recently gone extinct, and thousands of local populations of critters have been decimated. We are still here. I think we could probably live without a great number of species. Not that that would be a good thing, but I think we could cope. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/12 "2006-08-08T22:12:58Z")
I don’t think there is any one species that humanity is dependent on. Cows can be replaced, horses can be replaced, dogs and cats can be replaced (just not with apes, please). Honeybees are probably the closest though. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/13 "2006-08-08T22:20:06Z")
> [@Alive At Both Ends](#): > > Biologically speaking, bacteria aren’t animals. They aren’t plants either. They’re _bacteria_. In a kingdom of their own. nitpick: I think it is now widely accepted to call bacteria a domain, not a kingdom. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/14 "2006-08-08T22:59:28Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Honeybees are probably the closest though. There are literally thousands of species of bees aside from honeybees. When you consider that Australasia, the Americas and most of Asia and Africa managed to get along just fine before honey bees were introduced by humans I can’t see any justification in claiming that there aren’t any replacements for the honey bee. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/15 "2006-08-08T23:11:24Z")
Worms. No worms, no topsoil. And the starving, and the dying, and the faving! Tris ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/16 "2006-08-08T23:17:55Z")
Would there really be no topsoil at all without earthworms? I know they’re important, but they aren’t solely responsible for topsoil, are they? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/17 "2006-08-08T23:20:44Z")
Anyway, how about blowflies and other carrion-eating insects; their larvae are very important in keeping the world relatively free of decomposing corpses (sure, there are other organisms that join the feast, but the insects do the bulk of it). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/18 "2006-08-09T00:02:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Would there really be no topsoil at all without earthworms? I know they’re important, but they aren’t solely responsible for topsoil, are they? They aren’t responsible for it at all. Worms turn soil over, but in most parts of the world insects are more impoirtant in that regard. > [@](#): > > Anyway, how about blowflies and other carrion-eating insects; That’s a huge group you’ve just named. Almost every insect group I can think of has numeorus carrion feeding members: wasps, flies, beetles, moths, bugs, crickets and so forth. I hardly think that naming an entire functional group is in the spirit of the OP. We might just as well name “all bees and other pollinating insects” or “all plankton eating vertebrates”. The other question is how long it would actually take for scavenging mites, amphipods, worms birds and so forth to fill the niche. I doubt even the disappearance of such a broad group would have any noticable impact on most people. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/19 "2006-08-09T00:06:36Z")
Edgar Wallace wrote a story in which a misguided scientist who disliked worms was going to poison them all - and he had to be stopped at all costs. Wouldn’t Africa be a problem without dung beetles. All those herds of elephants passing … by :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905/20 "2006-08-09T11:55:18Z")
> [@StinkyBurrito](#): > > I was kind of being sarcastic, but I was under the [impression](http://www.comosquitocontrol.com/Myths%20&%20Misconceptions.htm) that bats would rather eat other larger insects and only resort to smaller critters like mosquitos when their normal, larger food source is scarce. Uh…that cite is from a mosquito-control service, which might view bats as economic competitors. Their text includes a scary warning about rabies too – they don’t want you relying on bats. I question the bias of their claim. Sailboat [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-can-we-not-live-without/367905.md?page=2)