Will insects ever rule the Earth?

Well Earth has been dominated by dinosaurs, giant mammals, and then humans. My question is simple is it likely that insects may someday dominate the Earth?

My father used to say that there are more insects in one square mile than humans on Earth, and if there were ever a advance [evolution] in there intelligence, we would be powerless to stop them from taking over.



[edit on 15-7-2008 by LDragonFire]

sum people say the 'greys' are insects......

sum people say Gaia favors insect life over other lifeforms.....

Reminds me of the movie starship troopers w/ all those giant insects

It is believed that insects have more biomass than any other type of land animal. Ants alone make up 15 - 20% of the terrestrial animal biomass.

I'd say they already dominate the earth. They have been witness to the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and giant mammals. They were here long before mankind and will probably still be here long after.

If you question the intelligence of insects I suggest you do some reading on behavior and ecology of ants. They are quite fascinating.

This is a good starting point: Ants