In science fiction and fantasy literatures, the term insectoid ("insect-like") denotes any fantastical fictional creature sharing physical or other traits with ordinary
insects (or
arachnids). Most frequently, insect-like or spider-like extraterrestrial life forms is meant; in such cases
convergent evolution may presumably be responsible for the existence of such creatures. Occasionally, an earth-bound setting — such as in the film The Fly (1958), in which a scientist is accidentally transformed into a grotesque human–fly hybrid, or
Kafka's famous novella The Metamorphosis (1915), which does not bother to explain how a man becomes an enormous insect — is the venue.
Etymology
The term insectoid denotes any creature or object that shares a similar body or traits with common earth
insects and
arachnids. The term is a combination of "insect" and "-oid" (a suffix denoting similarity).
The motif of the insect became widely used in science fiction as an "abject human/insect hybrids that form the most common enemy" in related media.[11] Bugs or bug-like shapes have been described as a common trope in them, and the term 'insectoid' is considered "almost a cliche" with regards to the "ubiquitous way of representing alien life".[12]
In expressing his ambivalence with regard to science fiction, insectoids were on his mind when
Carl Sagan complained of the type of story which "simply ignores what we know of
molecular biology and
Darwinian evolution.... I have...problems with films in which spiders 30 feet tall are menacing the cities of earth: Since insects and arachnids
breathe by diffusion, such marauders would asphyxiate before they could savage their first metropolis".[13]
A wide range of different fiction has featured different insectoids ranging from characters and races:
Literature
Science fiction writer
Bob Olsen (1884–1956) wrote a sequence of short stories, two of which involve humans experiencing the life of ants ("The Ant with the Human Soul", Amazing Stories Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1932 and "Perils Among the Drivers", Amazing Stories, March 1934) and one ("Six-Legged Gangsters", Amazing Stories, June 1935) told from the ants' point of view.
L. Sprague de Camp's novel Rogue Queen (1951), describes the methods of procreation and social mores in a humanoid society patterned after bees.
^McCrea, Christian (2009). "Watching StarCraft, Strategy and South Korea". In Chan, Dean; Hjorth, Larissa (eds.). Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific.
Taylor & Francis. p. 188.
ISBN9781135843175. the insectile and swarm-like Tyranids
^
abWitwer, Michael; Newman, Kyle; Peterson, Jon; Witwer, Sam (2023). Dungeons & Dragons Lore & Legends - A Visual Celebration of the Fifth Edition of the World's Greatest Roleplaying Game.
Ten Speed Press. p. 375.
ISBN9781984859693.
^Smith, Casey Jex (2011-11-06). Tavis, Allison (ed.). Panel Discussion.
D&D in Contemporary Art. New York.