History Main / BugWar

* ''WesternAnimation/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles'', as an adaptation of the ''Starship Troopers'' novel, natural focuses n humanities efforts to fight the Bugs.

* Threatened in ''Literature/ChildrenOfTime'', which sees a human ColonyShip fleeing a HomeworldEvacuation discovering that the only still-viable planet of all those terraformed by Old Humanity is already occupied by a species of UpliftedAnimal GiantSpiders, which the humans are understandably horrified to discover. Ultimately [[spoiler: defied, when the spiders infect the human ship with a brain-altering virus -- the same one that gave them sentience -- that forces the humans to empathize with the spiders and recognize them as fellow sapient organisms. Spider society has its issues, but genocide isn't one of them, and with the humans' instinctive arachnophobia removed they're perfectly happy to share the place with them.]]

* The conflict between the Terrans and the Zerg in ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is a classic Bug War. From this came the classic ZergRush.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* A small scale version is when pest exterminators kill ants, termites, hornets and the like.
* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasberry_crazy_ant Crazy Rasberry Ants]] (no, [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant not a misspelling of "Raspberry,"]] but instead named for the first exterminator in Texas to tangle with them, [[http://crazyrasberryants.blogspot.com/ Tom Rasberry]]) are becoming a major problem in Texas. [[http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5781180.html First introduced to Houston]] in 2002 via an infestation in a cargo ship, they have since spread to 27 Texan counties and has spread along the Gulf Coast. If you thought fire ants were bad, ''these'' bugs have the potential to be an ecological and civil disaster; not only do they infest areas by the ''billions'' (they have ''40 queens'' for every 1000 ants), nearly all pesticides are ineffective and they avoid baits. They've been known to irritate and drive off animals as well as take over honeybee hives and attack pollinating insects (''very'' bad for the ecosystem). Even ''worse'', they are attracted to electronics and will destroy computers, vehicle equipment, air conditioning, and just about anything using electricity. They've even threatened the NASA complex in Houston. As Tom Rasberry himself put it, "[[http://crazyrasberryants.blogspot.com/2009/07/usa-we-have-problem.html These ants pose a clear and present danger to our way of life, and the time for real action was years ago.]]"
* Watch any episode of ''Monsters Inside Me'', and you'll realize that the human species has '''always''' been engaged in a Bug War (and a Worm War, and a Protozoan War): it's just being fought on a microscopic scale, so it isn't as photogenic.
* Botanists and dendrologists (scientists who specifically study trees) are at war with several species of bark beetles, one such being the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_ash_borer emerald ash borer]], an invasive beetle from Asia that was accidentally introduced to North America in 1998 and has been responsible for killing billions of ash trees in the midwestern United States and Ontario. Ironically, one idea that scientists have developed in order to control the population of this insect is by introducing ''another'' species of insect - several species of parasitic wasps to be specific.
* Roaches and bedbugs in most large cities (for example, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} in the US) and mosquitoes and ticks in more rural areas. Said pests have reached such ubiquitous levels that total eradication is impossible, so reducing their population to an amount that isn't creating disgust and health problems in a continuing fight via aggressive cleaning, pesticides, repellants, and other methods is almost the ''only'' way of managing them.
* Mosquito-transmitted diseases during the construction of the Panama Canal led to thousands of deaths, ended by the mass pesticide spraying of their breeding grounds.
* Even today, mosquitoes cause more human deaths via spreading diseases than any other animal, even including other humans.
[[/folder]]

Bugs make great enemies for a fictional war for precisely the same reason that {{Evil Overlord}}s give their minions [[FacelessGoons face-concealing helmets]]: The reader or viewer is more likely to empathize with an enemy who has readable facial expressions. Making the enemy an insect or something [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman similarly alien]] makes them impossible to read, which removes almost all empathy. Specifically insect-like monsters have the added benefit of triggering some fairly common phobias. Thus, the enemies can be [[{{Demonization}} demonized]] and painted as [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute remorseless]] [[AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters]] with [[HiveMind no sense of individuality]], thereby assuaging the protagonist's ([[ValuesDissonance and hopefully the reader's]]) guilt over killing them.

* ''Toys/LegoGalaxySquad'' has humans in space fighting against suprisingly technologically advanced InsectoidAliens to stop them from trapping people in cocoons for unknown reasons.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', also by Jim Butcher, there are several somewhat-literal examples; Harry in major battles with ghouls, the Vampire War, a legion of fae spiders and Grey Men that appeared in the climactic battle of 'Literature/Turn Coat, and several other examples.

* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' has the game Hero's Duty, which has [[SpaceMarine Space Marines]] fighting robot bugs called Cy-Bugs. The bugs here are mindless automata -- unlike most video game characters in the setting, who know they're in a video game -- and only exist to eat and multiply. They are usually stopped by a giant glowing tower that acts as a bug zapper, on which they are programmed to kill themselves so the game can reset properly.

* Even though it was not a science fiction story, the short story "Literature/LeiningenVersusTheAnts" is about just that: Leiningen and his plantation crew fighting an army of millions of ants. Although the ants were only a little bigger than normal ones, they could still strip an [[MisplacedWildlife elk]] to the bone in six minutes.

* The primary enemy of the second ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' book, ''The Hour at the Gate'', are the Plated Folk, insectoid invaders. Given this is a world of anthropomorphic mammals and birds, the insect invaders are seen as truly horrible, although that doesn't stop the heroes from allying with the Spinners, giant sapient spiders.
* The ''Literature/{{Starfire}}'' novels ''In Death Ground'' and ''The Shiva Option'' have humans and various alien allies fighting HiveMind Bugs that fit this trope perfectly and which, for added horror, prefer to eat sapient beings.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' show that the Alpha and Gamma phases of the Metroid lifecycle are very insect-like, though the later metamorphoses are instead dinosaur-like.

* In ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'' the part of the human race that fled the earth to escape from a new ice age fights a desperate battle against the Hideauze, giant superpowered squid-like creatures. [[spoiler: Turns out, the Hideauze are a mutated and space-living version of the whale squids still living on the OceanPunk earth, who in turn are genetically modified and nanobot equipped humans.]]

* Subverted in the anime ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'', in which the "Jovian lizards" turned out to be [[spoiler: human space colonists. The government didn't need drugs, however, as the colonists were few in number and thus fought using remote drones]].

* In Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/EmpireAboveAll'' duology, German Nation (a futuristic German Empire/Third Reich) and communist guerrillas wage war with mysterious insectoid Biomorphs. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that Biomorphs are actually a result of human experiments and were used deliberately.]]

** The Buggers kill quite a few of us, but that was only because they considered them to be equivalent to fellow drones. When the Buggers realize that ''all'' humans are sapient (only Bugger queens are sapient[[spoiler: and even then, not the physical queen but some "Philotic being" connected to her]], the rest are mindless drones and workers whose lives aren't considered at all important) and that their own attempts at first contact were really murder on a massive scale they freak the hell out and completely withdraw. Since at this point Buggers and Humans still haven't figured out a way to communicate, the humans think that they're just pulling back to regroup, and launch a devastating counterattack that [[spoiler:drives the species to extinction except for one egg.]]

* ''Those From Nowhere'' - In French, ''Ceux de nulle part'' written by Francis Carsac [[note]]an alias of François Bordes, a prominent figure of paleontology[[/note]]. The book twice subverts the trope. First, the human protagonist makes contact with a race of [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Green skinned]] SpaceElves (the Hiss) that is fighting a losing war against the "Misliks", metallic bugs who can [[SpaceIsCold only exist in absolute zero]] and are therefore [[ApocalypseHow extinguishing every star in the whole universe]]. When the protagonist manages to make telepathic contact with a Mislik "war prisoner", it appears that he cannot understand any part of the Mislik's mind except its feelings: basically, the bug does not understand what one + one = two means, but it ''feels'' sad, alone, and frightened because it is far away from its kin. The second subversion comes from the fact that the green aliens have founded a "league of human worlds": basically, for them, the concept of humanity covers any intelligent species who would rather live under a star than in a frozen universe: so, if you happen to be a giant spider who enjoys the warmth of your homeworld sun, congratulations, you are "human". Actually, the Hiss would probably consider anything to be "human" enough to be worthy of an alliance proposal, so, in order to fight bugs with emotions but a strong dislike of sunlight, the Hiss are ready to form alliances with other bugs who are ''not'' offended by sunlight. The book predates ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' by five years.

* Space 4X games such as ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion'' will almost always characterise insectoid species as fast breeding, expansionist and aggressive, making bug wars almost inevitable during a game. These traits are often combined with penalties to science, bonuses to ground combat, and OrganicTechnology to keep things as close to the Literature/StarshipTroopers-inspired stereotype as possible.

* The manga ''Manga/TerraFormars'', a play on the word Terraforming, involves a notably stupid idea in which the governments of Earth, seeking to deal with dwindling resources on Earth, decide to send roaches and some fungus to Mars as a way to terraform it. Safe to say, 200 years later when they finally send humans up there to see if it works, the welcoming committee wasn't too pleased. The welcoming committee in question were made of sapient, 7 feet tall, humanoid roaches with huge, oogly eyeballs and equipped with supernatural speed, strength and a noticeable lack of anything resembling mercy, if the way they massacre the astronauts are any indication. [[spoiler:Especially interesting is the way they BaitAndSwitch protagonists. Not even the touching way they build up relationships in the first two chapters is any help considering they are all massacred. The second group is no better and the LoveInterest died almost immediately with only TWO survivors. The third and most current generation so far seem to be faring, somewhat well. Read:Half of them are already killed off.]]

* ''Series/FallingSkies'': The bug like alien race are the ones using the most advance tech, along with biological technologies.
* ''{{Series/Lexx}}'' often mentions the Great Insect Wars of millennia past. The so-called Insect Civilization was a race of intelligent, moon-sized woodlice who could shrug off direct hits from a PlanetKiller, but [[HumanityIsSuperior their human opponents were more resourceful and less predictable]].
* Several episodes of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' played this straight, but the episode "Hearts and Minds" [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] it by having the "bugs" turn out to be humans from a rival corporation; the soldiers had been [[BrainwashedAndCrazy drugged to see the enemy as disgusting aliens]] so that they would [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman feel fewer qualms]] about killing them. The soldiers from the rival corporation were similarly drugged.

* In ''Series/StarFleet'' the Imperial Alliance {{mooks}} are humanoid termites, and many of their spaceship designs are bug themed.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': The Borg were originally intended to be a bug race, the bluegill parasites featured in "Conspiracy". They ended up as humanoid cyborgs largely because it was easier on the special effects budget, making the Borg conflict a RobotWar instead. They retained many aspects of this trope though. They've got the HiveMind, and although they do have faces, they're always set in a soulless blank stare.

** Subverted in the episode "Nemesis". Chakotay crashes on a jungle planet and becomes involved in a guerrilla war against crab-faced aliens after seeing the atrocities they commit against the helpless human-looking aliens. Turns out he was actually brainwashed by the nice-looking aliens, and the ugly-looking aliens were the ones trying to save him.
** Subverted with Species 8472, who [[spoiler: have a mind very similar to humans'. It's just the appearance difference which led to conflict (and the fact that their first contact was with [[TheVirus the Borg]])]]

* The ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce'' series feature giant bugs as common enemies.
''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForceInsectArmageddon'', in particular, centers around wiping out massive insectoids.

* ''VideoGame/VivisectorBeastWithin'' had a normal marine fighting against a legion of cybernetically and genetically enhanced MixAndMatchCritters at war with your fellow soldiers... though the trope is subverted, not only due to the fact that the marine ''switches sides'' to fight with the beasts against the humans, but [[spoiler: the creatures you're fighting were created for your XO (some of which he promptly sends after you when you defect), and you're fighting them to help him regain control of them]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The [[http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm Crazy Rasberry Ants]] (no, [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant not a misspelling of "Raspberry,"]] but instead named for the first exterminator in Texas to tangle with them, [[http://crazyrasberryants.blogspot.com/ Tom Rasberry]]) are becoming a major problem in Texas. [[http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5781180.html First introduced to Houston]] in 2002 via an infestation in a cargo ship, they have since spread to fifteen Texan counties and have reached [[http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/SA_becomes_home_to_crazy_ants_little_pests_that_pose_big_problems.html San Antonio]]. If you thought fire ants were bad, ''these'' bugs have the potential to be an ecological and civil disaster; not only do they infest areas by the ''billions'' (they have ''40 queens'' for every 1000 ants), nearly all pesticides are ineffective and they avoid baits. They've been known to irritate and drive off animals as well as take over honeybee hives and attack pollinating insects (''very'' bad for the ecosystem). Even ''worse'', they are attracted to electronics and will destroy computers, vehicle equipment, air conditioning, and just about anything using electricity. They've even threatened the NASA complex in Houston. As Tom Rasberry himself put it, "[[http://crazyrasberryants.blogspot.com/2009/07/usa-we-have-problem.html These ants pose a clear and present danger to our way of life, and the time for real action was years ago.]]"