All animals are important; the thought of wiping out any could cause harm to the ecosystem. But writing on this topic, out of all the insects, the only ones I would want to wipe out would be ants. Not all ants per say, but these brownish, tiny ones that gather around anything they see on the floor, surgery substances which are mostly found indoor and around the kitchen.
I know generally that all ants are wise and coordinated, and there is this unity among them that I love so much, but even with all these, there is that one insect I will want to wipe out if I can. Not all the ants, but these brownish called Pharaoh ants, tiny and can enter anything they see—anything sweet, leftover food, or anything at all.
These particular ants are a nuisance, irritating, and too ugly for my liking. I mean, they are literally everywhere; a little drop of anything attracts them, and that leaves one wondering where they have been hiding.
My hatred for them didn't start today at all; at the age of 12, my granddad was already old. So this man is someone who doesn't like eating late or skipping meals. So what he does is remain any portion given to him for either breakfast or after.
When he remains this food and covers it with something, these tiny brownish ants still find their way into the plate and begin feasting on the food. Hahaha, that used to irritate me a lot. If you know the ant I'm talking about, you will know that once these ants get into food like rice, killing them all is not possible at all; some will escape, some will stick to the grains of rice, and some will die in the process.
This ain't for a person like me; once they get into any of my food, what I do is waste it, mostly rice and soup. But for already done eba, with hot water, they can be killed easily. Sieve out the ants from the garri, but the rest of the food is not possible.
Back to the story of my grandfather, when he opens the food, the ants will be running out with speed, and we, his grandchildren, will be like, "Grandpa, see ants in your food." Then he will begin trying to get rid of them, but some will still remain, and the shock I got the first day it happened was that he began eating this food even with some of the dead ants in it. When I asked him, "Haaa, papa, you are eating the food that ants have entered?" His response will shock you. He responded, "Yes, ants are meat." Hahahaha.
Personally, I hate Pharoah ants with passion, and I don't spare them anywhere I see them. Any other ant can exist, but that one that disturbs a lot, if I have the opportunity, they will be the first thing I wipe out.
I sometimes remember last November. That period when the sun becomes scorching. After that heavy sun shone that particular day, at night these brownish, tiny ants crowded my window. I mean, when I say crowded, they were so many and irritating. What caused it was that we hand-peeled melon then, so while doing it in the room, you will see these ants one by one coming to pick either the little melon that most have broken or the shell with a little melon on it.
I never knew they already had a shelter near the window until that night. Thank God, there was light. What I did was boil very hot water, shifted the bed, and began wrestling with them. I never knew they smelled badly until that day. It wasn't easy work because, after killing them, they were floating in the hot water. I had to make everything dry, which wasn't an easy task.
Even with my effort, not all were killed, as many escaped. I had to sprinkle salt around that axis. After that, thank God, we stopped the melon business. To prevent myself from seeing them, I make sure I keep my room clean, picking up anything on the floor that will attract their presence.