Are germs and viruses closer to insects than to animals which is why we call them "bugs"?
by 
-O-uknow
ANSWERS: 5
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Good question, but I'm not sure what you mean by closer. The only similarity that bacteria and viruses might have with insects is their ability to grow to large numbers in a relatively short period of time. Also, some might also appear to move like bugs when viewed under a microscope. It might just be because we see "bugs" as being gross and something we want to get rid of.
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No, not even close. Viruses are not even cellular. They are the most primitive things that are sometimes considered alive. Some people do not classify them as alive. "Germs" is a common-language term for microorganisms that cause diseases. Most are single-celled, some have a few cells. Insects are Animals. They are Arthropods, which is a Phylum of Animals.
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I think we call them bugs because both are nasty creatures we'd like to be rid of.
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They are in two different kingdoms. (Insects are part of the Animal Kingdom; bacteria are not. Viruses, due to their lack of ability to reproduce on their own, are often considered as not being alive.) So they aren't really close to insects. In fact, we are closer to insects than bacteria are. This is my theory. :) At one time, the scientific classifications we now have did not exist. People probably thought that bacteria really were just types of tiny insects. So, they started calling them "bugs," and this name stuck. Later, when we first discovered viruses, we thought they were bacteria, so that term applied to them as well. Now we know better, but the term "bug" is simply a part of our vocabulary, so everyone knows what we are talking about. That's probably not really the origin, but it sounds good, anyway.
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Definitely not! It's just an expression, a euphemism, to refer to infectious bacteria and viruses "bugs." The usage presumably arose out of the fact that micro-pathogens are small, numerous, and noxious much as bugs are. They have nothing to do with "bugs" used informally as a general term for small land-dwelling arthropods such as insects, spiders, and scorpions. There is also an order of insects (hemiptera) known by entomologists as "true bugs."
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