History Main / BugWar

* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' started with shades of this, despite the [[NicknamingTheEnemy Chigs]] being HumanoidAliens. The humans knew next to nothing about their new enemy, not even being able to see what they looked like due to their space suits dissolving the Chigs when they died or if [[KillItWithWater they were exposed to water]]. As the show went on, they would gradually learn more and more about them, slowly humanizing them.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
** 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 Xindi Insectoids from ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' are basically giant sapient ants.
* ''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.

* ''{{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]].

* ''Series/FallingSkies'': The bug like alien race are the ones using the most advance tech, along with biological technologies.
* A subtle theme in ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' -- the main antagonists, Scorpius and his daughter Trakeena, are insectoid, as are their [[{{Mooks}} Stingwingers]]. Not so much for their generals and monsters (thanks to the source footage). The security forces aboard Terra Venture even wear [[PropRecycling armor from]] the ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' movie to further the theme.

* Avalon Hill published a "Bookshelf Game" based on ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''. The first few scenarios are intended to get players used to the basic game rules of combat and movement and are fought between the human Mobile Infantry and the humanoid "Skinnies" rather than the pseudo-arachnid "Bugs", but each scenario introduces a few new rules until eventually the Bugs do appear.

* ''TabletopGame/TechInfantry'' was inspired by ''Armor'' and ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', so of course it has an endless Bug War against insectoid aliens based upon, but even scarier and more powerful than those in ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''.
* One of the many, '''many''' conflicts that the Imperium of Man of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' infamy is embroiled in is a constant galaxy-wide Bug War with the Tyranids, a planet-eating HordeOfAlienLocusts who appear be biologically engineered, with some traits of now extinct species, suggesting they assimilate traits from devoured biomass.

* TabletopGame/{{Monsterpocalypse}} later introduces the Savage Swarm.
* ''3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars'', starring OmnicidalManiac humans, is a BIG [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of this trope.
* The ''Series/BabylonFive''-based game ''Babylon 5 Wars'' plays with it: the Ch'lonas may be insectoid and hostile to Earth, but they're so outmatched it's more an annoyance than outright war.
* In the Palladium Books (makers of "TabletopGame/Rifts") settings "TabletopGame/SystemsFailure" the Y2K not only causes a disruption of the world's infrastructure as people feared but it also leads to an invasion by insectoid aliens from another dimension. The Bugs are capable of transforming into pure energy and they use the ability to travel through electrical systems and disrupt human technology. The game focuses on the remnants of NORAD and other human militias fighting a desperate guerilla war against the invaders

* So many video games. ''Galaga'', ''Defender'', ''Silpheed'' ([=PS2=]) to name just a few. Even ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' are buglike.

* ''VideoGame/{{Extrapower}}'': Against Mensouma's bioroid army. His most common unit is the Spy Fly, a giant bipedal dragonfly with a hardened, knife-like tail. Any work featuring Dark Force will have these [[ZergRush ZergRushing]] throughout the invasion.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'': [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 The first game]] had a bit of this, with [[XenomorphXerox headcrabs]] fighting marines in Black Mesa, but [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 the second game]] and its expansions kick it into high gear. Not only are there are more headcrab [[EliteZombie variants]], but there's also a rapidly-breeding swarm of [[Film/StarshipTroopers Arachnid-like]] aliens called Antlions. Both species have colonized much of Earth and thus are always around to ZergRush the player. By the expansions, Freeman and LaResistance's efforts against [[TheEmpire the Combine]] have caused [[LoadBearingBoss their defensive perimeter to collapse]], allowing hordes of Antlions and headcrabs to pour into formerly-safe urban areas, swarming over both the retreating Combine forces and the advancing rebels.

* For a more literal example, ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' had a hidden campaign that pit you against Giant Ants.

* ''VideoGame/TemplarBattleforce'' revolves around the fight between the titular Templars, who are [[SuperSoldier super solider]] [[SpaceMarine space marines]] with [[PoweredArmor mechs]], [[BfG huge]] [[BottomlessMagazines guns]] and [[GeneticMemory millions of hours of training]], against [[InsectoidAliens the xenos]].
** At the start of the game, [[HumansAreSurvivors the Templars are losing.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Starflight}}'' series -- Somewhat averted: the Veloxi are not very nasty to anyone, but they do charge tolls for flying through their space. Not paying the toll obviously results in a hostile encounter. They also dislike you removing artifacts from planets in their space and not handing them back over. However, that is not what qualifies the aversion. The fact they are in possession of world-destroying bombs they revere as godly artifacts is. Kind of makes you wonder how this even began. They will beat the crap out of you for being bad at maths, as six is a sacred number to them, and their security measures are programmed with this in mind.
* ''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]].

* Used and subverted in ''VideoGame/AlienSyndrome'', the truth was revealed that in the end, the alien queen was very much capable of human thought and emotions and that the reason for the bugs/aliens was due to a failed experiment and that the entire war was a means of an elaborate [[DeathSeeker suicide]] as she can't take the fact of being the sole survivor of a civilization that was driven to extinction.

* ''VideoGame/TheConduit'' appears to be one of these. Later, it is revealed that they're actually clones as part of a secret GovernmentConspiracy run by aliens. It's played straight in ''VideoGame/{{Conduit 2}}''.
* The Thalan Empire in ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'' are pretty much a bug race. However they are not malicious, just very suspicious that Humanity's obtainment of the hyperdrive may lead to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. They subvert bug race style personalities as they are limited in number and very high tech.
* The ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce'' series feature giant bugs as common enemies. ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForceInsectArmageddon'', in particular, centers around wiping out massive insectoids.

* A unique case in VideoGame/ConquestFrontierWars. The Terrans alone have no chance in winning against the Mantis. However the Mantis are in civil war, so the Terrans decide to aid the rebel Mantis Warlord against the usurpur Queen to save Earth.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders: Shadow Magic'' combines this with LegionsOfHell to produce the Shadow Demons.
* [[AllThereInTheManual In the backstory]] of ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'', first contact for humanity ([[AncientAstronauts in modern times]]) were with the Hivers, a race of intelligent InsectoidAliens, and it was hostile. The battle was more a case of a Hiver fleet [[DeathFromAbove bombarding Earth from orbit]] until humanity's combined nuclear missile stockpile chased them off. It became subverted when humanity reached to the stars and started merrily killing every Hiver they came across in revenge: The Hivers (like humans) aren't united, and Earth had essentially been hit by a Hiver equivalent of TheRemnant. By the time humanity sued for peace over the misunderstanding, they had already pissed off several (otherwise innocent) Hiver clans with (from their POV) unprovoked attacks. Human/Hiver relations are described as somewhat chilly as a result. The Hivers also differ from typical insects in that, besides Queens and Princesses, they also have high-ranking males called Princes, who are the fathers and generals of the clans. According to a short story by the game's writer, a lower-ranking male Hiver can earn his Prince wings by merit, but many are simply born Princes. Thanks to BizarreAlienBiology a promoted Prince is still born a Prince, [[http://swordofthestars.wikia.com/wiki/Hiver_Reincarnation their mind is reborn in a Prince morph body.]]
* ''[[Franchise/{{Thunderscape}} Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall]]'' is another example in a fantasy setting. Unlike most examples, the different species of insect each has their own territory and internal politics with one another, which you will use to your advantage. [[spoiler:The main character eventually must become an insect creature himself to fight them.]]
* The Gohma from ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' has similar monsters to the space monsters above, at least the space faring ones. Played with in that a lot of the other members of the Gohma also consist of monkeys, flying squid and lion fish, elephants, turtles, a king cobra[=/=]turtle, yet there's not a bug to be found.
* ''VideoGame/BodyHarvest'': The Bugs are a hostile alien species inhabiting an artificial comet who return every 25 years to consume entire swaths of humanity. Because of [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong time travel being utilized to undo the attacks]], you're fighting with them over a hundred year period, and every new generation of the bugs features new enemy units.
* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 ''Cyber-Core'' has the twist that the protagonist fighting the insectoid invaders is a half-human, half-insect mashup.
* Shows up in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' where the native alien units consist of Wolf Beetles, Manticores, Raptor Bugs and Siege Worms, among others. They are not automatically hostile towards you, but piss them off and you can end up in this situation.
* The backstory of ''VideoGame/{{Ryzom}}'' has, as one of its prominent points, the Great Swarming. Caused by the Fyros running into the Kitins in the Prime Roots and trying to kill them, the resulting ZergRush covered most of the surface world where Homins lived and forced the Kami and the Karavan into an EnemyMine scenario, evacuating Homins to safe havens throughout Atys through use of MassTeleportation while they did the bulk of the fighting. This is why the Homins now live in what they refer to as "The New Lands". Later on in the game proper, a ''Second'' Great Swarming occurred in the New Lands, forcing the Kami and the Karavan to team up and evacuate the Homins to a safe haven again.
* 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.
* It can go pretty much any way in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}''; custom and procedurally generated arthopoid species, like any species can range anywhere from AbsoluteXenophobe to peace-loving space hippies. The preset arthopoids, however, are the ProudWarriorRaceGuy Kel-Azaan Republic, the Ix'Idar HiveMind, and the slave-driving Xanid Suzerainty. All three are likely to come to blows with [[TheFederation the United Nations of Earth]] on ideological grounds if they spawn in the same galaxy, and the xenophobic [[TheEmpire Commonwealth of Man]] will probably start an EvilVersusEvil war with them on principle.
* ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'' features a less formal "war" than most. The planet Hoxxes is absolutely flush with valuable minerals, but the local giant bugs (known as "Glyphids") are hyper-aggressive and highly carnivorous. The player characters, a band of heavily-armed [[InSpace Space]] [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarves]], are tasked by the eponymous mining company to extract valuable materials from the planet's cave systems, while the Glyphids simply want to eat and/or drive off anything invading their territory.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Elite}}'', humanity is at war with the insectoid Thargoids.
* ''VideoGame/TheRiftbreaker'' features Captain Ashley S. Nowak, the titular Riftbreaker, who is an elite commando sent through a one-way portal to a distant planet at the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy to build up a base that will allow travel back to Earth and further colonization. The insectoid inhabitants of said planet are not too happy to see Ashley land on their planet and start bulldozing their habitats and plundering their resources.

* The overarching plot of ''Webcomic/{{Starfighter}}'' is about a space war between humans and the bug-like aliens the Colterons.

* The web serial ''Literature/SpotsTheSpaceMarine'' involves a war between bugs, humans... and the bugs' relatives. Family fights can be nasty!

* Spoofed in the ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E17WarIsTheHWord War is the H-Word]]", where the enemy is a [[StarfishAliens race of bouncing balls]]. "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E16ThreeHundredBigBoys Three Hundred Big Boys]]" takes place after a Bug War against a planet of [[GiantSpider giant spiders]], with the resulting surplus being distributed among the populace. A planet of (presumably) [[AvertedTrope peaceful giant spiders]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/StarshipTroopers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starshiptroopers_bug.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Film/{{Aliens}} Game over, man, game over!]]]]

%% The following Administrivia/{{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and copied to Discussion. Please don't add them back unless you also add context to show how they fit this trope.
%% * The Blue of ''BlueGender''.
%% * The Skrugg from ''Manga/{{Heroman}}''.
* The Space Monsters in ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' are this taken to {{Kaiju}} proportions at least--at most, we're talking minor EldritchAbomination type entities.

* 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]].
* Subverted in ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind''. Despite being gigantic, hideous bugs that crush anything in their path and spread spores of killer fungus that swallow up cities and spew poison gas, the Ohmu come off as being more sympathetic than half the human cast. The main character even tries to save a baby Ohmu.
* The Vajra of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier''. However, in classic ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' fashion the solution to the conflict comes not in the humans [[spoiler:destroying the Vajra]] but in [[spoiler:''understanding'' them]]. Oh, and in [[spoiler:destroying the third party that was manipulating both sides]].
* The Invid/Inbit in ''Anime/{{Robotech}}: The New Generation[=/=]Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada'' with their hive structure, buggish mecha, and slug-like appearance (until they started making human ones that look like supermodels, anyway).

* Subverted in ''Anime/SpiderRiders.'' This trope is clearly how the humans ''see'' the Invectids, but the Invectids are actually individuals with hopes and dreams and families of their own, who believe they're fighting for a good cause. The Invectids unfortunately don't realize that their leader is an [[spoiler:OmnicidalManiac]]. Also subverted since the humans are, per the title, riding around on giant sapient spiders who are completely sympathetic.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Usopp's training on Boin Archipelago involved a little of this. Namely, fighting his way out a horde of giant carnivorous beetles.
* 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.]]
* ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'' has the Radam, giant vaguely-instectoid aliens, as the main antagonists. Their life-cycle is rather bizarre, as they turn into strange alien trees once on the surface.
* The Chimera Ant arc of ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' is a different version of a Bug War involving the eponymous insects, which mostly resemble [[MixAndMatchCritter insect-human-another-animal hybrids]] because of the Queen's [[BizarreAlienReproduction method of reproduction]] (eating other species). The Ants acquire intelligence and individuality from humans, which conflicts with the HiveCasteSystem and HiveMind of the species. As such, many Ants leave to become leaders themselves or side with the humans to defeat the King. Yet, [[spoiler:a [[NukeEm poisonous explosion]] is used to kill the King in the end]].

* Creator/MohiroKitoh's oneshot ''Ekrano'' was set on a flooded future Earth, where the protagonists used vehicles called "Ekrano Bi-Dice" to battle alien sea monsters called Kujirani.

* Creator/DanAbnett and Richard Elson's ''Kingdom'' follows a group of genetically modified dogs as the fight giant praying mantises who have wiped out most of humanity.
* The Insecticon Swarm vs the Autobots for control of a devestated Cybertron. Begins in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron'' and concludes in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW''.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'', Supergirl, Bizarrogirl and the denizens of Bizarro World fight a swarm of insectoid monsters spawned by a planet-eater alien.

* Z from ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' survived a war with termites. While the ant characters, especially their faces, are highly anthropomorphic to the point of essentially being a FurryLens, the termites are completely non-anthropomorphized. However, despite being portrayed as monstrous creatures during the war scene, they do seem capable of intelligence, as General Mandible and the Queen discuss earlier peace negotiations with the termite colony.

* The original Bug War movie (and the other notable source for ''Aliens''): the giant ants of ''Film/{{Them}}'' Probably the TropeMaker.
* ''Film/{{District 9}}'' - The violent insectoid aliens seem at first to be mindless beasts. As the film develops we get to see how their circumstances are working against them. Through the character of Christopher and his child we gain a sympathetic viewpoint. It is an interesting exercise to view the film with and without subtitles: it shows how characters lacking a mammalian face are working uphill.

* The TropeNamer is Creator/RobertAHeinlein's 1959 novel ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', in which human soldiers battle a race of [[GiantSpider giant pseudo-arachnids]] (and their [[HumanoidAliens humanoid]] allies, the Skinnies).

* 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 Turn Coat, and several other examples.

* ''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.
* First played straight and later subverted in the fantasy novels of Creator/RaymondEFeist. In ''[[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle Magician]]'', the Tsurunuanni Empire sometimes unleashes an ant-like insectoid race called the Cho-Ja on the battlefield, and they're played as horrifyingly effective inhuman killing machines. Later, in the ''Empire'' trilogy that he co-wrote with Janny Wurts, we see that the Cho-Ja are intelligent beings, and that their culture is more fair and just than the Tsurani humans they live amongst.

* The ''Literature/TowerAndTheHive'' series by Creator/AnneMcCaffrey involves a Bug War fought with PsychicPowers.
* Played straight in Creator/JohnSteakley's ''Literature/{{Armor}}'', to the point where the war with the Ants is referred to as "a Bug War".
* 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.

* The Insects in Creator/AndreyLivadny's ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series are human-sized upright-walking, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin insects]] who achieve a unique form of a HiveMind via their natural PsychicPowers. While each Insect is sapient, the hive can mentally "de-evolve" any number of Insects to drone-like level when an army or a large workforce is required. This ability also influenced their science and technology. Due to the cheap workforce, they never had to develop cybernetic organisms and, thus, have no HumongousMecha or androids. While there has only been one actual Bug War (on a LostColony between human and Insect descendants of the original colonists), several novels involve conflicts between humans and Insects with hints that one is inevitable. Unfortunately for humanity, the Insects far outnumber humans (and "de-evolved" drones don't value their lives), and several hives are attempting to learn how to use human cybernetics against them. Fortunately, humans far outclass the Insects in space and ground combat in the technological capacity.
** Averted with the friendly Insects who are not only cooperating with humans but have petitioned to be accepted into the [[TheFederation Confederacy of Suns]]. These are individuals who have not formed a HiveMind due to millions of years of being slaves. While it is impossible for humans to read their "facial" expressions, the fact that they communicate telepathically allows humans to know what the Insects are feeling much better than body language would show.
* Averted in ''Literature/{{Genome}}'' with the Czygu, whose females could, at first glance, pass for small human girls. Only by looking closer you will find that they're BeePeople and that the "breasts" are actually pseudopodi. This can allow Czygu, with some minor plastic surgery, to infiltrate humanity. While there is no Bug War in the book, one is about to start, if the protagonist doesn't solve the murder mystery in time.
* 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.]]
* Star Wars has the [[Literature/DarkNestTrilogy Swarm War]], a war between the Galactic Aliance, the Chiss (blue-skinned, red-eyed humanoids) and the Killiks (the insects). It starts out as a territory war, because the Killiks have a prolific reproduction rate and learning basic agriculture and medical care sends their population skyrocketing. They also gradually bring people who hang around too long into their HiveMind.
* 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.
* {{Inverted}} with the Panesthesians of [[Creator/BrandonSanderson Heuristic Algorithim And Rapid Response Engine]]. They look like giant cockroaches, but the hero has actually shown up to help them against the [[RobotWar boilers]]. They also have individual personalities, and children.
* Creator/HGWells' short story ''Empire of the Ants'' revolves around a literal war between human beings and intelligent (albeit normal-sized) ants spreading out from the Amazon, with the narrator predicting that the ants will win. A film adaptation exists but with the more BigCreepyCrawlies-plot variation as the ants are giant ala ''Them!'' and can spew a mind-controlling gas.
* Creator/ArthurCClarke's short story ''The Awakening'' ends with the [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] Master being revived from eons of suspended animation - only to realise...
-->[[spoiler:...the long war between man and insect was ended - and man was not the victor.]]
* From Osprey Adventures, Mark Latham's ''Bug Hunts'' has future humanity simultaneously in a war with 3 different insectoid alien races that are expies of those from Film/StarshipTroopers and Franchise/{{Aliens}} plus the [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Tyranids]]. There are also some minor but still dangerous independent alien insectoids that are limited to a single planet or small number of systems and not expanding.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Pinball]]

* ''{{Franchise/Extrapower}}'': Against Mensouma's bioroid army. His most common unit is the Spy Fly, a giant bipedal dragonfly with a hardened, knife-like tail. Any work featuring Dark Force will have these [[ZergRush ZergRushing]] throughout the invasion.

* Robert Lynn Asprin's ''The Bug Wars'' hits all the standard points of this trope, with one major subversion: the bugs are being fought by a race of [[ProudWarriorRace grim humanoid lizards]], the action all taking place countless years before human civilization arises.

* Avalon Hill published a "Bookshelf Game" based on ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' called, reasonably enough, ''TabletopGame/StarshipTroopers''. The first few scenarios are intended to get players used to the basic game rules of combat and movement and are fought between the human Mobile Infantry and the humanoid "Skinnies" rather than the pseudo-arachnid "Bugs", but each scenario introduces a few new rules until eventually the Bugs do appear.

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': An early storyline has the Toughs hired to provide security for a Restaurant Ship; they end up opposite diamond-carapaced beetles.
** And later, while Kaff Tagon is getting prepared to join a mission run by Para Ventura (after a Batman Gambit that includes Schlock) Petey- the "Psycho-Bear of Destruction" in charge of the galactic core- complains he's being manipulated, Tagon responds with "He's manipulating me ''out'' of the tub ''you'' manipulated me into, so he's due a bug hunt."

** ''Mists of Pandaria'' introduced the mantis/[[BeeAfraid bee]]-like Mantid, a previously unknown Aqir offshoot that lived on the southern continent of Pandaria. Every hundred years they swarm the rest of Pandaria, a process meant to cull their weak and leave the race stronger as a whole. As of ''Mists of Pandaria'', their Empress is possessed by a Sha, who compels them to launch their assault roughly a decade early, catching the other races off guard and alarming the Klaxxi, the Mantid elder council. The Klaxxi seek players' help in replacing the insane Empress, but then turn against them by allying with Garrosh Hellscream when he acquires the heart of their god, Y'shaarj.

* ''VideoGame/TheRiftbreaker'' features Captain Ashley S. Nowak, the titular Riftbreaker, who is an elite commando sent through a one-way portal to a distant planet at the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy to build up a base that will allow travel back to Earth and further colonization. The insectoid inhabitants of said planet are not to happy to see Ashley land on their planet and start bulldozing their habitats and plundering their resources.

* Z from ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' survived a war with termites. While the ant characters, especially their faces, are highly anthropomorphic to the point of essentially being a FurryLens, the termites are completely non-anthropomorphized. They do seem capable of intelligence however, as General Mandible and the Queen discuss earlier peace negotiations with the termite colony.

* Played with in ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'', where the aliens are [[StarfishAliens very clearly inhuman]] and brutally ruthless, but retain enough humanlike characteristics (such as caring for wounded, taking cover, using intelligent tactics and hand signals, etc.) that the [[NotSoDifferent similarities between them and the Marines]] becomes disturbingly apparent. At one point, one of the Marines asks another if he thinks the aliens were like them: just grunts who really had no idea what was going on, but given orders and sent to fight.

* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' started with shades of this, despite the [[NicknamingTheEnemy Chigs]] being HumanoidAliens. The humans knew next to nothing about their new enemy, not even being able to see what they looked like due to their space suits dissolving the Chigs when they died or if [[KillItWithWater they were exposed to water]]. As the show went on, they would gradually learn more and more about them, slowly [[NotSoDifferent humanizing them.]]

->''"We must meet the challenge with our valor, our blood, indeed with our very lives to ensure that '''human civilization, not insect''' dominates this galaxy now and always!"''

->''"The historians can't seem to settle whether to call this one 'The Third Space War' (or the fourth), or whether 'The First Interstellar War' fits it better. We just call it 'The Bug War'."''
-->-- '''Juan "Johnnie" Rico''', ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''

->''"The historians can't seem to settle whether to call this one 'The Third Space War' (or the fourth), or whether 'The First Interstellar War' fits it better. We just call it '[[TropeNamer The Bug War]]'."''

* ''Series/HalfLife'': the first game had a bit of this, with [[XenomorphXerox headcrabs]] fighting marines in Black Mesa, but the second game and its expansions kick it into high gear. Not only are there are more headcrab [[EliteZombie variants]], but there's also a rapidly-breeding swarm of [[Film/StarshipTroopers Arachnid-like]] aliens called Antlions. Both species have colonized much of Earth and thus are always around to ZergRush the player. By the expansions, Freeman and LaResistance's efforts against [[TheEmpire the Combine]] have caused [[LoadBearingBoss their defensive perimeter to collapse]], allowing hordes of Antlions and headcrabs to pour into formerly-safe urban areas, swarming over both the retreating Combine forces and the advancing rebels.

* ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce'': This is a key point of all the games in the franchise as the Earth is assailed by hordes of giant insects, alien robots, giant aliens, and flying saucers.

Compare RobotWar, a closely related trope dealing with wars between humans and sentient machines. See also: BigCreepyCrawlies, StarfishAliens and HiveCasteSystem (which tends to be used by nearly all BeePeople with another concept of role specialization which may make them a KeystoneArmy). Usually a HordeOfAlienLocusts. Commonly uses GuiltFreeExterminationWar. May involve a CreatureHunterOrganization. Unrelated to AntWar, wars fought between actual insects. For a smaller-scale version, see PestEpisode.

* ''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]] [[OurElvesAreBetter space elves]] (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.

Compare RobotWar, a closely related trope dealing with wars between humans and sentient machines. See also: BigCreepyCrawlies, StarfishAliens and HiveCasteSystem (which tends to be used by nearly all BeePeople with another concept of role specialization which may make them a KeystoneArmy). Usually a HordeOfAlienLocusts. Commonly uses GuiltFreeExterminationWar. May involve a CreatureHunterOrganization. Unrelated to AntWar, wars fought between actual insects.

* ''Franchise/HalfLife'': the first game had a bit of this, with [[XenomorphXerox headcrabs]] fighting marines in Black Mesa, but the second game and its expansions kick it into high gear. Not only are there are more headcrab [[EliteZombie variants]], but there's also a rapidly-breeding swarm of [[Film/StarshipTroopers Arachnid-like]] aliens called Antlions. Both species have colonized much of Earth and thus are always around to ZergRush the player. By the expansions, Freeman and LaResistance's efforts against [[TheEmpire the Combine]] have caused [[LoadBearingBoss their defensive perimeter to collapse]], allowing hordes of Antlions and headcrabs to pour into formerly-safe urban areas, swarming over both the retreating Combine forces and the advancing rebels.