The dung beetle adorned the sarcophagi of pharaohs and gods. Long before it became a trinket sold to tourists, the scarab was a symbol of power and prosperity in ancient Egypt. Butterflies, ants, termites, and spiders hold a place among the sacred, from the Americas to Africa and Asia. Not so the cockroach. That doesn’t mean the formidable insect doesn’t have a place in metaphor and imagination, as an object of fear, derision and,........

© Indian Express