I think ultimately the goal of such questions is assessing qualia for different beings, but I think sentience is a low bar for this assessment. The underlying a

I think ultimately the goal of such questions is assessing qualia for different beings, but I think sentience is a low bar for this assessment. The underlying assumption is that if something feels pain, then it must have an inner mental state, or consciousness. But many organisms demonstrate behaviors which are reactive to stimuli, and can be called sentient, but those organisms don’t necessarily possess cognitive abilities which demonstrate self-consciousness. I disagree that sentience should ever have been included as determinant of consciousness, and only demonstrating self-consciousness defines an inner mental state that is more than just a sum of chemical reactivity. So, I don’t think insects have any awareness other than impulses driven by genetic programming. That said, insects of all types, including mosquitoes, sustain ecosystems through their existence, which are vital for food chains and so on. I don’t think insect control should be put off necessarily because insects feel pain (because they don’t feel pain in the way that a self-aware animal does), but because overdoing insect control can ruin ecosystems which people need to live.