The long and entwined relationship between humans and insects has often been seen as antagonistic. Most insects are unwanted because they can cause disease, destroy crops and interfere with humans’ free enjoyment of outdoor and built environments. But their beauty and variety are also part of the distinctiveness of places and seasons in human experience and memory. As the most biologically diverse animal class, they present an astounding number of species, some of which appear in astounding numbers. Ironically, only one-fifth of the estimated five million species worldwide have been described and they are disappearing at an Anthropocene rate, so the majority may never be known to have existed. I present several evolution-linked histories of insects that punctuate the human geological epoch, which is bounded also by our self-explanation through evolution. The examples span the period from Charles Darwins’ articulation of the process of natural selection to this century and come from scientific and popular culture to explore ideas around insect and human evolution.