I suppose I just disagree with the premise... Insects ARE mindless little robots. They can react to stimuli, and have some basic behavior, but to say they experience emotions is a huge stretch. Bees have less than a million neurons, 10,000x less than a human.

If we were to follow that logic, we should keep brain-dead people "alive" on the basis that the peripheral nervous system has neurons and can independently react to basic stimuli. Thankfully doctors aren't quite so radical.