| People will feed without hesitation the birds, hedgehogs, foxes, and other mammals that visit their gardens, but when it comes to insects … It saddens me at times how very few people understand the importance of insects as a species, never mind how critically important they are to our gardens. It makes me think… Insects play a crucial role in our ecosystem, serving as pollinators and providing other essential environmental services to our green spaces and areas. A host of insects perform valuable clean-up services on muck, poo and other assorted wastes in our fields and gardens; they help to prevent animal wastes from building up on the grasslands and pastures. If not busy tackling that, other insects keep pest populations down and ensure our soils remain healthy. Take UK dung beetles, for instance. Their larvae’s feeding habits, which require a steady supply of poop, save the cattle industry millions every year. Without these muck eaters, animal waste, dead animals, and carrion on the roadsides would take an eternity to break down. Consider the intricate web of life in our ecosystem. If we allow the accumulation of waste, our ecosystem would start to crumble. We must also acknowledge the role of insects in sustaining predators, such as birds, bats, reptiles, and fish, which rely on them for survival. There are no deliberately nasty insects – perhaps the mosquito, considering that they are responsible for more than a million deaths yearly – but even they serve a purpose whether we like it or not. They are not just pollinators [they work primarily on plant life that doesn’t affect us, as in they are not pollinating vegetables for the table] but are vitally important to our environment as an ingredient in the biomass food chain for predators – like frogs, spiders and dragonflies. Believe it or not, there are more than 3500 mosquito species today, yet only 400 are responsible for disease transmission. It has also been suggested that mosquitos aid mammal migrations. As much as the mosquito gets a bad rep from humans, so too do wasps, spiders, ants, fleas, ticks, centipedes, millipedes, woodlice, bed bugs, cockroaches, bees, beetles, moths, bumblebees, bugs, flies, earwigs, and the list is endless. As you can see, it’s not just the so-called unfriendly insects but also the friendlier ones. Sadly, people seemingly hate insects! If not hate, people are frightened by them, which fuels further condemnation of the species. Regardless of our personal feelings towards insects, the fact remains: their global population is significantly declining, and this decrease is accelerating every year. Some global figures quote declines of up to 50% of the overall insect population has disappeared since 1970. A recent British study discovered rather alarmingly that specific flying insect numbers had declined by up to 60% over the last twenty years for many reasons. Still, heavier traffic had to be considered – more cars on the roads and more households with more than one vehicle. This decline has come around due to changing climate, damaged habitats, habitat loss and progressive societal urbanisation – more buildings and structures, changing farming and agricultural methods, the increased use of more chemical pesticides and insecticides, pollution, people’s continued demand for out-of-season foods and the strain they place on food manufacturers. All these are reasons that gradually and yet continually decimate insect populations. Further studies have outlined that in the next three or so decades, so thirty years, we could see very significant declines, if not complete extinctions, of certain groups of insects. Putting that into your understanding, we could see that butterflies, ants, and bees disappear entirely from our world. These insects are paramount to our world as they are principal plant pollinators for us and our survival. While there are many ways to pollinate plants, those varieties specifically pollinated by insects are the ones that would directly affect us – so think of many of our fruits: avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, squashes, nuts, vanilla and cocoa beans. While a world without insects wouldn’t directly harm us, it would significantly disrupt our daily lives. Imagine our supermarkets, grocers, and markets with a much smaller variety of food. Insects, often overlooked, play a vital role in our food production and biodiversity. British Moth studies have discovered that populations have almost halved due to the loss of woodland habitat over the last fifty years. Another point that many nay-sayers or those who dismiss the research need to consider is that whilst extensive studies are undertaken, they can never award an accurate figure either. So much of the data awarded is an estimate, and the losses could be significantly higher. |
| Having written all of this and not trying to come across as the harbinger of insect doom, there are things that we can do to halt the decline. Insects are a hardy and diverse species group, which allows us to support where we can by introducing and managing assisted habitats. It is estimated that there are a million plus acres of private gardens in the UK alone, which makes for one of the largest nature reserves in Britain, yet not all of these gardens accommodate wildlife. Even the most minor and fundamental areas of a natural environment, if well maintained and managed, can become home to a vast population of insects. For example, gardeners, homeowners, composters, allotmenteers, school project managers, churchyards, and nature wardens could award a wonderful albeit tiny area purely for wildlife and insects. If these same parties ask the right questions and do a little more research for their allocated area of insect heaven, then they might award a little more dedication to creating this patch of life. What insect-friendly flowers could l include? To allow for more pollen and nectar? *** Could l introduce native flowers to my existing borders? *** Do l have to cut back the garden or grass so precisely at the end of the season or week? Could l leave them growing and dying off longer? *** Can l stay off the deadheading for longer? *** Could l provide a log pile, a pile of leaves, a bug hotel, a dead hedge, or a compost heap? *** Could l plant wildflowers or herbs in that area? *** Could l build a small stone pile and include some crockery pots? *** Could l build a minor water feature – like a watering hole or a pond? *** Could l make different areas for different species? *** Can l look at organic methods of gardening? *** Can I buy an identification study book that would help me understand insects and their behaviours better? *** These are questions that could be addressed, and with the correct information and research, many could introduce these little havens for insects. Nature research has identified these ideas as productive and found they yield tremendous results with other mammal, reptile, and avian species. One of the most basic approaches to attracting more insects into your environment is relatively straightforward: stop seeing them as your enemy and try loving them or learning to live with them more. You need them. More people need to adopt a healthier way of looking at insects. They should stop seeing them as creepy crawlies or nasty bugs that need flattening and take a different approach compared to the best fly is a dead fly attitude. Gardeners also need to learn to be more tolerant of insects. There are beneficial insects as much as belligerent ones, but the latter are fewer in number. Adopting different growing strategies is essential, and putting up with the few nibbled vegetables outweighs the disaster of never having insects at all. It makes you think. Doesn’t it? |
A Gardener's Curiosity 
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