What If... insects disappeared? • A world without insects would be a very different place. The food chain would collapse. Animals that mainly eat insects, such as birds and frogs would go first, then the animals that eat birds and frogs and so on. • Flowering plants, including trees and many crops that humans grow for food would die without insects to pollinate them. • All plants would lack the nutrients they need to grow, without insects breaking down plants and dead animals that fertilize the soil. • Plant roots would lack the underground air they need, without insects burrowing into the soil and creating air spaces.
My wild flower meadow is still in its infancy, so here is a picture of how I imagine it will be. © wiki commons/Marathon/CC BY-SA 2.0
alternative to a labour-intensive lawn. Mowing paths through meadows invites exploration. Garden sustainably to help protect wildlife: Synthetic pesticides are not only toxic to more than the target organisms, they are extremely energy intensive to produce, so employ them as a last resort whenever possible. Avoid peat-based composts, choose sustainably-sourced wood for patio furniture, recycle all you can, and save water wherever possible.
Interesting insect facts: •
Make a rock garden: Rock gardens and gravel beds are low maintenance, need little watering, and attract specialised wildlife such as mason bees, which are important pollinators. Choosing the right flowers: Avoid too many highly-bred cultivars with big and blowsy or double flowers, most of which contain little or no pollen or nectar. Choose plants that provide pollen and nectar for as long a season as possible. Grow a mix of trees and shrubs: Grow a range of trees, shrubs and climbers, or a mixed hedge to provide food and shelter. Larger plants, unsurprisingly, support more wildlife. As well as providing food in the form of flowers, fruits and seeds, they provide cover and nesting sites for garden animals, from insects to larger species such as birds.
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Moths can’t fly during an earthquake.
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Some moths don’t have mouths. After coming out of their cocoons and developing into adults, they don’t eat. They simply look for a mate and lay eggs, which they have about a week to accomplish before dying. Synchronous fireflies, sometimes flash their lights in unison during the two week-long mating season, creating quite a light show.
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My small, but beautifully formed, new log pile, which will break down over time and grow, as I add to it.
There are more insects in the world than any other group of animals. Scientists estimate that insects make up to 90% of all species of animals on the planet. They can be found in almost every habitat, and have been around for more than 400 million years, longer than dinosaurs and flowering plants! It would take more than a million ants to weigh as much as one human. Scientists have discovered that mosquitoes are more active during a full moon. In fact, they can bite up to 500% more. Larger people, pregnant women, fidgety people, those who sweat a lot and those with smelly feet are more attractive targets to mosquitoes. Butterflies land on their food, using special chemical receptors in their feet to taste the food before consuming it.
Dung beetles roll their balls of dung in a straight line.
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Ants have two stomachs. In one, they can store and digest the food that they eat. In the other, they store food for other ants, especially the queen and the larvae.
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A female scorpionfly will only mate with a male if he has a present for her (caterpillars, bugs and flies that have been captured alive). The female inspects the present up close and if it is good enough, the mating will begin, though it will only last as long as the female is eating. In Chinese, Japanese and some Native American cultures, crickets are considered good luck charms. In northern Brazil the chirping of a cricket is said to signify death.
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The Deux-Sèvres Monthly, May 2019| 19