Keep Bugging Me

Plants are important to life on Earth. They put oxygen in the atmosphere as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Everyone has to eat, and plants for the base of the food chain. Just as important, and either overlooked or swatted aside, are insects. I consider insects to be the second lowest man on the food chain totem pole as they are super abundant and are the prey of choice for many of the first order predators. In addition, many of them support plant life by serving as pollinators. Others are beneficial because they eat other insects that are crop pests. 

Hoverfly working hard to pollinate

Fritillary butterfly pollinating

I never saw this little pollinator before today

Insect larvae, such as fly maggots or aquatic larva such as mayfly and caddisfly larva, play an important role in the nutrient cycle, breaking down dead plant and animal matter and cycling it into the soil for plants or cycle it even higher in the food chain by being eaten by something bigger than a plant.

Aquatic insect larvae are important indicators of ecosystem health. The absence or presence of certain bugs in the water can tell researchers a lot about water quality. Data collected from stream bug surveys can be used in habitat restoration and conservation projects. 

Caddisfly larvae, an important salmon food

Water strider- fish food

Insects are a great teaching tool. When my daughter was little, insects were her introduction to nature. They are lightweight, portable, easy to catch, and almost everywhere so there was always an opportunity to teach her something new. 

A ladybug, one of my daughter's favorites when she was little

Many of the birds we enjoy seeing or hearing eat insects. Salmon are commercially important fish species that depend on insects and/or insect larva in their early stages of life. The flowers in your garden, not to mention many crops, are there because of insects. Next time you eat an apple, smell a rose, or hear your favorite bird hug a bug! 

Unknown tiny insect that landed on my shirt one day

Bee on its 10 minute break

Praying mantis or preying mantis?