Insects are Disappearing. Should I Care?

By Kathy Conner Cornell VCE Southside Master Gardener Are you one of those people that think the only good bug is a dead bug? I get it, insects can be pesky. They bite or sting and some spread diseases. But only about 1-3% of all insects are pests. The rest are either benign or working for you. Working for you might be a new thought. For instance, insects are bird food. Even birds that normally eat seeds, feed insects to their young. You might not miss the insects but you would sure miss those bluebirds that grace your backyard. The causes of the problem are quite a few things that you have heard before impacting other aspects of nature. Loss of habitat is a big one. The more our population grows, the more buildings, roads and sidewalks take over what once was green space.

This Bethany Beach Firefly has just been listed as an endangered species. It is found in a limited area of freshwater interdunal wetlands that occur along the Atlantic coast in Delaware and Maryland according to the Xerces Society. Loss of habitat is the primary cause. Photo by Xerces Society Another aspect of the problem is that our plant choices often do not support wildlife. How many of you have native plants in your landscape? These are plants that evolved along with the insects so provide ecosystem services to not only insects but other wildlife. For many reasons, our use of pesticides hurts insect populations. Sure that is what pesticides are supposed to do. But what happens is that we kill the good bugs right along with the pests. Often, if you let nature take care of things, the beneficial insects will take care of the pests in various ways. Could be consuming them or laying eggs in them that hatch and the larvae eat the inside of the pest. A good example of a problem pesticide are neonicotinoids. Often seeds are sprayed with this pesticide. Because it is systemic, it travels through the entire plant. An insect feeding on the nectar could become impacted and most likely die. Runoff or leaching is also an issue when spraying pesticides especially if you live near a water source. Aquatic creatures are highly affected by pesticides. You might think this is odd, but light pollution is a big disrupter of many insects. Take the lighting bugs for instance. A female will be unable to see the flashes of a potential mate if the light is too bright. No mating means no offspring. Another cause is climate change, climate reality as Al Gore calls it. Think about these horrible hurricanes, Helene and Milton. These hurricanes intensified because of the warm Gulf water temperatures; sea surface temperatures were higher than in the past. The impacts of the wildfires in the west also causes insects to perish. Sometimes plants creep north or south to seek better conditions. These are native plants that the insects coevolved with. The insects don’t necessarily move with the plants meaning their food sources are unavailable. So why should you care? Would you want to live in a world without coffee? The coffee plant can be self-pollinating but the presence of bees makes pollination more effective and increases the yield. Wouldn’t you miss those nice juicy peaches and the tomatoes right from the vine during the summer? Peach trees and tomato plants need pollinators to complete the process of fertilizing the egg causing fruit development. Every third bite of the food we eat requires pollination according to the USDA. Insects are important to us so here are a few tips about what you can do to help keep insects alive and well. Turn out the outside lights or replace the white bulbs with yellow, red or blue. Plant some natives. To find out what is native in our area, go to the Plant Virginia Natives website and look at the Southern Piedmont Nature Guide and find local suppliers. Reduce or eliminate your use of pesticides. You’ll find if you let nature take care of things, many pest problems will be solved. If you have questions or need additional information, contact the Southside Master Gardeners at ask@ssmga.org or call the Master Gardener Help Line at 434-830-3383. Be sure to leave your name, phone number and nature of the call. Start looking at insects with appreciative eyes. Some are very beautiful.