Why Insects Matter

 

Insects are terrific pollinators!

As the growing human population transforms our planet, the global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of 2% a year. The world has lost 5% to 10% of all insect species just in the last 150 years, so in 40 more years we could lose one third of all insect species. In a study just published in the journal Science, a working group called the ‘Status of Butterflies in the U.S.’ found that the total abundance of butterflies in the U.S. declined by 22% from 2000 to 2020.  Said another way, one in five butterflies have vanished.

Many butterfly species, including the Monarch, are declining in abundance.

What is driving this precipitous drop in insect populations and why does it matter? Insect populations are struggling due to several factors, including deforestation/habitat loss (due to development), non-native invasive species, pesticide use, artificial light pollution, and climate change.  As a result, the populations of other animals, crops, and flowers that rely on insects to survive also struggle.

Non-native, invasive plants, like Ligustrum species, often overtake native habitats.

Scientists say that it is impossible to have an insect-free life on this planet. They perform many essential services that are vital for humans’ quality of life. Pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, and many other types of insects are necessary to produce diversity and abundance in our food supply, including crops such as coffee, chocolate, blueberries, apples, almonds, avocados, and pumpkins, just to name a few. In fact, pollinators help ensure that about 75% of the world’s flowering plants and 35% of the world’s food crops are produced.  Other scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of human food are directly related to the work of pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and other insects.

Moths and beetles are pollinators, too!

Plant and animal waste would pile up if it weren’t for the services of dung beetles and other insect recyclers. Insects like dragonflies, ladybugs, green lacewings, ground beetles, and parasitic wasps keep what we call the ‘pest’ species at bay – the mosquitos, ticks, fleas, lice, and flies that can carry disease as well as crop pests such as armyworms, cutworms, and wireworms.  

Dung Beetles hard at work.

Roseate Skimmer dragonfly eating a mosquito.

Most humans like birds, but most are also unaware of the fact that 96% of birds would not be here without insects. It takes 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars and other insects to feed a clutch of four to six Carolina Chickadee offspring. Multiply that by the fact that most all avian nestlings and fledglings eat some form of insects, and you very quickly realize how important they are to the food web. Insects are also the main food for all of the fish, so they are the glue that binds together every terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem on the planet.

Many bird species, like the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler,
feed insects to their young.

What can be done to reduce this downward trend?  The good news is that the things we do in our own backyards can actually make a difference when it comes to insect conservation. First and foremost, reduce or (better yet) replace your non-native lawn with native plants.  Lawns make up about 50% of Austin’s green space, so turning them back into native plantings would provide significant benefit to insects. 

Replace your lawn with native plants -
extra bonus for providing water!

Eliminate all pesticide use, including mosquito spraying. The spray contains pyrethroids which are advertised as “safe as chrysanthemum flowers”, but they are a much stronger synthetic version that is chemically designed to be more toxic with longer breakdown times.  This increased potency compromises the human body’s ability to detoxify the pesticide in addition to killing all insects, not just mosquitos.

Mosquito spraying kills all insects,
not just mosquitos.

Light pollution contributes to insect decline.

And last, but not least, turn your exterior lights off at night so as not to affect the behavior of night-flying insects (this also benefits birds during spring and fall migration). Artificial lighting can disorient moths and confuse their sense of direction, causing one third of those that swirl around a light at night to die from exhaustion or predation. Excess light also disrupts the mating flashes of fireflies and confuses insects like mayflies by bouncing light off of asphalt and causing them to lay their eggs in the street instead of in a lake or stream.

Ruby and Gold

Kinglets are often found actively searching for food in winter. 

Take a walk in the bare winter woods and you’ll undoubtedly notice kinglets – tiny, highly active songbirds feeding high in the trees.  They are in the Regulidae family, which comes from the Greek meaning ‘petty king or prince’, and refers to their regal, brightly colored crowns.  Legend has it that these little kings derived their names from a fable about the election of the king of birds, defined as the bird that could fly the longest distance.  While the eagle was able to outfly all other birds, he was beaten by a tiny bird that had secretly hidden itself in his feathers.   

This male Ruby-crowned Kinglet is showing his namesake ruby crown.

Here in Central Texas, you can find both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets most reliably from November through March.  The Ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula) is about 4 inches long, an olive-gray color overall with darker wings and white wing bars.  The males have ruby crowns that are barely visible and often covered by other head feathers, until responding to aggressive encounters by other males or even curious humans.  They sometimes forage in mixed flocks of chickadees and titmice, and may also show their crowns when in close proximity to other birds.  

Female Ruby-crowned Kinglets lack the namesake ruby crown.

Golden-crowned kinglets (Regulus satrapa) are similar but slightly smaller than their ruby-crowned cousins.  The males have an orange crown patch bordered in yellow and black, while the females have crowns that are yellow and black.  The males also raise their crowns during aggressive encounters.  Both species of kinglets sing fairly frequently even in the winter, with the male ruby-crowns having a complex, rich warbling song, and the male golden-crowns having a much higher pitched, shorter song.

The female Golden-crowned Kinglet has a gold crown, but it lacks
the orange patch in the middle that only the males have.

Kinglets have a very rapid metabolism and their tiny size means they must constantly forage to keep up with their energy needs.  In fact, they are so small that it would take 3 to 5 birds to total a mere ounce! They are always in motion and continuously flicking their wings.  While seen most often gleaning insects and their over-wintering eggs from tree branches, they can forage anywhere from the ground to the treetops, and often catch active prey while hovering or flycatching.  

This Golden-crowned Kinglet paused briefly from its
nearly constant foraging and feeding.

If prevented from feeding for even twenty minutes, they may lose a third of their body weight and could starve to death within an hour.  Golden-crowns are the smallest birds to routinely survive freezing winter temperatures, and huddle together in protected areas at night.  Their populations decrease during severe winters, particularly when ice storms make foraging much more difficult.    

This season take the time to walk through the winter woods and listen for the gift of song given to us by these littlest of kings.  Take your binoculars, and see if you can spot their crowns of ruby and gold!