Precious insects - 10+ simple things you can do to turn your garden into a haven for insects1/2/2024 .As a gardener, you can do a lot to provide much-needed food and habitat to pollinators and other insects. Many of the following ideas require less of an effort than you might be putting in at the moment!
Random insect fact: Metamorphosing insects are the world's most successful ones - just four groups of them make up 65% of all known species on the planet (flies, bees/ants/wasps, butterflies/moths, beetles). Are your reading this in the cold season? Find out what you can do for insects in the winter! Source: Dave Goulson, Silent Earth - Averting the Insect Apocalypse
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Well, as a matter of fact, we don't have a clue what most insects do. There are an estimated 5 million insect species on the planet, and we've only named one fifth of them - about one million. However, if you look at what those we actually do know provide for us and the rest of the living world, it becomes clear that losing insect species is potentially catastrophic, even if their ecosystem function hasn't been discovered yet.
Let's take a look at some of the vital contributions insects make to our world:
With insect numbers in decline everywhere, all of these vital services are threatened. Luckily, every single one of us can take action to help boost insect populations, not only where we live but also in the rest of the world. If you don't know where to start, I suggest you watch this space - there will be a whole series of Precious Insects posts, starting with 5 simple things you can do for insects in winter. Fun insect fact: A favorite dish of Hirohito, the former Emperor of Japan, was boiled wasps with rice. Source: Dave Goulson, Silent Earth - Averting the Insect Apocalypse We still have some time to go till spring, and insects are not much in evidence right now. But there is a lot we can do even during winter to make the world a more insect-friendly place. Here are a few simple but powerful things you can apply as of today.
Fun fact (even though you might also find this a bit scary): The weight of ants on our planet is similar to the total weight of all humans. Source: Dave Goulson, Silent Earth - Averting the Insect Apocalypse |
Illustrated Thoughts
Hi, I'm Birte and I make (live) illustrations. This is where I express myself in words and images about topics that have made me think. Archives
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