During the summer, when I was a child living in a big city, my friends and I used to see hundreds of bright red ladybirds wandering around our postage-stamp-sized gardens eating aphids off the roses and marigolds.
In 1976 we even built makeshift hotels for these travellers from Europe when the UK experienced a ‘plague’ of seven-spotted ladybirds (coccinella septempunctata). So far this year I’ve seen two. Just two! This is a tragedy that far out rivals anything Shakespeare penned.
The incremental loss of insect life can result in shifting baseline syndrome, a socio-psychological phenomenon in which historical environmental information is lost over time and people do not notice changes in biological systems. However, even the hardest of cynics would be hard-pressed not to notice that there is a huge reduction in splatted insects on their car window screens this year.
Did the ladybirds really just fly away home as their houses were on fire and their children had gone or is there something else that can help explain the collapse in numbers of our insect cohabitees on this planet?
Disorder among the ranks
Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee colony disappear, leaving behind a queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees. It can kill 40% of honey bees each year and causes significant economic losses because many agricultural crops worldwide depend on pollination by honey bees. Although managed hives globally are still increasing in number the decrease in wild bee and butterfly populations is a huge concern. In fact, almost all insects are struggling to some degree or another.
Usually at this time of year, if the weather is good enough, I’ll be burning my citronella candles to ward off midges when we eat outside. In the past, when eating al fresco, we’ve also occasionally used wasp traps when numbers became excessive, they would be tempted in by a mix of sweet jam and vinegar. Each year we would see wasps munching our (untreated) wooden patio furniture as they gather resources to create their intricate nests. There has been no need for citronella or traps this year. Over the past few weeks, we have only observed a couple of wasps and very few midges.
For every human on Earth, there are estimated to be about 2.5 million ants, or 20 quadrillion in total. Their mass exceeds that of all birds and mammals combined and makes up about a fifth of humans’ total biomass. These six-legged creatures serve vital roles in the environment, as they help spread plant seeds, accelerate decomposition, and support the food chain as both predator and prey. Despite the grand numbers, and incredible powers of social organisation from the queen down to the workers, soldiers and drones, their populations are also declining.
Actions have consequences
The collapse of insect numbers will have repercussions throughout our ecosystems. Insects are first consumers in a food chain and are the main source of protein for a huge variety of species from birds and bats to frogs and fish.
Scientists have good ideas of what is causing the decrease in insect numbers. Climate change, pesticides, infections with various pathogens, such as bees infected with the Varroa mite, malnutrition, genetic factors, immunodeficiencies, polluted water supplies where many insect larvae live, and the loss of habitat from urbanisation, deforestation, and agricultural expansion. Insects need diverse environments to thrive, and as these habitats disappear, so do the insects.
Insects in the school garden
In the school garden the children often point out with excitement any insect they find as many minibeasts are becoming worryingly scarce. In our ecology surveys we study leaf litter using tree-beating, and setting pitfall traps by placing a beaker into the ground so that the top is level with the surface, causing ground-dwelling insects to fall in.
Over the past decade, if I compare the annual reports by the students, you can see the rapid decline of hexapod invertebrates. Years ago, I remember teaching a lesson near the pond in the wildlife garden and a young lad, can’t remember his name, sat on an ant’s nest, and had a bad case of ants in his pants. Last term I even missed the distraction of the habitual wasps in the classroom.
The planet is changing so fast now that young people may not suffer with shifting baseline syndrome as much as my generation. Nonetheless we’ll persevere with our bee and butterfly counts, data collection may not stop the decline per se but at least we can be proud of our efforts to record the demise.
Hubster and I will just keep living our low carbon lifestyle, planting pollinator friendly plants and avoid using pesticides or causing environmental harm, if the rest of the 8 billion people in the world would just do the same that would be grand!
Love thy neighbours
Some scientists and sociologists, even the darling David Attenborough, are suggesting that unless we change direction, we could suffer civilisation collapse as the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis escalate. Having watched the news this week it’s easy to see how quickly this might happen as misinformation spreads and hatred soars. Humans seem to be orchestrating our own colony collapse.
Empathy and global citizenship
We try to teach children in school about empathy, about global citizenship, about treading lightly on planet earth but then an army of angry thumbs decide to go on the rampage threatening the lives of others, looting local shops, and burning down libraries. I have to say I’m already slightly alarmed at the unimpressive two-month sentences being handed out for this unforgivable behaviour when some peaceful climate protestors received five years for a Zoom call. That said, if we take an “eye for an eye we’ll make the whole world blind” in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who demonstrated that peace will always be more effective than its negative counterpart.
I’m just a teacher, I don’t know what the solutions are, but I do know love must conquer hate and that engendering a sense of social responsibility seems to be lacking in our current education system. Historically, British wealth was gained from colonisation, the setting up of colonies in the far corners of the globe. The quicker schools are now supported to decolonise the curriculum so that children develop an understanding of why inequalities and racism exist, the better.
Protecting insects, food, our environment and ourselves
As I’m no social scientist, other than being a casual observer of the behaviour of children in my own classroom, let’s get back to protecting insects as this means protecting our food, our environment, and ultimately, ourselves. It’s time to embrace our inner bug enthusiasts. Next term we have a revamp of the bug hotel scheduled.
The Air bug-and-bug has plenty of spaces and maybe we’ll add a “Welcome Refugees” sign for any of our six-legged friends who have found it too dangerous to stay in their own home although I expect the leadership team might suggest this could be too politically sensitive. I’ll happily offer to do an assembly to ensure any misunderstanding is gently but firmly swatted away. In the immortal words of Kate in Taming of the Shrew, ‘If I be waspish, best beware my sting’.
Note to self: It might sound rather tasteless after this diary entry but remember to add buying some crunchy critters to my list of tasks in the first week or so back in school. Eating farmed insects is a great way to encourage young people to consider what they eat and its impact on the planet. Barbeque flavoured locusts and mealworms are the best options as they taste vaguely of peanuts, even if they are slightly cardboardy in texture – the carbon impact is low, and it can lead to great discussions on animal welfare. Insects are still classified in the phylum of animals after all.
