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TThe labyrinthine world that is insects is in serious trouble. Scientists have discovered alarming declines in their numbers, with the United Nations estimating that half of a million species could be gone by the middle of the century.
I wrote about this silent unfolding catastrophe for my new book. The Insect Crisis – The Fall of the Tiny Empires Which Run the WorldI looked at the impact of the loss of insects on our food security, how it could lead to deprivation of new medicines, and how it can degrade the ecosystems that we all depend upon for life. We are making the planet a hellish place for our best friends, by destroying habitats and using pesticides.
But there is another reason to care about the insect crisis – their astonishing characteristics and abilities. Some seem otherworldly – such as the butterfly that has an eye on the tip of its penis.
“Each insect is like an alien life form with a detailed life history that often is so bizarre, you couldn’t create it as fiction if you wanted to,” as Michelle Trautwein, an entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences, told me.
Here are 10 of my most fascinating facts about them.
Bees can do just about anything
Most people are aware of the important role of bees in pollination, which is essential for ensuring fresh produce. Researchers discovered surprising abilities in bees.
Honeybees are able to understand zero, add and subtract numbers, and can even detect landmines more accurately than sniffer dogs. Their pollination services have become so valuable in the US that there is a growing criminal operation among “bee rustlers” to Steal beehives in California’s farming heartland.
Some bumblebees, meanwhile, are able to fly at an altitude of 5,500 meters (18,000 feet) above sea level (a height just shy of Mount Kilimanjaro’s summit), can be taught to play soccer and remember good and bad experiences, suggesting they have a form of consciousness.
All of this is very energy-intensive work. If a human male devoured a Mars bar, he’d burn the energy off in around an hour; a bumblebee of an equivalent size would use the same energy in just 30 seconds.
The abilities of tiny superheroes are what beetles possess
The world is awash with not rats, sheep or even humans, but beetles – around 350,000 species and counting. Some have adapted to humanity’s altering of the world, such as the weevils that feast on our grain.
Others are notable in their own right. A horned, dung beetle can hold six double-decker buses in its hands if it were human. Another type is the water beetle. Regimbartia attenuata, can even survive being eaten by a frog by swimming through the amphibian’s stomach and crawling out of its bottom.
There are people who will fight mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are often viewed as either a nuisance or a threat. Indeed, there are fears that the threat of malaria and dengue will spread as we continue to heat up the world to mosquitoes’ liking.
However, some entomologists are warmly disposed to mosquitoes. This is due to their pollination of flowers and their environmental work. They help cycle nutrients through soils and plants, and provide food and water for animals higher up the food chain, such frogs, and birds. A cascade of adverse effects would result from removing all mosquitoes.
Cockroaches are hated – but impressive
Cockroaches are the only insect that can rival mosquitoes in our dismay. There are thousands of species of cockroach found in forests but we tend to focus on the two – American and German – that have adapted themselves to our homes.
These creatures are amazing, objectively. Slow-motion video footage of the cockroach scaling vertically shows that it can crash into walls at a high speed without losing momentum. These amazing survivors can fit into cracks the thickness of a small coin and bite with a force fifty times their body weight to survive for two weeks after being headbutted.
Human history has been shaped by insects
Although insects are not as well-known as tigers, dolphins, or horses, they have played important roles in our history.
The common marsh mosquito was called the “founding mother” of the United States by one historian due to the malaria that ravaged the British army and helped force its surrender during the American Revolution. Modern beehive boxes were invented a century later to unlock the potential of farmland and revolutionize agriculture.
What would your first thought be for an animal that was sent into space? A monkey? A dog or cat, perhaps? It was actually a fruit fly, which was propelled above the atmosphere in a US military rocket in 47 to determine the potential effects of cosmic radiation on astronauts.
Moths are unfairly vilified
Moths are often called powdery vandals, because they love chewing through our clothes. This is largely unfair – it’s the moth larvae, not adults, that feed on clothes, and even then only a couple out of the thousands of moth species do this.
The Hercules moth is a northern Australian species. The world’s largest moth, the species has a wingspan as wide as a dinner plate but no mouth – it lives off the food reserves gobbled up while a bulky caterpillar – and two false eyes in its rear to confuse would-be predators.
We should be more positive about wasps
Wasps aren’t just the pillagers of bucolic picnics. They are important pollinators and predators of pests that eat our most valuable flowers and crops.
Research also found that paper wasps can grasp the concept of transitive inference. This means that if A is greater or less than B, then B must be greater than A. Also, they can recognize other wasps simply by looking at their faces.
Insects are essential for the production of chocolate and ice-cream.
Are you a fan of chocolate? The tiny midge that pollinates cacao plants is to be commended. Do you want a world that has ice cream? Then you’ll want the pollinators that ensure dairy-producing cows have enough alfalfa to eat.
The future may be a cricket-based diet
Many western diners still view insects with suspicion, even though they have been on the menu in many societies in Asia, Africa and South America over generations. As the negative environmental impact of meat consumption continues to be a problem, some people are switching to insects such as crickets. They can be farmed in large numbers and produce little pollution.
Chili can be used to season crickets; lemon can be used to dip ants. These high-protein snacks could change our relationship with insects and increase our appreciation.
People will show a love for insects in strange ways
Winston Churchill’s butterfly collection helped ease his depression. Walter Rothschild, the scion of the banking family enjoyed dressing fleas up in costumes. People all over North America plant milkweed in an effort to help monarch butterflies. In Australia, giant burrowing cockroaches can be kept as pets.
It’s lazy to dismiss insects as pests or irrelevances. Many of us recognize how valuable they can be to our world. That feeling will need to be multiplied, and harnessed, if we are to stem the greatest crisis they’ve ever faced.
The Insect Crisis – The Fall of the Tiny Empires Which Run the WorldThe US has released,
