Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer
I must confess that I have a love/hate relationship with insects. Early years in Michigan exposed my tender flesh to a full suite of biters and stingers- black flies, deer flies, no-see-ums, gnats, horse flies, and clouds of mosquitos that would darken the sky! My dear farmer friend succumbed to a swarm of yellow jackets he angered while driving his tractor through a field, and I’m aware of insect vectors that inoculate us with wretched diseases- from the plague to malaria. Aside from this house of horrors, how often do we humans really appreciate these amazing beings?
Throughout history, insects have markedly shaped human culture—from serving as valuable sources of food, pigment, and fiber, to inspiring our greatest feats of engineering, art, and design. We have much to learn from their abundant wisdom.
They fuel life on Earth through their roles as pollinators, predators, and prey. Insects serve as foundational elements in almost every terrestrial environment, acting as both consumers and providers of essential services. Their presence ensures that energy flows efficiently through various trophic levels, supporting biodiversity from the smallest microorganisms to large vertebrates.
Butterfly on Showy Milkweed
Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer
Approximately 90 percent of bird species rely on insects for food at some point in their lives. Terrestrial birds that depend on insects have experienced a dramatic decline over the last 50 years. When insect availability drops, birds often struggle to meet the energy demands required for their daily survival and the strenuous needs of raising offspring.
Aerial insectivorous birds have seen a 32 percent population reduction since 1970, with groups like swifts, swallows and nightjars struggling as their primary food source vanishes. Because they rely almost exclusively on capturing insects in flight, they are uniquely sensitive to the health of the broader invertebrate community. Their inability to switch prey types effectively means that even short-term drops in insect activity can have catastrophic effects on nestling growth and adult survival.
Migratory birds face a compounded crisis from their breeding territories to their nonbreeding grounds and essential stopover points. Long distance species are particularly hard hit, as they often arrive after the short, critical peak in insect availability, leading to reproductive failure that residents and short-distance migrants avoid. Spring arrival dates often fail to align with the peak emergence of essential insect prey, a mismatch increasingly caused by shifting seasonal temperatures.
Industrial agriculture replacing vast swaths of biologically diverse natural systems with a few plant species and use of pesticides combined with extreme weather are primary causes in insect loss
This is Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society and I’m wild about Utah’s bugs, even the biting ones!
Credits:
Picture: Courtesy US FWS, Tom Koerner, Photographer
Audio: Courtesy & © J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin and Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman
Voice & Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Bridgerland Audubon Society, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading:
Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/
The following references were accurate as of the date of publication or most recent update.
