Where have the insects gone?

When was the last time you experienced an invasion of Christmas beetles, or had a headache from listening to cicadas ‘sing’ all day long?

World wide, the insects are in trouble. In 2019, a review of global research undertaken by the University of Sydney,  found that 40% of the world’s insect species were ‘catastrophically threatened’ and that the principal reasons were habitat loss, chemical pollutants, invasive species and climate change. The research found that in some countries over 75% of all insects had vanished. 

Even annoying or ‘pest’ insects such as march flies and mosquitoes, play a useful role within their ecosystem – as food for other animals if nothing else. More broadly speaking, insects perform a variety of essential functions.

Plant natives to attract beneficial insects to a garden

Many beetle species are decomposers, returning nutrients to the soil as they go about feasting on dead plants, animals and animal feces. Insects that live in the soil contribute to healthy soil biota by digging tunnels that allow air and water to enter the soil.

Ichneumon wasps and hover flies are beneficial insects to the plants in our gardens

Species of butterflies, bees, wasps, ants, flies and others, help pollinate thousands of species of plants. Many insects help keep other pest insect populations in check – hover flies for example are not just great pollinators, their larvae consume aphids and scale. The beautiful dragonfly and damselfly are voracious feeders on mosquitoes and are not harmful to plants in any way. 

A block of wood with some different sized holes erected in a warm, dry part of the garden makes a simple insect hotel which is quickly inhabited by beneficial native insects

Beneficial insects can be attracted to the backyard garden by planting natives, building (or buying) an insect hotel and stop spraying insecticides.