As a naturalist, my first love was birds. I was smitten at the age of 12, and the love affair has only grown more passionate over the years. I have, however, broadened my interests over the last decade, first with the study of dragonflies, then butterflies and moths, and, lastly, bumblebees and other insects. Butterflies are inextricably tied to the plant hosts where they lay their eggs for the larva to feast upon, and so I’ve also learned quite a bit about our native plants.
This growing awareness of insects has led me to increase my interest in their status and distribution. After all, insects play a crucial role in the food chain; they are the sole food source for a variety of creatures, including many birds. Insects make up two-thirds of all the species on earth, and many are beneficial, not only pollinating wild plants but also the crops we depend upon.
“Insects are the food that make all the birds and make all the fish,” said entomologist David Wagner, who works at the University of Connecticut. “They’re the fabric tethering together every freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem across the planet.”