Helpful Pests

            Sitting uncomfortably at the kitchen table, I was puzzling over y = -x +4, when a buzzing sound distracted me momentarily from my homework.  "Buzzzz buzzzz buzz."  A fly!  I twisted around in my seat, my eyes scanning the room.  No fly.  Turning back around, I noticed the fly was perched on my pencil.  I flicked it onto my open pre-algebra textbook.  The fly stared at me with big buggy eyes.  Then I slammed the book shut, creating a loud "WHAP!" 

"Yes! It's dead!" I triumphed.  "Jason, are you doing your homework?" Mom called from downstairs.  "Yes, Mother," I yelled, picking up my pencil.  On the contrary, I began day-dreaming about what the world would be like without insects.   It's tempting to want to kill every bug in sight.  But, even though some insects are pesky and annoying, in many ways they're helpful to humans.  In fact, the world wouldn't be able to function without these little creatures.

Picture this:  You're walking through a small grove of alder saplings when you emerge into a huge field.  You're about to race into it when suddenly you stop.  Something is strange about this field.  Slowly advancing through the knee-high grass, you begin to notice that, even though it is mid-spring, all the wild flowers and buds are shriveling up.  You strain your ear for the music of song birds, but all you hear is the wind blowing through the drooping plants.  'What happened here?' you wonder. 

This is just a glimpse of what could happen if people were to exterminate the majority of insects.  One of the first things to go would be the plants.  Insects such as bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, ants and mosquitoes, play a vital role in the plant life-cycle by pollinating.  Without pollination it wouldn't be long before there was no fruit to eat.  No more nuts or veggies. 

People don't seem to realize what an important part bugs play in our economy.  For example, each spring one million honey bee hives are shipped to California almond orchards so the bees can pollinate the trees.  Nearly twenty-five percent of all food in the United States is pollinated by bees.  If we eliminate insects from the environment, it would result in significant worldwide economic hardship.

Now, you may be wondering, what about the birds?  Why weren't they singing?'  The birds weren't singing because they were dying.  Consider this: if there were no insects, then the birds that eat them would die.  What about birds that eat seeds?  No bugs, no plants.  No plants, no seeds.  But, you may argue, there are birds that eat other animals, like trout or rabbits.  But where do trout and rabbits get their food?  Trout eat insects, and rabbits eat plants.   Because insects are at the bottom of the food chain, when you take them out, it negatively affects every other food source in the food chain.  Eventually, the entire food source for human beings would be impacted. 

Not only are insects vital to the food chain, but they are also necessary for the process of decomposition. By feeding on decaying matter, insects and insect larvae quicken the process of turning rotting matter into fertilizer.  Bugs also chop up dead plants making it easier for micro-organisms to decompose them.  Dung beetles break down poop so bacteria can break it down faster.  Dung beetles are so effective in this that Australia imports them to break down the poop of cattle.  Plant and animal decay is necessary in order to add nitrogen to the soil.  Without insects, the earth would be full of putrid dead plants and animals decomposing too slowly.  Then the soil wouldn't get enough nitrogen, making the dirt less fertile.

 Without bugs, earth would be a place full of dead plants, starving people, and would reek of non-decayed carcasses.  So the next time you see an insect, whether it's a mosquito or a butterfly, maybe you'll think twice before harming it.  Instead of screaming, "Bee!" maybe focus on the big role that all tiny insects have in taking care of the earth.