Ecological Services Provided By Insects

1. Introduction
Usually, the word ‘insect’ makes us think of a little flying animal that can sting or bite us,
or even ruin our homes. However, despite the general negative view towards insects, they
actually play a very important role in our lives. Insects are especially important in the life of a
farmer and this blog is going to explain why!

So what are insects? They are members of the phylum arthropoda in the classification
system. These insects play a very important role in the world and are vital within our food supply
chains. Did you know, that if all insects were to die, human beings would run out of food in just
four years?

Why you ask? Well, the bigger part of the insect population are not pests but good insects
that help in the pollination of flowering plants, which produce most of our food. Without
pollination there wouldn’t be any new seeds for more plants to grow. Very quickly this would
mean no more food. This is just one way that insects are important for farmers. But there are
many other ways that insects (arthropods specifically) have a big impact on farmers’ lives – both
positively and negatively. Let’s find out how…

Insects are the set of animals which man could never over take.They are so robust and widely
distributed. Some of the insects are harmful as they cause diseases and even act as long
standing parasites to humans and animals. While, many of them are harmless.But interestingly,
few of them are also useful to humans.

2. Insects as pests and parasites

Arthropods are the insects of major interest in agriculture as they can either be good or
harmful to our crops or animals. The harmful ones are mostly pests and parasites that destroy
agricultural produce or spread diseases causing farmers serious problems on their farms.

The destructive group of arthropods are just a fraction of the total population but they have
very serious economic effects. They include insects like moths, butterflies, grasshoppers, beetles
and weevils to name just a few.

Many of them are not destructive in the adult form but in their larval stage. Insects like
butterflies and moths are often seen as nice insects, but during their larval stage caterpillars are
very destructive. Many caterpillars feed on the foliage of growing plants. Most of the crops they
eat can be seen on farms, such as maize or cabbage.

One example of an insect that causes major problems for maize farmers is the larger grain
borer(nicknamed Osama for it devastating effects in stored maize). This pest starts its destruction
out in the field but it is most dangerous when the maize is in storage. Serious infestation can turn
a sack of maize into flour within months.

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 Ecological Services Provided By Insects

3. Insects in soil
Clearly, certain insects can cause problems for farmers but what about the insects that
add value to a farm? Well, certain insects make soil ready for farming. In fact, 85% of soil
fauna is made of arthropods! Burrowing arthropods like termites and ants increase soil aeration,
soil porosity and generally improve the structure of the soil.

Insects that preserve their food in the soil like termites and ants also help increase the
organic content of the soil. Their feces and excreta form humus, as well as their body masses
when they die. Finally, as they feed, they transform the organic litter in the soil into simpler
particles that are easily decomposed. All these activities contribute to soil fertility, which enable
farmers to grow quality food for us all!

4. Insects as pollinators
I already mentioned that if all insects died humans would run out of food in 4 years. This
is because a huge proportion of our food is pollinated by arthropods – one out of every three
bites of food we eat! Indirectly, arthropods have a greater role in the food chain where insects are
the main pollinators of flowering plants. Insects like the honey bee, butterflies and some flies and
beetles pollinate flowers as they go about looking for nectar and pollen to feed on.

The honey bee is the major pollinator making up 80% of the pollinators. Bee farmers can
even rent out their colonies to big plantations in order to assist with pollination. This is a
lucrative business which involves transportation of a number of hives to the said plantation for a
specified time.

The benefits are double as the honey collected from the exercise is marketed by the
beekeeper. Now that’s a sweet deal!

5. Insect products
Apart from pollination, apiculture (beekeeping) is a booming agricultural enterprise for
many farmers around the world. The honey bee is an insect of major economic importance for
farmers as it is the source of many hive products (with honey the most popular).

Another insect that farmers keep for its product is the silkworm. The insect is responsible for
the production of the luxurious silk fabric that has been called the ‘queen of fibers’.

6. Insects in pest control

Other insects that help farmers are those that act as a natural pest control. These are the
predators that prey and feed on other insects. These insects are such an effective form of pest
control that they are often bred in large numbers and released into the environment to kill other
bugs that are doing damage. Each predator generally kills several or many prey during its
lifetime.

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 Ecological Services Provided By Insects

Ladybird beetles, spiders, dragonflies and ants are just a few examples of predators of insect
pest that a farmer might encounter helping on his farm.

7. Insects as food – entomophagy

Directly, some insects have even found their way to the human diet. Insects like
butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, grasshoppers, crickets, and dragonflies are delicacies in various
parts of the world. The bee brood is a perfect example of a commercialised insect for food. The
edible stage of most of these arthropods is the larval stage which has carbohydrates, proteins and
fats.

Some farmers are developing entomophagy by starting insect farms for human consumption, or
to supplement livestock diets.

As you can tell, insects play a huge role in the life of a farmer. Indeed, the average WeFarmer
encounters insects in their farm on a daily basis! Not a day does go by without questions from
our network of farmers about insects, from preventing pests to helping honey bees pollinate
crops.

Insects play a very crucial role in the world. They contribute products that we can eat, pollinate
the majority of the world’s food, and make our soils rich. We should join in with the farmers and
thank insects. They maintain the ecosystem which all life on earth depends on.

8. Importance of Insects to man:

 For food:
Many insects are consumed as food by humans.

 For medicine:
Poison from spiders, scorpions is used in chronic pain relief and also to treat muscular
dystrophy.

 For silk cloth:

Silk from silkworm is an expensive fiber. This fiber is used in making beautiful clothing
material. The industry which relies on this is called as agriculture.

 For lac production:

Lac is produced from lac insect. This lac is used in making toys, paints and other valuable
products.

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 Ecological Services Provided By Insects

9. Importance of Insects to environment:

 Pollination:
Like in agriculture, insects help in cross pollination of plants in environment.

 Scavengers:
Many insects eat up or carry away dead and decaying matter. Thus they consume them and
clear of any waste matter from the environment. Ex: ants

 Food for other animals:

Many insects live on grass and plants for food. But in-turn they become prey to many birds,
amphibians, fishes, lizards and other animals. Thus they act to supply food to the members of
food chain.

Hence we can notice that during or around rainy season, many insects reproduce and
multiply a lot. At the same time, many birds go for hatching their young ones. This time is
ver suitable as the mother bird can feed its babies with vastly available insects.

10. Battling Each Other

The balance of nature depends on the activities of parasites and predators, the majority of
which are insects. Many insects, including caterpillar hunter beetles, pirate bugs, and praying
mantises, keep populations of herbivorous insects in check. Equally important are parasitic
insects, a prime example being braconid wasps that lay their eggs on tomato hornworms. When
the wasp larvae hatch, they feed on the hornworms.

Scientists use this concept in biological control with great success. In the past, great
emphasis was given to insecticides for control of pest species of insects. Some target insects
develop resistance to such chemicals, resulting in the development of “super-bugs” requiring
stronger insecticides. Modern thought recognizes the concept of integrated pest management—
using a variety of control methods to achieve reduction of pest species.
One technique is to manufacture pheromone traps to attract pests to a killing agent, such as a
sticky trap. Pheromones are natural chemicals that influence the activities of insects in one way
or another. Pantry moths have been strongly reduced by using sticky traps baited with simulated
pantry moth pheromones.

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