The ‘Top Three’ US State Insects have been well chosen. They might be said to represent; Agriculture, Migration and Conservation, and Natural Pest Control – in that order.
Agriculture
The Honeybee is the State Insect of eighteen US States. This celebrates the importance of honeybees as essential pollinators of many crops. Colony Collapse Disorder has highlighted the importance of the honeybee in food production, and points to the danger of relying on ‘monocultures’ in modern agriculture.
Migration and Conservation
The Monarch Butterfly is the State Insect of seven US States. It is well-known and very beautiful. Most famous perhaps for its long annual migration from Mexico as far north as Canada, it also highlights the importance of habitat conservation (there will soon be insufficient places for it to rest and feed during the migration).
Natural Pest Control
The Ladybug (Ladybird in the UK) is the State Insect of six US States. Probably chosen for its beauty, it can also be thought of as one of the best known examples of natural pest control. Both the larvae and the adults feed voraciously on aphids (greenfly) and are well respected as ‘good insects’ by gardeners. Unfortunately the recent introduction of the ‘Harlequin Ladybird’ to America now seriously threatens the survival of the native American species.
Problems
The problems these three State Insects are currently facing should concern us:
- Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybees has been much in the news recently, and although exact causes are not yet clear it seems likely that modern approaches to ‘industrial’ agriculture could play a significant part. Stressing bees by trucking them around the country, use of pesticides on the crops they pollinate and in the hives, build-up of disease and parasites caused through keeping many hives in close proximity – all of these are possible ‘contributors’ to the syndrome.
- Loss of suitable habitats for Monarch Butterflies during their annual migrations is the ‘tip of an iceberg’. Many insects are suffering from a loss of habitat – and once again it is modern agriculture that contributes to the problem. If large areas are dominated by crop plants then there is a reduction in the ‘wild’ habitats needed by many insects. (‘Wild’ or ‘natural’ habitats provide, among other things, a steady supply of nectar and pollen throughout the year for the ‘natural’ pollinators.)
- Introduced species, such as the Harlequin, often increase in numbers dramatically. Without natural predators or diseases they out-compete the native fauna, and it is not clear what the long-term effects might be.
See also: The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Other articles by John Blatchford
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