Creating Harmonious Gardens for Beneficial Insects

By Ansel Oommen

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Insects and other invertebrates account for over 90% of all living species, building the basis for most ecosystems. In fact, they often dominate their landscapes through both sheer number and volume, providing many key services, either directly or obliquely, as pollinators, recyclers, pest control and as food for a host of animals.

Due to the effects of dramatic changes in climate, habitat loss, and pesticides, insect populations are declining worldwide. Honeybees, for example, have attracted media attention since 2006, with their death tolls linked to neonicotinoids and a lack of supportive flora. The monarch butterfly, whose population once reached 900 million in 1995, now sits precariously at a meager 56.5 million- a 95% drop, placing it within risk of extinction.

Keeping this in mind, the role of the urban gardener is now more important than ever before.

Underlying the struggle of invertebrate conservation is a pervasive negative image. Mislabeled as “creepy crawlies”, many bugs, even beneficial ones, can elicit common phobias, further hindering public support and activism.

However, as biologist E.O. Wilson summarized:

“If we were to wipe out insects alone, just that group alone from this planet, which we are trying hard to do, the rest of life and humanity with it would most likely disappear from the land- and within a few months.”

So while they are not the top priority in the urban environment, we must reconsider these multi-legged critters as allies in our future narrative. Because insects have multiple life stages with shifting needs, gardens are best developed with seasonal and generational changes in mind. Many species including wasps, beetles, flies, and moths, for instance, are marked by a semi-mobile larval stage, an immobile pupal stage, and a highly mobile adult stage, requiring an understanding of their habitat preferences.

Central to the success of insect conservation, however, is an equal emphasis on floral biodiversity. Simply put, each party cannot be evaluated without the other. Plants form complex structural communities, so much so, that the presence or lack thereof of certain vegetation can influence the presence of a target species, which in turn, can affect the overall health of urban spaces.

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Previous article by Ansel Oommen:

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