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Simply Better?

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By Emmy Ulmschneider and Debbie Roland, Master Gardeners

 

On a walk last week, I came across an advertisement that said, “No bugs, simply better”.  And I wondered if that is truly the case and the answer is no.  So, what is it that ‘bugs’ do for us?  First off, let us define ‘bugs’.  To an entomologist, a person who studies insects, ‘bugs’ refers to the insects that are members of the Order Hemiptera; think cicadas, leaf hoppers and shield bugs.  This group of insects is characterized by their sucking mouth parts and the pattern that their folded front wings make covering their hind wings.  Many hemipterans are aquatic, and you might have seen water boatmen or backswimmers in a shallow, local pond.  There are about thirty orders of insects and the Order Hemiptera is one of the five most common.

 

The ad was probably referring to insects rather than just one specific group.  So, the question is what do insects do for us? And the answer is lots.   In fact, without insects many of the ecosystem services, the conditions and processes that sustain our lives and keep our world working would not function.  Provisioning, Supporting, Regulating and Cultural Ecosystem Services provide us with food, fresh water, useful materials as well as purify our water, and support nutrient recycling and soil formation.  Perhaps most importantly the Cultural Ecosystem Services provide aesthetic, educational and recreational activities opportunities for our mental wellbeing.  And whether we know it or not insects play a crucial role in all these services.    

 

The role of insects in food production is easy to understand:  They are our principal pollinators.  Pollination is the transfer of pollen from flower to flower.  70 to 90% of plants need some form of assistance for pollination and that includes nesting cover, food for game and domesticated species as well as our landscape plants.  Although wind and water can pollinate, we commonly think of bees as pollinators.  Other insect pollinators include butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and wasps in addition to vertebrate birds and bats. Roughly 35% of agricultural crops are animal pollinated and have an estimated annual worth to the global economy over $235 billion.   So, insects have a cash value. 

 

As consumers in a food chain, when insects eat and are eaten by organisms, they forge the connections that keep an ecosystem intact.  They also contribute to overall ecosystem health by controlling pests and recycling nutrients through decomposition.  This helps to maintain a healthy soil and contributes to carbon sequestration. 

 

Perhaps most importantly, if you have ever been touched by a vista of Texas wildflowers, stopped by the roadside to see bluebonnets in bloom, watched buzz pollination in action or marveled at an abundant squash harvest, you have felt in your heart the work that insects, provide.  Clearly, “no insects” is not better.    There is an economic, educational, and emotional aspect to provide for insects in our landscapes.  Having insects is simply better.   

 

If you have questions, call the AgriLife office in Odessa at 498-4071 or in Midland at 686-4700.   Additional information, and our blog for access to past articles, is available at westtexasgardening.org.  Click on “Resources”.



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The Permian Basin Master Gardener program is designed to support the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and provide horticultural training to Permian Basin Citizens.

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2445 E Hwy 80

Midland, TX 79706
 

432-686-4700

https://midland.agrilife.org/contact/

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1010 E 8th Street

Odessa, TX 79761

432-498-4071

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