We won’t see the magnitude of our ignorance, of our excitement, or of the useful knowledge embedded in the living environment until we set out to explore all of it. - E.O. Wilson, entomologist, biologist, and myrmecologist – a scientist who studies ants.
To appreciate our natural world we must know of it; to know it we must observe, interact with, learn about it. To appreciate nature we must assimilate the knowledge of science (through guide books…) but also through our own first-hand absorption of what we witness outdoors with our own eyes and minds.
To love a creature is to hold it in your mind’s eye. The search perhaps best begins no further than your own backyard. Starting with a micro view. The world of small (as compared to humans anyway) is immensely populated yet mostly behind an invisible curtain, until we look more closely, patiently, with a slow approach and discerning eyes.
How do you catch a falling star? By standing still, looking up into the vastness of space - the dark blanket dotted with blinking lights - watching for that sudden racing streak of trailing light (shooting star) signifying the object of your desire. So it is with birds as we quietly observe avian wonders, with plumage patterns, colors, and a variety of songs without the distractions of everyday life. Birds and stars are easy to find.
Insects are small and harder to spot, however, they make up their diminutive size by their sheer volume. And Diversity! Diversity of shape, color, size, behavior. Yes, they all have a head, thorax, and abdomen, six legs, and two antennae; most have compound eyes, though some cannot walk. Moreover, what is common amongst them and even more fascinating: they breathe through their exoskeletons, they have an open circulatory system and are cold-blooded, their ears are rarely on their head, and yes scientists have determined insects feel pain.
Before we go further, you might ask, but are they important to us, to the earth? Immensely so is the short answer. Without insects, most flowering plants would go extinct. Insects decompose plant and animal matter; they recycle on a grand scale. Insects are a source of food for many animals as well as some people.
Only one percent of insects are harmful to people.
Insect populations shrank 27% over the last 30 years.
To love is to care.
To love is to know: some butterflies are territorial, at least one butterfly species seldom visits flowers. Did you know that butterflies taste with their feet? It takes about one hundred Monarch butterflies to weigh an ounce. Night-flying butterflies have ears on their wings!
To love is to know: without caterpillars, we would have no butterflies or moths. There are over 11,000 species of moths recognized in North America. Caterpillars have 12 eyes. One species of moth can fly 35 mph. The Isabella caterpillar-banded wooly bear freezes solid over winter then thaws in the spring. Most birds require caterpillars to rear their young. A chickadee will utilize more than 5,000 caterpillars per clutch of hatchlings.
To love is to know: Dragonflies have six legs, cannot walk, but can fly up to 50 mph. They catch all of their food mid-air at a 95% success rate, and they can open their mouths as wide as their heads.
To love thy neighbor, one must visit them. Instead of starting a barbecue to entice them over, invite your insect neighbors by growing native plants and they (butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects) will come.
How to enjoy them as well as love them? Insects are everywhere, no need to wait for them as one does for a falling star. They are seasonal, there is always something new to see. Seeking them is as rewarding as an Easter egg treasure hunt. No special equipment is required. And with so many not yet recorded, you can be the first to report a new sighting for your area.
Set out into your backyard, experience the magnitude of excitement beyond your expectation. Learn rewarding knowledge embedded in the living environment. Yearn to know who your (insect) neighbors are. Set out to explore all of the life in your backyard.
When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. - Aldo Leopold
Happy Valentine’s Day
And To my beloved partner Maeve,
Hello Bernie. Thank you for another great post which I enjoyed reading. May you and your little bluebird have a wonderful Valentine's day.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine to you and Maeve. A very moving, lovely commentary. We need all the love we can get, especially among our neighbors here and in the entire world.
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Happy V. day to both of you from a snow-less Ahr Valley where we have been happily escounced since December. Jean and Doug
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