The
Garden Do-Gooders
Although
humans fear and revere them, abhor and adore them, there are no inherently
"bad" or "good" insects. They are all simply trying to make a living
and create offspring according to their natural programming. But from
a gardener's perspective, some insects are worth keeping around and
others are just, well . . . pests.
Most garden insects,
in fact, do more good than harm. Just who are these benign bugs and
what do they do for us? Read on.
Pollinators
Animals
can roam about and seek mates with whom to reproduce, but imagine
the challenge for a plant, rooted firmly to the ground, to achieve
the same end. Pollinators, which include insects (such as bees, butterflies,
beetles, and flies) and other animals (such as hummingbirds and bats),
unwittingly move pollen from the male anther of one flower to the
female stigma of another as they search for sweet, nourishing nectar
and fat- and protein-rich pollen. The flower thus becomes fertilized
and capable of producing seeds. In this unique partnership, everybody
wins. So, what's it to us? Well, one out of every three bites of food
we eat is made possible by a pollinator, and 80 percent of all flowering
plants rely on pollinators for survival. Without them, our gardens
and lives would be less fruitful!
The
amazing diversity of flowers results from their unique adaptations-from
the designs on their petals to the timing of their blooms-to lure
a range of pollinators. (Wind-pollinated flowers are less conspicuous.)
Pollinators, in turn, have evolved equally ingenious adaptations in
terms of hairiness, mouthparts, shape, flight patterns, and so on-that
enable them to efficiently obtain food for themselves and their young.
Invite your students
to home in on and examine garden pollinators. What plants does a pollinator
visit? Which pollinators visit a particular plant? Which insect features
seem "designed" for finding nectar or moving pollen? Which flower
features seem perfectly suited to attract pollinators?
Decomposers
Certain garden insects, such as dung beetles and sow bugs, in cahoots
with fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms, make life on Earth
liveable. They dine on once-living materials, breaking them into simpler
molecules that can be used again as nutrients for plants (our sustenance).
By building compost piles, schoolyard gardeners create conditions
that help decomposers thrive.
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The
True Buzz on Bees
|
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| Bees,
which are integral to the health of schoolyard gardens and habitats,
are often-misunderstood creatures. Why, they pollinate more flowers
than any other creatures on Earth as they collect nectar and pollen
to nourish themselves and their young. (Pollen grains readily
stick to their hairy bodies.) Their nests aerate the soil, and
their dung, like that of earthworms, enriches it. Of the nearly
4,000 species of bees in the U.S., relatively few are "social,"
like honeybees, who may occasionally sting humans to protect hives.
The vast majority of native bees (digger bees, mason bees, and
sweat bees, for instance) are solitary, with no hives to defend,
so are very unlikely to sting. |
