Insects

Learn why insects are important and why their populations are declining. Of the eight million plant and animal species on earth, 75 percent are insects. They are an integral part of every terrestrial ecosystem, performing irreplaceable ecological services. They provide natural checks on pests. They assist in the decomposition of leaves and wood and the removal of dung, which boosts soil formation, water purification, and carbon sequestration. Their burrowing aerates the soil. They are a source of food in many societies. Threats to insects include loss of habitat, land degradation, deforestation, invasive species, widespread use of agricultural chemicals, pollution, loss of codependent species, drought, and climate change. The loss of insects carries large economic and cultural costs. Declining populations pose a threat to global food supplies and food security.

• Nearly 30 percent of bumblebee species in North America are in danger, primarily from habitat destruction and agricultural chemicals. Colony collapse disorder threatens commercial honeybee operations, which is critical to pollinating food crops.
• Some butterfly populations have fallen 2 percent each year for twenty years. In the UK, more than 50 percent of butterfly species have declined in abundance since 1976. Geographic ranges have shrunk. Populations of the monarch butterfly have been devastated.
A wide variety of chemicals kill insects, including agricultural pesticides and insecticides. Over the past twenty-five years, toxicity levels have increased significantly as a result of industrial agriculture. One class of chemicals called neonicotinoids are very toxic to pollinators.
The displacement of native plants by non-native and invasive species in agriculture and horticulture has disrupted long-standing insect/plant relationships and caused declines in insect populations.
Poor water quality and quantity imperil stone flies and other aquatic insects, which affect bird populations.
Artificial lights disrupt nocturnal insects, such as fireflies and moths.
Severe weather events amplified by climate change impact insect populations in multiple ways and contribute to their decline.
Insect decline has a large impact on wildlife, including birds, called insectivores, that depend on bugs for food. A recent study revealed that this bird group has lost nearly three billion individuals in the last fifty years. A study of insectivores in Europe noted a similar trend.
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Learn what can be done to stop and reverse the loss of insect populations and take action. The insect crisis requires an “all-hands-on-deck” effort to reverse their decline. We need to protect and restore climate-resilient insect habitats across all types of landscapes, from gardens to farms to city lots and watersheds. We need to reduce and eliminate destructive activities. Individuals can help by learning how their lives impact insects and what they can do to help.

• Eat organic and/or regeneratively grown food. The industrial food system uses crops grown with heavy applications of pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides. Choose organic and regeneratively produced food instead. Eat a diverse, plant-based diet sourced from healthy landscapes (see Agroecology Nexus, Regenerative Agriculture Nexus, and Plant Diversity Nexus).
• Wear clothes made of organically and/or regeneratively grown fibers. Cotton and other plant-based fabrics are often grown with the of use agricultural chemicals. Buy organic products or wear secondhand clothing (see Clothing Nexus).
Convert green space into natural habitat for insects. If 10 percent of every backyard, schoolyard, and a local park in the United States could be converted, it would increase habitat for insects by more than four million acres.
Reduce or eliminate pesticides and herbicides around your home and in your neighborhood. Many chemicals are used solely to improve the appearance of lawns, gardens, and parks. There are organic alternatives. To fight mosquitoes without chemicals, eliminate standing, stagnant water.
Reduce soap runoff from washing vehicles and building exteriors. Soaps often produce pollutants, including ammonia, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and phosphorus, that can drain directly into local water systems, adversely affecting aquatic insects. Use biodegradable soaps.
Reduce exterior lighting as much as possible. Artificial light affects reproductive success in fireflies and other insects. Turn off unneeded lights, use motion-activated lighting, or switch to bulbs that produce amber- or red-colored light, which are less attractive to insects.
Leave stumps, logs, old trees, and dead leaves alone so they can become a home for insects.
Promote wildflower verges along roadsides, medians, corridors, and other locations. They can easily become hot spots for insects.
Plant milkweeds to help the monarch butterfly. Find out which species of milkweed is local to your area. You can plant seeds almost anywhere. Here is a guide from the National Wildlife Federation. The Xerces Society has a Milkweed Project. Here is a book by the Xerces Society about plants and how to create a healthy habitat for monarchs.
Be an insect zookeeper. Participate in responsible insect rewilding projects, such as this effort to breed large marsh grasshoppers in London, to reintroduce them into restored habitats later.
Counter the negative public perception of insects. Share images on social media of bugs that you like or have photographed. Workshops and networks such as Bugshot can help. Share links to blogs, such as Bug of the Week. Bird enthusiasts could be important allies.
Get children interested in bugs. Early exposure is crucial for children to develop an appreciation for nature. However, many educational programs in schools do not teach about more than butterflies and beetles. Here is an example of a general insect program for kindergarteners. Here are lesson plans for early leaner students. Here is a list of hands-on activities. Here is a resource guide for homeschoolers. The Entomological Society of America has a grant program for schools that want to teach insect-themed science.
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Join or engage with organizations that support insects and their habitat. There are many types of organizations that work on behalf of insects and the native plants they need. Work includes research, protection, restoration, and advocacy. Many organizations have field days, surveys, volunteer projects, and other community-based initiatives that benefit diverse insects. See Key Players below to get involved. Here are fifteen organizations around the world working to save bees.

Join a campaign and/or participate in an activity that protects, restores, or sustainably manages insect habitat (i.e., nearly everywhere). Many types of human activities affect insect populations across all scales, from farms to forests to wilderness areas (see Degraded Land Restoration Nexus). Examples:

• Become an advocate for insects. Here is an article that discusses how to campaign effectively.
• The Center for Biological Diversity has a Save the Insects campaign, including a petition on behalf of the monarch butterfly.
The Wildlife Trusts (UK) has action guides for insect advocates and examples of successful efforts.
Buglife (UK) has a variety of campaigns on behalf of insects.
Help establish a pollinator pathway. Pathways are pesticide-free corridors of native plants that provide nutrition and habitat for pollinators.
Pollinator Partnership leads various programs and campaigns across the U.S. It provides consulting and training services for various landowners and other interested parties. Here are their plant guides.
Many conservation groups have ongoing restoration projects, such as the Katy Prairie Conservancy in Texas, the Borderlands Restoration Network in southern Arizona, which focuses on wild pollinator habitat, and the Clark Fork Coalition in Montana.
Native plant societies have volunteer projects, such as the Point Lobos Patrol crew in California and the Native Plant Trust in New England.
Support projects that focus on seed sovereignty, Indigenous and traditional agriculture, and neglected and underutilized species, all of which are beneficial for insects (see Plant Diversity Nexus, Agroecology Nexus, and Agroforestry Nexus, and Seeds Nexus).
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Speak up. Write an op-ed to a newspaper or social media site advocating for insects, particularly the protection and restoration of their habitat. Destructive human activity needs to be highlighted, including land degradation, soil erosion, deforestation, agricultural chemicals, industrial agriculture, land clearing, mining, overgrazing by livestock, invasive species, and climate change. Here and here are examples.

Join a social media site run by an advocate for insects. Here are a sampling of social media sites to learn from (see Key Players below):

• The Entomological Society of America on X
• The North American Native Plant Society on Facebook
The Xerces Society on Facebook and X
Pollinator Partnership on Facebook and X
Pollinator Friendly Alliance on Facebook
Moth Photographer’s Group on Facebook
The Caterpillar Identification of North America on Facebook
iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists mapping and sharing observations around the planet.
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Stop the loss of insect populations on your land and restore their habitat. The use of toxic chemicals in industrial agriculture, lack of crop diversity, annual tilling, application of synthetic fertilizers, and conversion of forests and other natural landscapes to farming have all significantly affected insect populations' decline. They need to be replaced by regenerative farming and ranching practices (see Regenerative Agriculture Nexus, Agroforestry Nexus, and Grasslands Nexus). Insect-specific practices and examples include:

• Don’t use neonicotinoid insecticides. Recent research indicates that neonicotinoids are causing widespread damage to insect populations, particularly bees. Neonicotinoids are a type of pesticide that attacks the nervous system of insects. It harms birds and other wildlife in the process.
• Implement organic no-till. The combination of chemical-free and no-tillage agriculture, often achieved with cover crops, is highly beneficial to insects. When using cover crops, consider including plant species that benefit pollinators and other insects, such as nectar flower mixes preferred by bumblebees and butterflies.
Use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to thwart unwanted insects. IPM is an ecologically based approach using regenerative farming practices to enhance levels of biological control of pests while boosting populations of beneficial insects.
Grow hedgerows on your land. Hedgerow habitat leads to greater diversity and abundance of bees and other insects, increasing their pollination of crops. Long rows can become corridors for insects.
Remove invasive plants. Clearing plants from streams and wetlands improves habitat for dragonflies and damselflies.
Don’t eradicate native thistles. Many species of bees and butterflies, including monarchs, rely heavily on native thistle flowers. The Xerces Society publishes a practitioner’s guide to native thistle conservation.
Plant prairie strips on your fields. Prairie strips are narrow bands of vegetation that act as a sponge for water moving downhill. A study showed that replacing 10 percent of row crops with prairie strips increased the number of insect species by two and a half times, increased pollinator abundance threefold, and doubled the diversity of native birds.
Plant riparian buffers. They are strips of vegetation, including a mixture of trees, shrubs, and tall grasses, that prevent erosion and restore degraded areas, particularly along watercourses and wetlands.
Create beetle banks. They are areas where native plants have been integrated into crop fields to provide shelter for predatory ground beetles.
Create wildflower areas. Suitable locations include the margins and corners of fields. Use a mix of fine grasses and perennial plants. The Northern Seed Collective (formerly Eco59) is a farmer-led native wildflower seed company in New England.
Avoid complete weed eradication. Weeds provide food and habitat for beneficial insects. 
Protect and restore freshwater systems and aquatic habitat. Reducing and eliminating pollution as it enters waterways is crucial to insect health, including nonpoint sources (such as fertilizer from farmland). Intact wetlands are vital to many insect species. Healthy watersheds will protect streams from the effects of erosion.
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Grow an insect-friendly garden or yard. There are many ways to make your garden and yard insect-friendly, from small steps to comprehensive approaches that turn gardens and yards into conservation projects and insect havens. Options include:

• Grow native plants. Many insects rely on native plants as a food source or nesting site. Declines in populations of backyard birds have been linked to an increased number of non-native plants. The Audubon Society provides an online database for native plants. Seeds can be purchased. Native plants can be acquired from a nursery. Here is a nursery directory. Here is information about planting a pollinator garden.
• Use healthy soil. Match your plants to the soil type; ensure proper sunlight levels; use organic fertilizer. Homeowners use up to ten times more pesticides per acre than farmers. There are alternatives to chemical pesticides. Here is an example. Encourage natural enemies of pests, including ladybugs, lacewings, wasps, tachinid flies, syphid flies, and others. Here are ways to let your yard “go wild” for insects.
Consider growing heirloom vegetables and other plants. Many require insects for pollination. Here is an article about getting started. Here is a list of heirloom vegetables. Here is an example of an heirloom seed company.
Build insect hotels constructed from wood and pocked with cavities that become homes for different types of insects.
Add a pond or other source of fresh water (rainwater is best). Build the pond in a spot that’s partly sunny/partly shady so it doesn't go stagnant. Grow waterlilies in it to keep it oxygenated.
Build a butterfly drinking fountain.
Consider planting edible shrubs or growing a food forest. An example can be found here from GroCycle, a permaculture organization. They also provide guides to forest garden design.
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Stop the loss of insect habitat in cities and on county, state, and federal land and restore insect populations. Reduce or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in urban spaces and on public lands (see Nature of Cities Nexus). In cities, encourage the establishment of wildflower verges and pollinator corridors. Emphasize native plants. Make the insect-friendly plots as large as possible.

• On public lands, maintain the natural conditions of an area as much as possible. Protect migratory passages such as the corridor that monarch butterflies use to travel from Minnesota to Mexico. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan brings together government agencies, landowners, and citizens to work on behalf of Ireland’s insects.
• Restore and manage streams, rivers, and wetlands for insects. Particular attention should be paid to connecting freshwater habitats so insect species can move to new areas as the climate changes. The effort should be holistic and include a variety of wildlife. An example is the Netherlands’ Delta Plan for Biodiversity Recovery.
• Work with private landowners to implement these changes on private land.

Study what can be done to stop and reverse the loss of insect populations. Data on the scope, speed, and geographical extent of the insect crisis is limited and needs to be significantly expanded. Efforts in the past have focused chiefly on rare, endangered, and charismatic species at the expense of a more complete picture of insect populations. Help close knowledge gaps. Questions to explore:

• How steep are the declines exactly?
• What are the consequences of extinctions in specific ecosystems?
How do alien insect species affect native populations?
What stressors (land degradation, deforestation) are most important?
What effects are/will climate change have?
How to fill geographical gaps? Most of the data on insects comes from Europe and the U.S. The rest of the world remains understudied, including India and the tropics.
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Ensure that your supply chains protect, maintain, and restore insect populations. Companies should produce and use organic products and agroecological and regenerative agricultural practices that improve soil health, protect ecosystems, and reverse land degradation (see Regenerative Agriculture Nexus and Agroecology Nexus).

• Clearly label pesticide products with information on how they might impact nontarget insects.
• Eliminate neonicotinoids from your supply chains, especially as customer awareness of the dangers of the chemicals rises.

Doug Tallamy: Nature’s Best Hope by Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour (110 min.)

The Insect Effect and the Future of the Planet by 
UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute TESI (5 mins.)

We need IMMEDIATE action to stop extinction crisis, David Attenborough by the BBC (6 mins.)

Insect Population Decline: New Research Explained in 5 Minutes by The Wild Report (5 mins.)

The Death of Bees Explained - Parasites, Poison, and Humans by 
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell (6 mins.)

Pollinator Hedgerows: There's a Plan for That by NRCSCalifornia (5 mins.)

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson / Mariner Books

Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Doug Tallamy / Timber Press

Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife and Native Plants (2nd ed.) by Doug Tallamy / Timber Press

Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse by Dave Goulson / Harper

Rebugging the Planet: The Remarkable Things Insects Do and Why We Need to Love Them More by Vicki Hird / Chelsea Green Publishing

Planet of the Bugs: Evolution and the Rise of Insects by Scott Shaw / The University of Chicago Press

A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm by Dave Goulson / Picador

The Last Butterfly: A Scientist’s Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature by Nick Haddad / Princeton University Press

The Garden Jungle, or Gardening to Save the Planet by Dave Goulson / Vintage

A Sting in the Tail: My Adventures with Bumblebees by Dave Goulson / Picador

Lawns into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape by Owen Wormser / Stone Pier Press

The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening by Kim Eirman / Quarry Books

Tales from the Ant World by E. O. Wilson / Liveright

Scientist: E. O. Wilson: A Life in Nature by Richard Rhodes / Doubleday

100 Plants to Feed the Monarch: Create a Healthy Habitat to Sustain North America’s Most Beloved Butterfly by the Xerces Society / Storey Publishing, LLC

100 Plants to Feed the Bees: Provide a Healthy Habitat to Help Pollinators Thrive by the Xerces Society / Storey Publishing, LLC

Journal of Insect Conservation by Springer Link

The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices by Eric Toensmeier / Chelsea Green Publishing

Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers by Mark Shepard / Acres U.S.A.

Farming the Woods: An Integrated Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests by Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel / Chelsea Green Publishing

The Food Forest Handbook: Design and Manage a Home-Scale Perennial Polyculture Garden by Darrell Frey and Michelle Czolba / New Society Publishers

Mongabay Journalism Series on Insects

Arthro-Pod Podcast

Bug Talk Podcast

Lovin’ Learnin’ about Bugs Podcast

Bugs and Stuff Podcast

2 Million Blossoms Podcast