Don’t touch that bug
Bug, insect, invertebrate – it’s not too late to discover just how important and valuable they are, says Paul Hetherington of Buglife in the UK
I love bugs. And insects.
I didn’t use to, but now I can’t stop watching them. I could stare at them for hours – all day, even – doing whatever it is they’re doing in the garden.
I even have to beg people not to kill them on sight or “play” with them, as most are wont to do. I get that they consider some bugs and insects as pests, but still.
Oh, and I also feel guilty when I accidentally squish one. (I’m so sorry.)
Yes, I know that sounds weird, and it makes me look weird, but that’s… me.
But wait, do I even know what I’m talking about? There’s still some confusion about what classifies as a bug, an insect and an invertebrate. We might have been using the term “bugs” loosely all this time.
“True bugs are actually an order of insects that include shield bugs, aphids, cicadas, bed bugs, and many other species that share a common arrangement of sucking mouth parts,” says Paul Hetherington, director of fundraising and communications at Buglife.
“However, the term is more generally applied to the majority of invertebrates, hence its use in the name Buglife, which is short for The Invertebrate Conservation Trust.”
Paul is referring to Buglife’s origins. Founded as The Invertebrate Conservation Trust in 2000 before becoming Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust in 2002, Buglife is a UK-based organisation that’s working towards the conservation of all invertebrates while helping to stop their decline and extinction.
He clears things up for us even further:
• Invertebrates
“Invertebrates are a species of animal that have no backbone. The majority have exoskeletons, such as insects, but some have no skeleton-like structure, such as jellyfish. Invertebrates in fact make up over two-thirds of known species on the planet, and can be found living on all continents, at the depths of the ocean floor and the bottom of the darkest caves. Spiders, shellfish, lobsters and crabs are also all invertebrates.”
• Insects
“Insects are a class of hexapod (six-legged animals), part of the arthropod phylum. Their key characteristics are six legs, three body parts, compound eyes and a pair of antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals with more than a million different species.”
Now that we’ve got that sorted
What are some of Paul’s favourite things about bugs, and most importantly bugs in the UK?
“Bugs are the key workers for life on our planet – the equivalent of the support staff in a business,” he answers.
“We barely notice what they do, but everything would fall apart quickly if they disappeared. Making our soils rich by breaking down rotten vegetation, animal excrement and dead bodies, or pollinating our food crops and rich diversity of wildflowers are just a few of these essential services that bugs provide.
“Without pollinators, we would lose eight out of 10 of our UK wildflowers, all but two species of bird (the Crossbill and a carrion feeder), and the majority of our beloved fruit and vegetables.”
So how did his love for bugs start? “From childhood, I have always been fascinated with bugs, the safari in your own backyard. Incredible as it seems, you can see more rare species looking at bugs in the UK than you are likely to encounter on an African safari.
“Also as a life-long organic gardener, I appreciate the key role bugs play in nurturing and protecting our gardens and allotments.”
And how did he find himself working towards their survival? “I now work with bugs as 10 years ago, a new job came up to start the fundraising and communications department at Buglife, and I felt this was a challenge worth taking on.”
It’s not just a challenge, though
It also looks like a mammoth task. According to Buglife, “Studies from around the world show that 41 per cent of insect species are in decline, and a third are at risk of extinction”. The reasons for these include “habitat loss, pollution, pathogens and non-native species, and climate change”.
It feels disheartening and hopeless – like such an uphill battle – to hear this. But Paul tells us not to be, because there is one step we can do right now…
“The great thing about saving invertebrates is that we can all, as individuals, make a difference even if just by planting up a window box with the right plants to create the equivalent of a motorway service station,” he says.
“Also because invertebrate life cycles are generally short – over a period of five years – you can start to see a tangible difference from the work you have done.
“The key thing is to remember how important these small animals are to us, the hum and buzz of life,” he states. Think of it like this: “In pure monetary value, pollination is worth over half a billion pounds per annum to UK farming. The work of the dung beetle alone is over a quarter of a billion pounds per annum.
“Replacing just pollination would add an extra £2 billion to the annual cost of our food,” he adds. “And finally, without midges there would be no chocolate, as midges pollinate the cocoa plant.”
If you really want to help
Buglife conducts projects and events that aim to raise awareness about invertebrates and the problems they face. They also spearhead different campaigns; get involved in the creation of legislation and policies that affect invertebrates; and support other invertebrate-related programmes in the UK and worldwide.
In terms of campaigns, Paul shares his own personal tips, observations and takeaways about some of them here. (Click on their titles to learn more.) They could inspire us to move beyond that first step of having just a window box with plants.
“We can all play a role in preventing insect extinction. Firstly, we can learn to understand and love these vital animals for the huge service they provide – and then we can start to take simple actions, such as stopping using pesticides and herbicides; growing plants that are insect-friendly; not using peat-based products; reducing our energy and water consumption; and adding insect homes as features to our homes and gardens. The really great thing is much of these can be done at no cost, and indeed can save us money as well as save species.”
“Some brownfield sites have become incredible havens for wildlife. The open mosaic habitats they create (a patchwork quilt of differing habitats in one space) provide the ideal living spaces for so many of our rarest species, many of which have been lost in the countryside. Creating a theme park with exhibits of long-lost animals is a disaster when its creation means the potential extinction of some of our rarest species.”
• PotWatch
“Many people are completely unaware of the damage done to nature in our country by invasive non-native species. The arrival of flatworms in an area sees on average a 20 per cent fall in the number of earthworms present, and a knock-on effect on soil productivity. Most of these species have come in on imported plants in pots, an area the UK has a £1 billion trade deficit, and here we are talking bedding plants, vegetable plants and trees, not just cacti.”
“This is the most taboo form of pollution seldom mentioned, and is seemingly at loggerheads with drives to increase human safety at night. But the reality is a third of insects that are affected by light pollution die as a direct consequence either by collision or predation, so it is not just about glow worms. We often think having solar lights in our gardens is a green measure, but it is in fact very damaging to biodiversity. Lights should be off when not needed, or shielded. Just drawing your curtains at night has a positive impact on light pollution.”
(I didn’t know about this. This bothers me a lot.)
“Pesticides are not species-specific. You may use them to kill aphids, but they at the same time kill natural predators such as ladybirds and lacewings. The consequence of this is an ever-increasing circle of pesticide dependency and consequential accumulation of toxins in our soils and waterways. Pesticide-free, and adding features such as beetle banks to attract natural predators, saves money on chemicals and prevents crop destruction.”
There’s more
According to Paul, “Buglife also carries out extensive on-the-ground conservation work, such as developing and creating the B-Lines insect superhighways, peat bog restoration, species preservation through captive breeding, habitat creation and translocation.”
This probably explains why he counts the following Buglife milestones as worth celebrating: “The completion of mapping the B-Lines network in 2021, the culmination of 10 years working on a county-by-county basis to create these insect superhighways,” he cites.
“Saving Coul Links from development in 2020 as the only home for the endemic Fonseca’s seed fly, having SSSI status conferred on Swanscombe Marshes in 2021, and before that Canvey Wick (the first invertebrate-designated site in the UK) opened as a nature reserve in 2015.”
And then there’s also “getting a global ban on Cypermethrin sheep dip and a European one on neonicotinoid insecticides following campaigning, and the synthesis of research papers to build the evidence base for why this is bad for us”.
Insects need you
If the above sounds distant, scientific and technical (at least to me), don’t worry – you can still contribute in so many other ways.
Whether people think or care about it or not, we have a relationship with insects that’s worth recognising, maintaining and improving. Obviously, they don’t have a voice, so we must be that voice for them. So how do we achieve all of that? To begin, Paul says we have to realise that:
• We need them more than they need us
“We need to understand how we and all other life depends on insects for life as we know it.” He quotes Sir David Attenborough: “If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world’s ecosystems would collapse.”
“We need to stop considering them as pests and problems, and appreciate them for what they do and what they can provide. Insect protein is very rich and far cheaper from production and carbon cost to produce, and may be essential to feed the world in the future.
“There is also so much we can learn from invertebrates, be it developing similar tools for complex operations such as injections or potential disease cures from wasp stings. Don’t forget the horseshoe crab is essential for testing the safety of all vaccines, as its blood changes colour to indicate the presence of impurities.”
• We need to put ourselves in their shoes
“We need to personify the insects. For instance, if a wasp was a human, we could understand why they might sting in August. Basically, they are born into a job for life (go out and bring back tasty food for the larvae), and the pay is a sweet substance from the larvae.
“Then in August, there are no more larvae, so effectively there’s mass unemployment. Addicts without a sweet source of food, they set off to find something to satisfy their craving. This is when there is an abundance of ripe fruit, which by being ripe is mildly alcoholic. Sadly, wasps are bad drunks – hence why they interfere with our picnics hunting sweet food, and can become aggressive when we threaten them by waving our arms around.
“We should offer pity and support, not vilification and a swat.”
We can do that
We can also support Buglife by becoming a member, making a donation, and signing up to their newsletter and social media platforms.
And then we need to start looking after our own humble gardens and spaces as well. It doesn’t matter how small they are. “The Buglife website has a wealth of tips, hints and ideas to make your patch more bug-friendly, whether you just have a patio or hundreds of acres,” Paul says. “Check it out to see how you can help save the small things that run the planet.”
To end this post on a positive note, let’s ask Paul about the best things he’s learnt and experienced so far at Buglife.
#1 The life cycles of bugs
This, he says, is from a learning perspective. “For instance, the stag beetle – our largest beetle – spends around seven years as a larvae before emerging as an adult that will live for just a fortnight, since the incredible antlers are in fact a distortion of its mandibles, meaning it is unable to eat, just drink. While the crane fly (daddy long legs) will live just 24 hours, as it has no mouth.”
#2 Rare sightings
This is from a “visual-experience” perspective. “Seeing the importance for rare invertebrates of some of the brownfield sites, such as Canvey Wick, where I have seen two of our rarest bumblebees – the Shrill and Brown-banded carder bees – and a host of other rare invertebrates” has been incredible for him.
We also ask Paul about his all-time favourite invertebrates. (Of course.)
#1 The stag beetle
“The stag beetle is a personal favourite, as it is such a big, chunky and elegant beetle, if somewhat an erratic flier that I remember being common where I grew up in rural Suffolk, but is sadly now rare.”
#2 The lacewing
“As a gardener, I love the pest patrols, especially the lacewing, which eats literally thousands of aphids but at the same time is immensely pretty.”
#3 The pill woodlouse
“The pill woodlouse has also been a personal favourite. I just love the way it can curl into a tight ball, and looks like a kind of minute armadillo. It also has a strong resemblance to the ancient trilobites, a fossil that has always fascinated.”
#4 Dragonflies
“They are so majestic, fast-flying and iridescent of colour, and a great scourge of mosquitoes,” he concludes.
This one hits me hard, and the timing is perfect. During a recent conversation that somehow had us talking about dragonflies, we reminisced about how often we’d see them in gardens and parks as kids. Because of this and Paul’s quote, I realised (with horror) that I have not seen a single dragonfly in ages. Years. It made my heart sink. Where are they? Yikes.
Maybe I’m being overly dramatic. Regardless, it’s about time that we help out and – as Paul suggested – put up a window box of plants of our own, and go from there. What do you think?
Find Buglife here and on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. Don’t forget to sign up and check out their campaigns.