Insects are dying. And that’s not good news.

Insects don’t get much love. Losing them, however, can cause serious repercussions for our ecosystem and economy. Here’s why we should care.

Is your blood type O? Be flattered. You’re twice as attractive to the mosquito as those with Type A blood. That’s not all. The more you exhale, the more irresistible you become as the carbon dioxide you expel is akin to a breath of fresh air for these bloodsuckers. Pesky affection like this can be hard to fend off, and it’s no wonder that creepy, crawling, and flying critters get a bad rap. But before you go on a swatting frenzy on every insect that lands on you, here are some reasons to appreciate their bugging existence. 

Pests can be pollinators too

Not all mosquitoes suck blood. Their main source of food is flower nectar. Like bees, mosquitoes are pollinators, carrying pollen from flower to flower as they feed. Although they don’t pollinate crops that feed us, mosquitoes are important pollinators for thousands of plant species, including orchids. 

Then there are the irritating flies, such as the biting midges. A bite from these nasties can be itchy and painful. However, without them, you and I will not have any chocolate to savor. These flies are the exclusive pollinators of the cocoa tree, from which we get our mood-regulating chocolate. That said, about a third of what goes on your dinner plate is pollinated by animal pollinators such as bees, ants, wasps, moths, beetles, hummingbirds, and bats - some of which we consider ‘detestable pests’.

The importance of pollinators

Roughly 35% of the world’s food crops are dependent on animal pollinators, most of them insects. Remove all these creepy crawlies and we are looking at approximately US$577 billion in annual crop risk globally. While some staples like cereal grains do not rely on animal pollination, studies show that crop production would drop by around 5% in more affluent countries, and 8% in lower-income countries if pollinators disappear. These figures are just the tip of the iceberg and climbing, as they reflect the importance of pollinators in agriculture. Furthermore, pollination helps support biodiversity and ecological balance for a thriving agricultural industry.

Truth be told, our ecosystem and food security will be in shambles without these pollinators (or pests in some of our dictionaries). There would be no food chain without insects if not for them breaking down waste, recycling soil nutrients, and pollinating crops for our consumption. What may be pests to humans are food for spiders, fishes, birds, bats, reptiles, and amphibians. In a world devoid of insects, the soil on which we grow our food will be infertile. Over 300,000 plants will perish, animals will be emaciated, weeds and waste will accumulate, and humankind will simply decline. Your dinner plate will be reduced to a slice of wind-pollinated bread. There will be no fruits or vegetables, and no meat protein. 

Pollinators are in trouble. And so are we. 

Insects have crawled around for 480 million years, long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. They’re super survivors, outlasting five mass extinctions in history. However, research from recent years has shown that pollinators are now under serious threat. More than 40% of insect pollinators are facing extinction due to habitat loss, intensive agriculture practices, diseases, pesticide use, and climate change. 

A quarter of the world’s largest Amazon rainforest is no longer. Borneo, the third largest island in the world, has had half its forests wiped out. Indonesia now tops the world with the highest rate of deforestation - all of which leads to large-scale habitat loss for precious pollinators and other wildlife. Furthermore, the practice of monoculture farming is a problem for biodiversity as it reduces plant variety in an area. It also limits the food and shelter for other animal species and beneficial insects that can help control pests naturally. As the risk of pest outbreaks and diseases increases, it calls for more use of pesticides that will potentially kill off even more insects.  

In retaliation to all these human impacts, climate change throws raging temperatures, floods, droughts, and other weather extremes that alter the flowering time of many plant/crop species. This disruption throws off the natural reproduction synchronization between flowering plants and pollinators; and turns the biological clock of pollinators upside down. 

These foods may no longer be on menus

Dying pests mean that you may never taste your favourite foods again. Reaching for that morning coffee to kick start your day? Or a chocolate bar to satiate your mid-day craving? Well, you can kiss them goodbye. 

Vegetables and fruits such as apples, kiwis, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and mangoes will either cost a lot more or completely disappear. The loss of pollinators will drastically impact the lower-income countries whose cash crops include nuts, avocadoes, vanilla, coffee, and cocoa.

Source: Our World In Data

Greater troubles await if the creepy-crawly crisis persists

The world’s insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to 2% per year. And fewer insects mean less food. For the farmers who rely on these tiny critters to keep their soils fertile and pollinate their crops, the demise of insects will mean a huge loss of income. Some of the world’s poorest countries (and farmers) will be badly hit economically. Fresh produce will drop substantially. The cost of food will go up, as will the risk of unbalanced diets, malnutrition, and human health problems.

As unassuming as insects may seem, they make up the intricate web of life. If they are gone,  their natural predators (and the predators of these predators) will have nothing to feed on. Invasive pests will thrive as enemies will no longer be preying on them. Pest outbreaks and diseases will erupt as waste piles up. One can only begin to imagine the dire consequences that follow: the collapse of the insect kingdom will break ecosystems. Global food security and human nutrition will be compromised. World hunger will worsen and economies will suffer. 

Is there hope for the critter colony?

The current rate of global deforestation is causing an apocalypse of insects. For insects to survive, their natural habitats need to be intact. While priority should be given to rainforest protection, conservation efforts can start small on farmlands, ecological corridors, and areas that will allow insects to retreat and nest. Farmers need to be educated on the perils of monoculture farming. What we need isn’t intensive agriculture, but nature-loving agriculture that can resurrect the insect kingdom and increase yields. Farmers can help restore ecosystems by planting flowers and hedges in their fields and between crops. This will encourage pollinators and beneficial insects to thrive and to control pest outbreaks naturally without the need for more toxic pesticides and fertilizers. With fewer pesticide applications, critter colonies can recover and recycle nutrients for healthier soil, more robust crops, and better nutrition for everyone.

All these efforts cannot be underestimated as they do more than save the insects. The work from this chain reaction cascades down to ultimately save us, humans. By rescuing insects, forests can regenerate, flora and fauna will flourish, our food chain will be more secure, and we might stand a better chance of fighting climate change.  

And for these reasons, we will probably want insects to continue their existence.

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Written by Jillian Wong

Jillian Wong is a seasoned copywriter with over 15 years of writing experience. She is a content writer and a contributing talent at Chanceupon.co where she blogs about the gig economy and the power of multiple careers. With an opinion on just about any subject, Jillian has written countless articles on new technology, interior decor, sanitaryware, jewelry, and more. When her fingers are not on the keyboard, you can find her working on her jewelry brand.

References:

Margaret Lawrence, Protecting Pollinators Critical to Food Production, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, (10 June 2022)

Why bees matter, FAO, (20 May 2018)

Hannah Ritchie, How much of the world’s food production is dependent on pollinators? Our World In Data, (2 Aug 2021)

Julia Janicki, Gloria Dickie, Simon Scarr, and Jitesh Chowdhury, The Collapse of Insects, Reuters, (6 Dec 2022)

Nordström, K., Dahlbom, J., Pragadheesh, V. S., Ghosh, S., Olsson, A., Dyakova, O., Suresh, S. K., & Olsson, S. B., In situ modeling of multimodal floral cues attracting wild pollinators across environments, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (27 Nov 2017)

Insect declines are a stark warning to humanity, UN Environment Program

Jeremy Hance, The Great Insect Dying: A global look at a deepening crisis, Mongabay, (3 Jun 2019)

Jeremy Hance, The Great Insect Dying: The tropics in trouble and some hope, Mongabay, (10 Jun 2019)

Jeremy Hance, The Great Insect Dying: How to save insects and ourselves, Mongabay, (13 Jun 2019)