appeared in the distance. We walked through tall grass and soon caught the stench of a dead animal. A cow had died, never retrieved by the farmer, and was now bloated from extreme heat. Standing downhill from the carcass, we could peer into the open body cavity. We saw some movement. Out crawled a mother’ possum looking a bit disturbed, her babies further back in a nest of cow hair and dried stomach contents. Maggot flies swirled as she exited, and she stopped to snap at a few flying around her head. Wasps, scavenger beetles of an indeterminable lot, and ants scurried about as she left.
She returned later to her home, nursery, and food pantry. The insects helped further decomposition and provided food for predators, we were reminded. The’ possum was the“ star of the show,” but insects also played critical supporting roles in this drama.
On a trip back to campus a swarm of June bugs smacked against my windshield. These fat, clumsy flying beetles chose this time to appear in big numbers. Turning on the wipers, a frothy smear was no match for washer fluid. I had to stop and clean the glass.“ Opportunists” was the term the professor used; the conditions happened to be just right for this population explosion.
But nothing compared to the wave of cicada emergence later that summer. Predictions of a healthy annual cicada appearance, along with the periodic 13-year hatching, made this coemergence a big“ must see.” Cicada biology made the front page of the local paper, and we were primed to witness this glorious event.
With their noisy and peculiar lifestyle, cicadas can actually help trees. Small limbs where eggs are laid eventually die and drop to the ground creating a pruning effect. The nymphs that hatch burrow below ground and move while feeding on roots, aerating soils. Birds and squirrels feast on cicadas during their mass emergence, but large numbers are likely to outstrip any capacity to control them. Surplus dead cicada bodies rot and add organic fertilizer to forest plants.
Inter-relationships of plants to animals, insects to plants, and insects to animals, while a foundation to ecologic understanding, continue
to reveal dependencies. These relationships may be easy to see, or appear subtle, minute. This is a reliance we cannot disregard. These associations can be a great mystery, challenge, and hope. The more we know, the more we need to know. Sound science and biology remain key. May we all view insects in a more positive light. •
To inquire about this or other articles, contact the author at: jpeagleman @ gmail. com
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