Exploring Nature: Helpful I

nsects We all know that birds eat lots of insects — many which would otherwise devour beneficial farm crops. However, not all insects are harmful and many play a major role in maintaining healthy soil, pollinating crops and controlling pests.

My personal favorite is probably the dragonfly, a real skeeter eater. Dragonflies eat lots of mosquitoes, which are notorious carriers of infectious diseases, including malaria. Some dragonflies consume hundreds in a single day.

I am also a fan of the doodle bug, or dung beetle if you prefer its more formal name. This insect helps promote plant growth, reduce disease, disperse seeds and aerate the soil.

Only 0.5% of the world’s insects damage crops. In fact, as shown by the dung beetle, they often increase crop yields by reducing weeds and improving the soil.

Insects are also excellent food for birds, and 91% of North American birds feed insects to their young.

Also, who can forget the huge role bees play in pollinating plants? The 4,000 native bee species provide invaluable ecological services.

If you’d like to help these critical critters, consider planting native gardens and conserving natural habitats. And please cut out killer pesticides.

And I hope you are not a person who rakes leaves from your yard and bags them for a landfill. That’s a very wasteful and short-sighted activity. Far better to leave the leaves to help make a great mulch and create habitat for wildlife, including overwintering butterfly larvae.

Fall is a great time for planting and transplanting. If you get plants in the ground before the soil freezes, they will establish roots critical for longterm survival. Fall is also a good time to sow milkweed seeds.

All in all, I hope you have a fabulous fall.