Hold the Doom, save vital goggas
PhD student explains role of insects in web of life, pollinating crops and as a future food source
Insects are important for our survival, despite how we often shy away from them in disgust, Rhodes University PhD student Megan Reid of the Centre for Biological Control told members of Friends of Waters Meeting Nature Reserve in a talk intriguingly titled “Hold the Doom: Insects are our friends (and maybe food)”.
The talk was held at Pikes Post in the grounds of the Bathurst Agricultural Museum on Saturday July 2.
Insects pollinate most of the food crops that sustain us.
“For instance, the decline of bees is forcing Chinese apple farmers to pollinate their orchards by hand,” she said.
Insects also play an important role in the web of life, assisting in the decomposition of organic matter and enriching soil.
“Without termites, it would take 25 to 30 years for dung to disappear.”
One of the many fascinating facts that Reid shared: a dung beetle can roll a ball of dung 1,140 times its own weight – “that’s the equivalent of one of us pulling six double decker buses!”
Some species of insects are more tolerant of pollution than others; the more sensitive ones provide a useful warning system to let us know when danger levels are being reached in our environment.
And before you squash or spray the goggas in your garden, know that many are predators that eat pests on garden plants.
“There is a wasp that lays its eggs in aphids and when they hatch, the babies eat the aphid from the inside out.”
Reid’s area of research is the biological control of the invasive Mexican water lily and she is currently testing a local water weevil that may be effective in combating this problem plant.
“Biological control aims to re-establish balance by introducing insects from the native range of an invasive species. It’s the most costeffective long-term solution.”
She gave the example of water hyacinth on the Hartebeespoort Dam north of Johannesburg, where it had practically covered the entire water surface of the dam, popular with water sports enthusiasts.
A little plant hopper is being mass-reared and introduced to help control the spread of the plant introduced from South America.
Insects can also be an important food source.
“If we ate more of them, we could reduce our use of pesticides.
“What’s more, they are easy to raise in large quantities, can be harvested in a more humane way without using hormones and antibiotics, and they are very nutritious: high in protein, vitamins and minerals.
“Already, 3,071 ethnic groups in 130 countries around the world eat insects. We just need to experiment more.”
Despite being a vegetarian, Reid has tried black fly larva and found it “wasn’t bad”.
She looks forward to one day snacking on mopani worms.
It’s estimated there are some five million species of insects; beetles constitute the most biodiverse group on the planet, with about 380,000 species.
“But worldwide, insects are in decline due to pollution, habitat destruction and climate change. It’s a warning for us.”
Reid said everyone could be part of the solution by increasing insects’ popularity, maintaining their unique habitats in our gardens (rock piles, leaf litter and growing indigenous plants), practicing sustainable agriculture and forestry, and reducing use of pesticides and fertilisers.
She suggested using ecofriendly solutions such as spraying with neem oil, which deters goggas instead of killing them.
She encouraged the audience to become active citizen scientists and to report their finds on sites such as iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org.
Three lucky members of the audience scored in the lucky draw for plants indigenous to Albany thicket: Maryna Shepherd walked off with a taaibos (a Rhus, now reclassified as Searsia), Chris Boyd received a septee (Cordiacaffra) and Michelle Schlodder got a beautiful Moor’s river lily (boslelie or Crinummoorii).
Members of Friends of Waters Meeting Nature Reserve were delighted to meet the new reserve manager, Siphelele Hlazo. He will be based at the Thomas Baines Nature Reserve outside Makhanda and relieves Zimbini Madiza, who was acting manager in the interim and will continue being based at the Bathurst reserve.
Even movie star Nicole Kidman eats bugs: See her YouTube video.