insect-hunt-sm

Educational event for Botanical Society, at Durban Botanic Gardens.

The first talk, entitled “Insects at work”, showed the important role insects play in nature, as farmers (pollinating flowers and dispersing plants seeds), in the food supply chain (eating each other and being eaten), and in the waste management and recycling department. Insects, in a tight partnership with plants, are the bedrock of the rest of nature (outside of the oceans).

Most of the folk then took part in an insect hunt experiment of sorts: the aim was to spot and record as many insects as possible in eight designated sampling sites, half of which were indigenous, half exotic plants

What’s the big deal with invasive alien plants? Why all the fuss? Well when you look at the role insects play in nature, and how invasive aliens stop insects doing their job, it all starts to make sense. This was the subject of the second talk, which asked the crucial question, “So DO insects live everywhere?”