Flying at eye level, a russet, furry, heavy-bodied hummingbird moth whizzes by me in the summer garden. At about half the size of a hummingbird, it has the same quotient of charm. I follow the day-flying, day-feeding moth, captivated by its intelligent eyes and the blur of its wings at high speed, resembling its namesake. Treading air as it extends its extremely long proboscis deep into tubular flowers, the hummer feeds on nectar unreachable by many other insects. While feeding, grains of pollen, male reproductive essence, attach to the moth’s body and are carried to other flowers where they fertilize female flower parts. This life-perpetuating interaction has evolved over millions of years.
A drove of dark dragonflies arrives, wings spread wide, clicking in flight, their aerial maneuvers entertaining as they patrol the garden, sweeping up gnats and mosquitoes.
The industriousness of pollinator hummingbird moths and the effectiveness of carnivorous dragonflies at pest control make possible the work and fruitfulness of the gardener. In addition to the “services” insects provide, our lives are intertwined as a family. Last summer, over the course of three weeks, I observed the gestation and emergence of a monarch butterfly. Attentive to and protective of the development of the new life, it was a kind of human-to-insect midwifery.
My reflections on insects integral to life in the Northeast are prompted and deepened by the publication of “Rebugging the Planet: The Remarkable Things that Insects (and Other Invertebrates) Do – And Why We Need to Love Them More.” Entomologist Vicki Hird, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, elucidates the habitual ways we threaten the foundational creatures of our world – and how to shift perspective and everyday actions to appreciate and support them. Hird’s personable style breaks through the age-old narrow view that paints all insects as pest insects.
Reminiscent of Rachel Carson’s call to action in 1962, Hird brings our current crisis to the public. “Over the past few years, the global media have been reporting on a so-called ‘Insectageddon’ and what a bugless world could mean. They cite the growing body of evidence that the invertebrates, and particularly the insects, are in big trouble … We have to rebug our attitudes and cherish the bugs not only as fellow inhabitants of our planet, but by appreciating the work they do to make it comfortable for us… We need to see bugs as citizens of our planet, with the same right to live and thrive as all humans and creatures.”
“Rebugging the Planet” is an introduction to invertebrates, animals without backbones, who need humans to show some spine, stop killing them indiscriminately, and stick up for them.
