How insects can save our planet

This is just one example of what an insect like the Blue-Tailed Damselfly or the Dragonfly can do to save our planet. They are beneficial insects that contribute to a healthy planet in several ways. They act as natural pest control agents by consuming mosquitoes, flies, and other small insects. They also play a role in pollination and are an important food source for various animals. Furthermore, their presence is a positive sign of a freshwater thriving ecosystem, making them valuable bioindicators

Here’s a more detailed look at their contributions:

1. Pest Control:

• Damselflies are predators of various flying insects, including mosquitoes and flies, which can be pests for humans and other animals.
• By controlling the populations of these insects, damselflies help maintain a more balanced ecosystem. 

2. Bio-indicators of Ecosystem Health:

• Damselfly nymphs (larvae) live in freshwater environments and are sensitive to changes in water quality.
• Their presence or absence can indicate the health of a freshwater ecosystem, making them useful bio-indicators.
• For example, a decline in damselfly populations can be a warning sign of pollution or habitat destruction.
• Adult damselflies are also relatively easy to observe and identify, making them accessible for citizen science initiatives to monitor water quality. 

3. Pollination:

• While not as well-known for pollination as bees, damselflies do transfer pollen while feeding on nectar, contributing to the pollination process. 

4. Food Source:

• Damselflies are an important food source for various animals, including birds, fish, and other insects. 
• Their presence in the food web helps maintain the balance of the ecosystem. 

5. Contribution to Biodiversity:

• Damselflies are an important component of biodiversity, and their presence contributes to the overall health and stability of ecosystems.
• Their unique characteristics and roles in the ecosystem make them valuable assets to the planet’s biodiversity. 

In addition to their environmental contribution, insects offer a promising alternative to low-economy food. They are genetically very distinct from humans, so viruses are unlikely to make the jump. They produce only small amounts of greenhouse gas compared to livestock. So just to yield 1kg of protein, a single cow produces 2,850g of greenhouse gas while insects produce just 1g. On top, meat production also guzzles oceans of water – to produce just the same 1kg of beef protein, you’ll need an eye-popping 22,000 litres of H²O. For the same amount of cricket-based protein, you’ll need just 1 litre.

They can be fed on organic waste, such as vegetable peelings and they require only tiny quantities of water. Raising livestock like cattle, pigs and chickens requires vast amounts of land for grazing, feed production and facilities so this often leads to habitat destruction. Insect farming, in contrast, requires a fraction of the space making it a much more sustainable option for land use so fewer resources are needed to produce a high-quality protein source.. We simply need to accept that eating them also known as entomophagy is okay.

Our current eating habits are suffocating the planet. Food production is responsible for almost 60 per cent of global biodiversity loss and contributes to overfishing, climate change and water shortages. In North America or the UK, we’re eating more than two-and-a-half times more meat than the global average, a habit that is to blame for much of the environmental impact of our food system.

The way we produce and consume meat often requires huge amounts of land to grow animal feed, such as soy and maize. Indeed, growing livestock feed is the biggest driver of deforestation on the planet. Fifty per cent (51 million km²) of the Earth’s habitable land is currently given over to agriculture, of that, more than 70 per cent can be attributed to the meat and dairy industry.

Studies on human behaviour show that the way we view our food and the decisions we make about what to eat are controlled by different parts of the brain. It can be hard to change dietary habits, despite what we know about the negative environmental impacts of our choices, as these are already so ingrained. Our decisions are further reinforced by culture, social norms and the influences of the people around us.

There is more and more sustainable diets and behaviour change specialist is researching how food companies can help consumers to veer towards more sustainable diets. Society has significant and often overlooked influences on food choice. These include mass advertising, such as television adverts, internet pop-ups and billboards, as well as menu design and the layout of canteens and supermarkets. For example, placing a product at the end of an aisle in a supermarket subconsciously encourages customers to buy it. In order to change behaviour at scale, it’s vital to analyse, understand and adapt food environments so that they encourage healthier and more sustainable choices.

But a revulsion towards eating bugs is a largely western phenomenon. Two billion people across South America, Asia and Africa currently eat insects regularly and generally always have done. Their choice to consume something with six legs rather than four has nothing to do with a lack of alternative food options or income – many are even considered delicacies.

Ants, for example, are highly sought after in many parts of the world, and about 80 grasshopper species are consumed across the globe. An estimated 9.5 billion mopane caterpillars are harvested annually in South Africa, while in the Chiapas region of Mexico, locals tuck into 27 types of caterpillar, alongside red and white maguey worms. The larvae of yellowjacket wasps are a staple in Japan and, as of 2012, there were some 20,000 cricket farmers in Thailand.

We may recoil at the idea of eating insects, but many of us are consuming them without knowing it. Honey, in its truest essence, is simply bee vomit and if you’ve ever eaten strawberry pencil sweets, pink marshmallows, strawberry yoghurt or red velvet cake, then you’ve probably consumed the cochineal beetle. This species, dried and crushed, produces the red dye (listed as ‘carmine’ or ‘E120’ in lists of ingredients) that gives those food items their characteristic pink hue – and allows food manufacturers to state that they only use natural colourings.

But the fact that we’re consuming the cochineal beetle only in a form used for processed foods means we’re missing out on the nutritional benefits this species could provide. Insects, after all, are highly nutritious. They’re loaded with fibre (largely the insoluble chitin in their exoskeletons), vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, iron and zinc. When dried, crickets contain up to 69g of protein per 100g, compared to beef, which delivers just 19.4g per 100g. And, perhaps surprisingly for their size, insects are also a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids.

As well as their nutritional value, rearing insects for human consumption is far friendlier to the environment than the current food-production systems that we have in place. Insects play a vital role in the world’s natural ecosystems by processing and decomposing biological waste – including leaf litter, dead wood and even animal carcasses. Added to that, they can convert feed to protein more efficiently than livestock: thanks to their cold-blooded body structure, they don’t use energy to maintain body temperature and can therefore devote more to other processes.

Everyone loves to enjoy a toast of honey produced by our wonderful bees for breakfast, so why not integrating insects into our diet, we can alleviate the immense environmental pressure currently exerted by conventional livestock farming, fostering a more sustainable and resilient food system for the planet.