Insect Friends and Foes

by Joanna MacKenzie

Insect: such a simple word with so many associations. This one word represents the more than 1 million species of six-legged, segmented and exoskeleton-bearing creatures that inhabit the earth. But, what is the first thing that enters your mind when you hear this simple word? Chances are, your thoughts will roam to the negative associations that we have with many insects: the pesky and damaging insects in your crops, insect pests in your home, insects that contaminate your foods and insects that, for no arguable reason, many of us simply do not like. You may ponder on the wireworm that munches your crops, the wasps and hornets that sting as you innocently pick blueberries, or the ants that ruin your picnic or invade your kitchen. But what about the insects that pollinate our crops, recycle nutrients, keep other pests in check and function as valuable tools? Consider the honey bee that pollinates our crops and supplies delicious honey, the beetles that feed on our wastes to provide valuable nutrients to our crops, or the parasitoid wasp that preys on insect pests.

Ask the same question to a group of entomologists, those who make their living studying insects, and you may receive a very different response. To entomologists, insects are important tools that can reveal much about the world we share, provide insight into the distant past, and even predict what the future may have in store. After attending the Joint Annual Meeting of the Canadian Entomological Society and the Entomology Society of Ontario, held this past October in Ottawa, my eyes have been opened to the revealing insect-centered science being performed on many fronts.

Having been involved in agricultural research for the past four years, I tend to focus on the insect pests that plague Canadian farmers; creatures such as the wireworm, swede midge, cucumber beetle and aphid. Much work is indeed being conducted in Canada to develop tools to understand, monitor and manage such pests. Yet, throughout the agricultural talks presented at the conference, there were few pro-insecticide talks, but instead, much research is currently focused on the use of beneficial organisms, the development of reduced risk products, and the impacts of management practices on insect population levels and diversity. There was a heavy emphasis on the need to understand the biology and ecology of our insect pests.

Such an understanding is required before integrated approaches to management can be developed. These tactics fit very well within the realm of organic farming, as is exemplified by the recent Canadian Organic Farmer Survey of Research Needs conducted by the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. Organic farmers expressed a stronger desire for research to identify strategies for cultural management and the enhancement of natural enemies of pests over the development of organically approved insecticides.

Beyond the farm, the evolutionary biologist in me was excited to see how the study of insects can reveal interesting and important insights into adaptation and evolution. Insect behaviours can often be intriguing to observe, think of bum-wiggling bees relaying the location of a food source to their hive-mates, but can also divulge secrets of social structuring and natural selection. Insects are also valuable tools in the study of genetics – much of the understanding of our own genetics would yet be veiled if not for important work focused on the lowly fruit fly!

There are also those who study insects out of a feeling of pure joy! Such people scour the globe to find those species that give them that tingle of excitement. In doing so, these people are documenting the biodiversity of the world around us and expanding the known repertoire of functions that insects perform. Insect fossil records and museum collections can provide clues about the past conditions of the globe, while shifting insect distributions and morphology can reveal insights into possible outcomes of climate change.

It is amazing just how much can be gleaned from the examination of the very creatures that so many of us fear or despise. Let us now play our word association game one more time. If I say the word ‘insect’, what thoughts come to mind? Hopefully you will now think of insect friends along with insect foes.


Joanna MacKenzie, M.Sc., is a Research Assistant II for OACC. Please send comments or questions by phone to 902-893-7256 or by email to oacc@nsac.ca.


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Posted November 2009