Insects play an important role in the natural world throughout the year. During winter, when most species are in suspended animation as eggs or pupae, these primary consumers provide important nourishment for birds and small mammals. Come spring, as the soil thaws, new vegetation appears and the ponds open, they begin to emerge; the tide of their recovery peaks by early summer and continues until the frosty nights of autumn.
Today's hot, humid weather has the annual cicadas buzzing for the first time this season. Down at the local wetland, hordes of dragonflies were hunting across the still waters, where whirligig beetles made frenzied patterns on the surface. Mosquitoes will rise from the marsh this evening and fireflies will flash from residential trees and shrubs, delighting adults and children alike. Then, of course, there are the numerous beetles, butterfies, moths, flies, crickets, grasshoppers and other insects that inhabit our woodlands and fields.
Checking the explosive population of these prolific creatures are the many secondary consumers: fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles, birds and small mammals. Were in not for their hunting skills, we would soon be overrun by the bugs of summer!
