We were attracted by the colours reflected by the pond across the Shebeshekong Road from the Shawanaga gas station. After a careful look we saw this bonus….
The GBH was slowly walking amongst the rushes and lilies looking for minnows …
Then it checked out the photographer ….
Aha! Lunch!
Gulp! …
Swallowing another one …
Going deep for more morsels …
Vertical study….
Insect Info
I have recently had some discussions about human population growth and the changes in population of other fauna. This estimate was a surprise to me:
Recent figures indicate that there are more than 200 million insects for each human on the planet. An article in The New York Times claimed that the world holds 300 pounds of insects for every pound of humans. Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. Their population is estimated as 107–108 billion.
This Smithsonian article adds some flesh to the estimates of insect population.
It has long been recognized and documented that insects are the most diverse group of organisms, meaning that the numbers of species of insects are more than any other group. In the world, some 900 thousand different kinds of living insects are known. This representation approximates 80 percent of the world’s species. The true figure of living species of insects can only be estimated from present and past studies. Most authorities agree that there are more insect species that have not been described (named by science) than there are insect species that have been previously named. Conservative estimates suggest that this figure is 2 million, but estimates extend to 30 million. In the last decade, much attention has been given to the entomofauna that exists in the canopies of tropical forests of the world. From studies conducted by Terry Erwin of the Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Entomology in Latin American forest canopies, the number of living species of insects has been estimated to be 30 million. Insects also probably have the largest biomass of the terrestrial animals. At any time, it is estimated that there are some 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive.
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What’s Causing the Sharp Decline in Insects, and Why It Matters
Lots to learn, eh?
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