What do chimpanzees, parrots, grizzly bears, bats, and sloths all have in common? They, and many other vertebrates, rely on insects.
A paper published in Nature Biodiversity Reviews highlights the importance of insect biodiversity in supporting vertebrates.
The work was led by Eliza Grames ’21 (CLAS), assistant professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University, and Rob Cooke, senior ecologist at the UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology. Chris Elphick, UConn professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is the corresponding author on the paper.
The review article consolidates hundreds of disparate studies conducted across decades to present a holistic picture of these interactions.
“There wasn’t a really good source of information that comprehensively tries to address all the ways in which vertebrates interact with insects, and so this paper came out of that recognition,” Elphick says. “It’s one of those things that everyone knows is sort of out there. But there was no single place where it’s all pulled together to say just how extensive these interactions are.”
This work comes out of a collaboration that began in 2022 with the creation of the NSF-funded Status of Insects: An International Research Coordination Network. The Network was a direct result of the work Grames did as a Ph.D. student in Elphick’s lab. David Wagner, UConn professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is the principal investigator of the Network. Elphick and Grames are both co-PIs.
One of the working groups within this larger network focuses on the interactions between insects and vertebrates. Elphick, an ornithologist, co-leads this group.
“People who study vertebrates often think about insects,” Elphick says. “But they don’t necessarily think about them as insects, but rather as food for the species they study instead.”
In addition to being a vital source of food for birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, the animal kingdom is filled with unique relationships between insects and vertebrates which the paper highlights.
For example, herons use insects as bait to attract fish; poisonous frogs obtain their toxins from eating ants and beetles; and sloths rely on moths to spur algae – a key nutrient source – to grow in their fur.
“When you put it all together, you realize just how ubiquitous these kinds of interactions are,” Elphick says.
Another key aspect of the review is concerned with the potential impacts of declining insect populations for the vertebrates that rely on them.
Insects comprise an estimated 14-30 million species. In recent years, there have been alarming declines in some insect populations.
“It is pretty clear that insects are declining in a pretty widespread way – not absolutely everywhere, not every insect,” Elphick says. “But all the vertebrates that are out there [including humans] would be, or are being, affected by the loss of insects.”
Understanding the diverse roles insects play in the lives of vertebrates is a critical step in designing effective conservation strategies.
“If you want to have vertebrates, then you’ve got to be thinking about insect conservation, and we don’t do that nearly enough,” Elphick says.
Elphick says he hopes this review can help continue to bring together people who study vertebrates and those who study insects into closer collaborations.
“If you’re not interacting with entomologists, you’re not making the direct connections that you need to make in order to figure out how you ensure that food supply persists into the future,” Elphick says.
