Insects and other tiny creatures you can't see play a huge role in the cottage-country ecosystem

Insects and other tiny creatures play a huge role in the cottage-country ecosystem. It’s high time that we notice their work

BY JACKIE DAVIS

SPENDING TIME AT the cottage involves spending time with creepy-crawlies, whether you love them or you hate them. Dock spiders and mosquitoes and water striders and bees…it’s a never-ending list. And those are only the ones that you actually see on a regular basis. Insects alone make up about 80 per cent of the world’s species, and they all play a huge role in the ecosystem. “Ants are often under-appreciated for all that they do,” says Bob Anderson, an entomologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature and a long-time CL source for all things buggy. “Tiny parasitoid wasps that people will never notice keep insect populations in check. Fly maggots, meanwhile, aid in decomposition of animal and plant material.” And some of the most miniscule of our cottage-country beasts—including minute…

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Cottage Life (Digital) - 1 Issue, June/July 2024

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