My work often brings me into contact with people trying to protect and promote birds, butterflies, bees, and other creatures. Like everyone with common interests, our conversations often converge on bad news topics.

In 2021, it seemed like “nativars” were high on the list. Those are varieties of native plants bred for popular appeal to humans but which often have less value to insects.

In 2022, invasive jumping worms were a big part of the chatter. These worms churn soil in deleterious ways and are very difficult to remove.

In 2023, the buzz seems to center on the absence of insects, particularly monarch butterflies and bees. Some comments include, “I haven’t seen a monarch this year.” Or “Where did all the honeybees go?” Or “We didn’t see a single bumblebee this spring.”

These comments may be symptomatic of insect declines or represent someone’s hope for the reassurance that comes when pollinators visit our pollinator projects. The comments may also be a sign of rising anxiety about nature.

Furthermore, they may reflect the belief that only bees and butterflies pollinate plants. Moths, wasps, beetles, flies, and ants pollinate many plants. As much as 65% of all pollination occurs in darkness, most of it by moths, according to Emily May, pollinator conservation specialist at Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Even though insects are sometimes hard to see and their habits hard to understand, experts remind us they will be present in surprising numbers if we supply the right plant food and nesting habitat.

725 Species and Counting

Many years ago, Middletown resident Brian Stewart became curious about the quantity of hidden insect life after attending a bioblitz, an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period.

Stewart’s curiosity evolved into a question: How many species of insects existed in his quarter-acre backyard? He started tracking, photographing, and identifying insects in 2009 with no expectations of how many insect species he would find.

“I assumed I’d find a lot of new species at first and eventually run out of new ones,” he says.

Imagine his surprise that, sixteen years later, he has photographed and identified 725 insect varieties in his quarter-acre, of which 123 are butterflies and moths. Furthermore, the number of new species hasn’t slowed.

During a recent visit to his yard, I watched him tracking Tumbling Flower Beetles (Tolidomordella discoidea).

“I never saw this species before this year, but they’re here, and they’re numerous,” he says of the little beetles, which are between one-eighth of an inch and one-fourth of an inch, or four millimeters long. He photographs them with special macro lenses, which offer short focusing distances and take sharp images of tiny subjects.

Sometimes, he photographs insects only one to two millimeters long—say one-sixteenth inch. “Those are at the limit of the lens’ capability to capture a clear image,” says Stewart who, when he’s not taking pictures of bugs in his backyard, is a professor of physics at Wesleyan University.

Stewart participates in a crowd-sourced science website hosted by the University of Iowa. “My Tumbling Flower Beetle report is the only one on BugGuide.net from a New England state; the few other reports are from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, and Oklahoma only,” he says. He speculates that the beetles’ arrival may have something to do with weather—or climate—but can’t confirm that.

As his adventure developed, he learned to make friends with the insects by significantly reducing yard care and adding native plants. He “leaves the leaves” and “saves the stems” to create a winter habitat. He believes this practice, along with his location near a forested city park, has helped amplify the diversity of insects he finds.

Stewart periodically publishes a free email newsletter. To find out more, contact bstewart@wesleyan.edu.

But What About Monarchs?

Sadly, if you saw fewer monarch butterflies this year, it’s probably not your imagination. It’s likely the result of a diminished migration from the starting point in Mexico. A WorldWildlife.org press release in March 2023 reported, “In just one year, the presence of monarch butterflies in their wintering grounds dropped 22%, from 7 acres to nearly 5.5. acres” (Source: WorldWildlife.org).

Kelsey Fisher, Ph.D., an entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), shows a graph from MonarchWatch.org. “Monarch departures from Mexico have been tracked for several decades, so we know their overall numbers starting are only about 20% of what they were in the early 1990s,” she says. She also notes year-to-year variations.

The significant causes of monarch decline are well documented: Loss of habitat to development along the butterflies’ 2800-mile migration path, degradation of their winter habitat in Mexico, and the widespread use of herbicides.

A host of experts and organizations offer the same essential solution to individuals who want to help monarchs: Plant milkweed species for the caterpillars, plant nectar plants for adult monarchs, and plant them everywhere—as close together as possible within neighborhoods, cities, and towns.

CAES’ Kelsey Fisher says local research shows three species of native milkweeds are most valuable for monarch support in our region. Those include common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), butterfly weed (A. tuberosa), and swamp milkweed (A. incarnata). Don’t be deterred by the name of Swamp Milkweed. This beautiful flowering plant lives well in average garden soil.

If you already have milkweed growing this year, allow the plants to stand until about October 15 even if their appearance declines. All migrating monarchs will leave our area by then. However, removing the seed pods is fine if they become messy.

To learn more about planting and creating habitat for monarchs, you can read work by authors such as Douglas Tallamy, Heather Holm, and follow the work of organizations such as Monarch Watch, Journey North, Pollinator Pathway, National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife, and Homegrown National Park.

Also, all are welcome to join the annual monarch tagging event at Meigs Point Nature Center, located within the Hammonasset State Park, on Sat. Sept. 30, 9 a.m. to noon with a rain date of Sunday, Oct 1. All ages are welcome. Bring a net for catch and release, or borrow one supplied by the group.

Fewer Bees?

Tracy Zarillo is a bee specialist at CAES whose research includes “specialist” bees that require certain plants, how they find those plants, and how long it takes. She is also part of a project that studies which bees use the resources of forest canopies, forest understory, edges, and interior.

As for the perception that there are fewer bees overall, Zarillo says some of the state’s 380-plus native bee species are thriving. But she adds, “Others, not so much. The story depends on which species you are talking about.” For instance, a couple of bumblebee species have not been seen in the state since the 1990s, and another has not been seen since 2006. She points out that other bumblebee species are doing very well.

Human awareness of bees is sometimes flawed, she says.

“People are aware of some bees, but not others—and they can mistake the absence of a bee they know for an overall decline. Some bees, like sweat bees, are tiny compared to bumblebees or honeybees and can easily be missed.”

She continues, “Bumblebees are easy to recognize because of their size. Bumblebees emerged relatively late due to 2023’s spring weather. That may be one reason people think their numbers are down.”

As for honeybees, Zarillo says, “If someone notices a decline, it could be due to several factors. For example, perhaps a local beekeeper moved the hives away from your area or stopped raising honeybees altogether.” Honeybees typically fly only one to two miles from their nests.

“Also, honeybees have been subject to several stressors recently, and their populations are challenged,” says Zarillo. (Note: Honeybees are not native.)

“The bigger problem is that we are losing diversity within species, as well as losing species, which is different from abundance,” says Zarillo. When local species populations become isolated, they lose genetic diversity, which weakens the population.

“We may also see a decline in some species in Connecticut because their range is shifting northward due to climate change. On the flip side, we are starting to see some southern bee species for the first time, as their range is shifting northward,” she adds. “Bee decline is a very complicated subject because so many factors come into play.”

Zarillo urges homeowners and community groups to remember that support for bees has two major thrusts. First, it’s essential to plant the right plants for pollen and nectar. “For instance, make sure that you have fall flowers available, especially for aster specialists and bumblebee queens,” she says.

Remember that nesting habitat is as critical as flowers, she says.

Bees have various nesting habits, a fact that sometimes confuses people. While honeybees are famous for their hives, few other bee species use this nesting strategy.

Some bees are ground-nesters, including many bumblebees. They require patches of bare, open ground. Piles of small brush clippings and leafy duff are helpful to bumblebees as well.

About 20% of the state’s 380 native bees are “cavity nesters” that use the piths of flower and shrub stalks for nesting, according to Zarillo. The canes of brambles, such as raspberries, are also helpful for cavity nesters.

Others nest in dead wood. Leave some sticks and dead-standing wood (“snags”).

“In general, try not to shred the leaves,” she says. “Whole leaves make better overwintering sites for many invertebrates, including bumblebees and caterpillars. And they may harbor butterfly eggs and chrysalis.”

CAES offers extensive pollinator resources. Visit portal.ct.gov/CAES/ and use the search bar to locate information.

A few things are universal in each of these stories. Our ability to see insects and their complex lives is limited.

More importantly, our landscape practices make a difference to insects, whether they are charismatic butterflies or near-invisible beetles. Build a landscape friendly to insects, and they will come. If enough of us do so, they may even thrive.

Kathy Connolly writes about landscapes and ecology from Old Saybrook. Find her speaking schedule on her website, www.SpeakingofLandscapes.com.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Tuesday, Sept. 5 to correct the spelling of Brian Stewart’s name.