“Our first experience of pain often comes from being bitten by an insect as a child — whether it’s a mosquito or an ant — one that our mothers were trying to protect us from. This early encounter plants the idea that insects are harmful,” says Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, ecologist and senior fellow at the Bengaluru-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). This unfounded fear of insects has led to a predictable outcome: the growth of the pesticide market. Insect studies frequently focus on eradicating them, labeling them as pests. “What we often overlook are the countless ecosystem services that insects provide, from pollination to decomposition, and their role as food for many animals,” he adds.

In a 2017 research paper, Priyadarsanan and team elaborates on the ecosystem services provided by insects: “About 90% of flowering plants depend on an insect to get pollinated; insects consume more vegetation mass than all other herbivores; through predation, parasitism, and scavenging, they kill more animals than any other carnivores; and they are a vital prey base for many species, including humans. The morphological, ecological, and behavioural adaptations attained over a relatively long period of time, and the genetic versatility and diversification attained through coevolution with flowering plants, make insects the most abundant and speciose organisms on earth.”

To popularise the valuable services of insects and generate greater interest in them, Priyadarsanan established The Insect Biosystematics and Conservation Lab at ATREE 25 years ago. The lab is a research facility dedicated to the study and conservation of insects for human wellbeing. “It employs an interdisciplinary approach and focuses on several key areas of research, including insect biosystematics, conservation biology, and studies on edible insects,” according to the lab’s website.

Today, the lab serves as a hub for insect research, housing thousands of insect specimens organised in neat collections. Consider this: Over 600 species of ants out of 800 species, and 450 species of dung beetles out of 500 species found in India, are part of the lab’s collection. In addition, the lab features more than 60 species of grasshoppers, 30 species of bumblebees, and an extensive collection of parasitic wasps.

His colleague, entomologist Sahanashree Ramakrishnan, who specialises in ants, excitedly shares the discovery of a new-to-science species — a metallic blue ant from the Siang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. “We named it Neela, which means blue,” she says. The species, Paraparatrechina neela, is so tiny — less than 2 mm long — that its discovery was pure serendipity. “This is one of only six known blue ants in the world. We found just two individuals,” she explains.

“We have described more than 100 new species of insects, including more than 10 new genera,” adds Priyadarsanan.

Hema Somanathan, a professor of biology at IISER Thiruvananthapuram, believes initiatives like the insect lab are crucial because they can change public perception of insects. “There is a general belief that insects are harmful and should be eradicated. Their benefits need to be highlighted, and one key way to do that is by ensuring the collection is accessible to as many people as possible,” she says.

Education and awareness are taken seriously at the lab. “We conduct outreach programmes, including educational walks with school kids and the general public. We try to keep groups small — 40 to 50 people — so that everyone can get a closer look at the insects. These programmes have generated interest and valuable insights into insect conservation,” Priyadarsanan highlights.

Food for thought

The dung beetle, a rarely studied insect, has gained renewed attention at the lab. “Cattle emissions account for around 8-8.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and a significant portion of this is mitigated by dung beetles, which bury the dung. Without them, the world would be one enormous dung pile,” explains Priyadarsanan.

The role of dung beetles in maintaining ecosystem health has historical precedent. A notable example is the colonisation of Australia in the 18th century when Europeans brought cattle to their newly occupied land. As insect-borne diseases increased, entomologists investigating the issue discovered that the local dung beetles could only breed on kangaroo pellet dung. “To solve this, about 40 species of dung beetles were introduced from Asia and Africa. Thirty-five of them became naturalized, solving the problem. Similar solutions were applied in their new colonies in the Americas,” Priyadarsanan says.

Closer to home, in Bengaluru, Priyadarsanan and his colleagues have observed changes in dung beetle populations. Dung beetles are broadly classified into three categories: rollers, tunnellers, and dwellers. “For example, up until 2009, the area around our lab had rollers that fed on sheep pellet dung. However, over the next decade, as cattle replaced sheep, we noticed a shift, with smaller rollers being replaced by tunnellers, which prefer to burrow into larger dung piles,” he notes. The presence of antibiotics in cattle feed is another factor affecting dung beetles. As antibiotics alter the composition of the dung, the diversity of dung beetles decreases.

Climate change studies

The lab’s focus extends to insect parasitoids and edible insects, which are an excellent and affordable source of protein widely consumed around the world. The lab also studies the effects of climate change on insect populations and diversity. In a 2020 study at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, Priyadarsanan and his team found that ant diversity and species richness are influenced by climatic gradients across elevations and the geographic setting of the Eastern Himalayan mountain range, particularly its continuity with the plains. “We found that temperature is the primary driver of ant diversity. As elevation increases, ant diversity decreases. In a warming scenario, lowland species are expected to move upwards, but high-elevation specialists will be the first to suffer, as they are better adapted to specific conditions,” Priyadarsanan explains.

Insect conservation is a primary focus of the lab, he emphasises. One of the biggest challenges in conservation, according to Priyadarsanan, is the protectionist approach commonly followed in the country, which often focuses too heavily on protecting a few flagship species. “We need a more comprehensive conservation strategy that includes landscape conservation, where every patch of green, no matter how small, is protected,” he says. He adds, “In Bengaluru, we’ve studied urban insect diversity and found that even small green spaces can support insect populations. However, many urban gardens are overly manicured, which reduces their ability to support diverse insect life. We need to promote native plants and create ‘mini wildernesses’ in urban areas to better support insects.”

Somanathan emphasises the importance of sustaining projects like these, as sample collections can contribute to long-term research. However, Priyadarsanan feels that greater interest in insect studies and biosystematics is crucial for such initiatives to endure. “As E.O. Wilson, the American entomologist, once said, ‘Insects are little things that run the world’,” Priyadarsanan reflects, underscoring the importance of taking insects seriously.

Read more: Flying is riskier for female katydids, finds India’s first insect radio telemetry study

Banner image: Various specimens of insects on display at the Insect Biosystematics and Conservation Lab. Image by Abhishek N. Chinnappa.

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