Love them or hate them, we all need bugs.
Insects play a vital role in our ecosystems, providing critical pollination services for native plants and supporting our local food webs as a source of nutrition for other wildlife. But they aren’t always on the receiving end of predatory pressure, insects do some hunting of their own, which in turn controls populations of bothersome bugs that would otherwise pester us our damage or crops.
They may be small, but in these ways our local bugs make a BIG impact by keeping our local ecosystems in balance.
We people feel that impact as well. That pollination service that insects provide includes not just native flowers, but crops as well. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, insect pollination services add more than $34 billion in economic value to our nation’s agricultural crops annually. That means big bucks for us here in Berks County, where 35% of our land area is dedicated to farming.
Need more convincing that bugs are your best friends? Come on over to The Nature Place to explore Insectopia: our newest set of interactive, educational exhibits all about insects.
At the Beauty of Bugs station, you’ll learn that not all insects are equal; native insects that occur naturally in our landscape have formed symbiotic relationships with other plants in this local, biological community. When non-native, disruptive insects invade these spaces, they can thow things off balance. Can you puzzle together which insects are native, and which ones don’t belong?
Get up close and personal with real bugs at the Bug Anatomy station. A selection of pinned bugs and other insect samples are on display for closer inspection, including specimens that can be enjoyed under the magnified view of our microscopes. If the diversity of our insect display has you inspired, grab some clay and build your own bug (you can even take your bug home as a souvenir!).
The magic continues at our two metamorphosis activities. Learn about the incredible transformations insects go through as they grow from egg to larva to adult in our Magic Metamorphosis matching game. Children can undergo their own metamorphosis in our Curious Chrysalis – what winged insect will you become?
Creepy crawlies no more – Berks Nature’s Insectopia exhibit will make a bug believer out of you!