Every bug has a purpose. Did you know that very few caterpillars reach their mature size because birds gobble them down? It is estimated that one pair of chickadees must find 6,000 caterpillars to feed one brood of fledglings.
Carpenter bees pollinate tomatoes. Flies pollinate pawpaws. Gnats pollinate Jack-in-the pulpits, while hummingbirds eat gnats. Ants plant trillium seeds, and flickers eat ants. Cardinals eat adult beetles, while brown thrashers eat their grubs. It is a complicated and intricate circle of life. The list goes on and on.
Join local naturalist Stephen Lyn Bales as we learn about why “Bugs are Not Bad – Put Down Your Pesticide” at the UT Arboretum Society’s First Thursday Nature Supper Club via Zoom on Thursday, August 4, at 7 p.m. EDT. The program is free, but registration is required to receive a link here.
This program will be recorded, and closed captioning is available. Please note this program is scheduled on Eastern time. Please contact UT Arboretum Education Coordinator, Michelle Campanis, at mcampani@utk.edu with any questions or registration issues. To contact Stephen Lyn Bales or buy one of his UT Press books, email him at hellostephenlyn@gmail.com.
Melanie Staten is a public relations consultant with her husband, Vince.