For many, the first reaction they have when they see a spindly spider crawling towards them or descending from the ceiling on a web is to recoil in fear or disgust. The same feelings are usually attributed to other arachnids, like scorpions, as well.
But while these creatures may make you jump out of your seat or get that creepy-crawly feeling down your spine, these species, insects and arachnids alike, are vital to the survival of our ecosystem. To understand just how important these creatures were — especially to ecosystems in the U.S. — researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst looked back at previous data, only to find major gaps in the data.
Presenting this information in PNAS, the researchers call for more information and protection of these tiny yet mighty members of our planet’s health.
“Insects and arachnids are fundamental for human society,” said Laura Figueroa, assistant professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst and the paper’s senior author, in a press release.
Why Are Insects and Arachnids so Overlooked?
A fear of insects and arachnids isn’t irrational, despite them being rather small. Some are venomous and can cause bodily harm — including allergic reactions. However, that doesn’t make them any less important.
Explore All Options“They help with pollination and biological control of pests; they can serve as monitors of air and water quality, and they have worked their way deeply into many cultures throughout the world,” said Figueroa in the release.
If these creatures are so important to our society, why are they so overlooked? The resources and priorities for conservation aren't always there.
“Many people care about popular charismatic animals on the planet, like lions and pandas, which, justly, have received international conservation attention. Given that insects and arachnids don’t usually get the same attention, we wanted to know how they were doing,” Figueroa added.
A Scarce Amount of Data
As the research team began reviewing the data on these creepy-crawly organisms, the results were rather disheartening. For the study, the team conducted a conservation assessment for 99,312 arachnid and insect species in the U.S. and Canada.
“Almost 90 percent — 88.5 percent to be precise — of insect and arachnid species have no conservation status,” Figueroa said. “We simply have no idea how they are doing. Almost nothing is known about the conservation needs of most insects and arachnids in North America.”
Most of the data the team found focused on aquatic species, such as mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies, as they are often indicators of water quality. A major share of the data went to butterflies and dragonflies, which often have conservation protections.
“Arachnids, in particular, are really missing from conservation; most states don’t even protect a single species. We need more data and protection for insects, but also arachnids,” said Wes Walsh, the paper’s lead author and a graduate student under Figueroa.
A Brighter Future Ahead
As the team continued to sift through the available data, they found that many states and regions where the main industries were mining, gas and oil drilling, and quarrying were less likely to have any protections for arachnids and insects, while states and regions with a more eco-focused attitude had more species protections.
Figueroa hopes insect and arachnid conservation can be more like bird conservation.
“The research shows that you get the best conservation efforts when broad, diverse coalitions come together,” she said. “In the case of birds, it was hunters, bird watchers, nonprofit organizations, and many other constituencies who banded together to reach a common goal.”
From this study, the research team hopes that it will draw attention to the need to preserve arachnids and insects and to fill gaps in the current data.
“Insects and arachnids are more than objects of fear,” Walsh said. “We need to appreciate them for their ecological importance, and that begins with collecting more data and considering them worthy of conservation.”
Read More: This Newly Discovered Parasite Looks Like a String of Pearls Around a Spider's Neck
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article references information from a recent study published in PNAS: Data deficiency, taxonomic bias, and economic interests curtail insect and arachnid conservation in the United States
