|
Jeff Holmquist/ University of California | Bugs are just one type of insect found in Yosemite. |
|
From a bug’s eye view, Yosemite National Park is a good home for creeping, crawling, buzzing creatures to live, breed, and feed. They thrive here in high concentrations, outnumbering all other animals by the thousands. Insects are responsible, in part, for the overall biological diversity of the region’s native plants and wildlife.
From a human’s eye view, some bugs may be viewed as pests that might be parasitic, transmit disease, damage structures, or destroy agricultural produce. Humans do value insects, however, for the products, like honey and silk, they produce. Insectivores, those that feed on other insects, may seem especially useful to people. Yosemite’s dragonflies, for instance, eat mosquitoes that tend to bother hikers. Mosquitoes, which breed near standing water including snow melt, are noticeable especially in spring.
From a scientist’s perspective, insects are the most diverse group of animal on Earth with more than one million species–more than half of all living organisms–and 30,000 species residing in California. The important role of insects is clear to scientists. Bees, flies, and other insects function as pollinators; others, such as beetles, break down dead plant and animal matter; still others, such as mosquitoes offer themselves as food for bats and other hungry creatures.
|