Insects are possibly the most important group of animals on the planet. They hold natural communities together by playing key roles in food webs. One of their greatest contributions is as pollinators of our dazzling wildflowers. Insects are food for countless numbers of animal species. Along with being a fundamental food source, they also act as critical decomposers and nutrient-recyclers. Bugs are the knots in the world’s food webs. Amazingly, insects outnumber all of the other animals combined. Right here in the Rocky Mountains there are over 10,000 different kinds.

Many flowering plants are completely dependent on a specific insect to transfer male pollen to female flower parts. This pollen exchange allows seeds to develop and grow into the next generation. Dazzling flowers like lupine, yellow-bells, phlox, sunflowers and the delicate Calypso Orchid rely on bees, beetles, and butterflies for survival. Because pollination means life or death to a plant species, they put a great amount of energy into advertising for insects with their bright colors and alluring scents.

The violet-colored lupine attracts and has a nearly exclusive relationship with the solitary bees in our park. Being a member of the pea family, lupines have very complex flower structures. The two bottom petals are fused together to form a canoe-shaped pollen protector. When a bee lands on a lupine its body pushes down the tip of the canoe-like petals exposing the hidden pollen as if opening a trap door. It rubs onto the bee’s belly and the bee then carries it with her to the next lupine. Only bees are the right size to open that secret hatch and pollinate the lupine.

A second vital role bugs play in the system here and across the world is as a major food source. Thousands of animals rely on bugs for their energy and nutrition. Insects are the primary food for blue birds, chickadees, woodpeckers, flickers, lizards, snakes, thrushes, wrens, sparrows, frogs, dippers, warblers, trout, jays, robins, sapsuckers, and even a few ducks. Even the bears in Grand Teton National Park need insects for survival. One of the most interesting interactions between two species in this park involves the massive grizzly and the tiny Army Cutworm Moth. Here and in other high mountains of the Northern Rockies, swarms of cutworm moths migrate from the plains all the way up to the alpine zone to mate in the fall. Grizzly bears have become accustomed to roaming the high peaks at the right time and scooping up paw-fulls of these dying moths. They are an important pre-hibernation protein source. Lower down on the forested slopes, both types of bears feast on whole ant colonies and the larvae of beetles, called grubs. If you see a log on the trail that has been ripped to shreds, it might be where a bear stopped to enjoy a tasty treat.

Beetles are truly the workhorses of the forest. With their massive numbers they easily staff the construction crews, the recycling crews and the sanitation crews  of nature. Bark beetles live in dead and dying trees and chew elaborate tunnels through the trunk. These and other wood-boring beetles break down woody plant material and return all of those nutrients back to the soil to be used again. When animals die they too must be broken down and carrion beetles are responsible for recycling the valuable minerals in the animal’s body. Through tunneling, chewing, feeding, and burrowing, beetles mix up the soil, play a major role in decomposition, and allow the next generation of plants and animals to start anew. Wonderful, industrious beetles keep the forests moving forward.

Insects are fascinating creatures to watch. Your chances of seeing them are excellent and you don’t even have to drive to a national park. There is a whole, undiscovered world waiting to be explored right in your own back yard.