1. The Importance of Insects Why we care

2. Beneficial traits: Make food products: Bees Are edible: Grasshoppers, Beetles, Ants Pollinate flowers: Bees, wasps, ants, butterflies, flies, etc. Decomposers: Silverfish, cockroaches, Springtails, etc. Predators of detrimental insects

3. Detrimental traits Are insects icky?.. Sometimes. Structural pests Food pests Agriculture/ecological pests Bite/sting

4. Insects Eating Plants Insects eat more plant matter than all other animals combined This drives evolution It also drives nutrient cycling Pushes nutrients up the food chain Cycles nutrients back into the ground

5. Insects have diversity Diversity makes the environment more robust Diversity provides us with resources Chemicals Life Lessons Experimental Subjects Diversity is inspiring