Oliver Milman spells out what our world might look like without insects in his new book, The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires that Run Our World. In a world moving quickly toward technology circumventing nature, the deeper effects of a world without pollinator or decomposer insects cannot be overstated. It is interesting to note that our honeybees are not native; they are generalists that often do not have the same role as our mostly specialist native bee populations, as well as the many other types of insects pollinating every spring. Our native pawpaw fruits are pollinated by various flies rather than bees at all. Ants have their own role in pollination. Our true ecology is complex and built on relationships that have evolved and over an incredibly long time.

In 2019, Hope United Methodist Church converted two-and-a-half acres of mowed land into a public native meadow adjoining the Ephrata rail trail. A mowed path now allows the public to wander closer to the large areas of milkweed, grasses and native flowers to witness the miracle of monarchs and other caterpillars turning into butterflies. Camealla Freed, who spearheaded the project, uses iNaturalist and eBird to document the activity the meadow supports and tags monarchs. The pathways are open to the public, and this summer an evening “rail-trail church” will encourage more learning experiences with the creatures using the meadow.

It is easy to imagine insect populations sharing these three locations, even drawing new species that have nearly gone extinct. Not all is left to the imagination; Hope Meadows reports a rare golden bumble bee has appeared in the meadow since it was established. MCC is noticing the blue-wing scoliid wasp. Folks from the area are going home and adding a few of these plant varieties to their own backyard, extending these islands of pollinator use.  In a world where most of our landscaping plants are not native, as well as our yard grasses, earthworms, honeybees, most field crops and woodlands, the question remains of where our basic ecology exists. Doug Tallamy’s vision is beginning to take root.