MANGALURU: Almost everywhere you look, you will find dozens of them...some buzzing, some flying, some even ‘bugging’you. Like ants, fleas, bugs, beetles, butterflies, wasps, dragonflies, grasshoppers – all photogenic posers. Believe it or not, there are 200 million insects for each human!
A few months back, when Kiran Vati K, a zoology lecturer at St Aloysius College, and his team of students set out on a survey of insects on their college campus, they were not sure of a very positive outcome in terms of the insect count. But the result of the three months’ exercise was heartening. The team had stumbled upon 150 plus species of insects on the campus which is a big number given the fact that the hill-top place is surrounded by a concrete jungle.
Kiran says the main purpose of the survey was to record the effect of urbanization on the diversity of the insect population and the results indicate that their campus is still a ‘healthy environment’. The survey will continue every year and the team with the college support is hopeful that the insect count keeps going up. To further improve the eco-system for insects, the college has planned to plant more flower-bearing plants and creepers. As a researcher in wasp insects for the past seven years, Kiran’s interest in insects led to this study and this was also a way to involve students to develop an interest in insects through field study. Usually researchers in this region prefer Western Ghats which is a biodiversity hotspot for such research. But Kiran thought out-of-the-box and found the biodiversity in the place of his work.
“Though the college is situated at the centre of the city with high effects of urbanization pressure, there is a possibility of finding a variety of insect species within the campus because of its diverse habitats and communities with gardens, aboreta, a natural patch of forest, flower and herb gardens. So, I decided to give it a shot here itself instead of going elsewhere,” he says.
Dr Vineeth Kumar, assistant professor, and students Joel and Ashar of third B.Sc and Mahim of second B.Sc, are part of Kiran’s team. In their free time, Kiran along with the students went around the campus, visiting various vegetations that are maintained there to record the species of insects, photographed them and identified them. Kiran says the collection of insects from buildings and grounds was important in documenting the assemblage of insects on the campus. The photographs of the insects were brought out in a CD called ‘Insects of the campus’.
The college campus which is rich in biodiversity also serves as a source of insects for experimental work in the laboratory and sites for field research on basic biology of little studied insect species. The college also uses a natural patch of forest and garden within the campus to introduce students to the basic ecological concepts, importance and diversity of insects. Fauna inventory has been initiated by the department.
The data will be used as baseline in understanding the effects of urbanization. “This data is not complete but it is an ongoing work,” points out Kiran, adding that studying the current insect diversity of the campus will provide them with information that they can use for other future studies. The diversity data gathered here can be compared to the populations in other regions of Mangaluru city and can help determine if the campus is truly a sanctuary of diversity for local insect populations.
“Our focus was to study the insects of the campus because they serve as an indicator of ecological health. Adult insects feed on tree sap, rotting fruits, nectar and other fluids while larvae feed on plant materials and also other insects. As a result, the study also is an indirect measure of the effect of urbanization on the ecological health of the campus,” says Kiran.
He points out that urban and suburban landscapes remain under-studied from a biological perspective. “Thus, increasing urbanization and effects of global climatic changes should focus on urban ecology. Places like green strips, city gardens, cemeteries, open spaces, institutional campuses etc. support insect populations. It is important to understand how these places tend to protect biodiversity. Thus there is a need to study about the role of college campus in preserving biodiversity,” he says.
With the realization that natural resources are important to urban landscapes, St Aloysius College is promoting conservation of on-campus natural areas and habitat diversity. With the purpose of harbouring rare species of birds and other invertebrates, the Department of Zoology has been involved in studying and documenting various taxa that has inhabited within the campus. Last year, it conducted a bird census in which 38 species of birds were found.
The inventory includes various groups of insects like 37 species of butterflies, 41 species of moths, 12 species of wasps, 7 species of bees, 5 species of ants, 8 species of dragonflies and damselflies, 5 species of grasshoppers, 13 species of flies, 8 species of bugs, 4 species of beetles and 4 species of mantids.
GREEN CAMPUS
College emphasizes on planting and maintaining plants whose flowers are attractive to wasps, bees, flies, bugs and other insects. Squirrels and birds are a common sight on the trees. Kiran says the variety of plants present within the college campus harbours diverse assemblage of insects. The usage of any chemical-based pesticides or insecticides is banned within the campus and only the vermicompost generated there is used to maintain the natural forest patch and campus garden. Due to which butterflies, bees, earthworms, birds and other organisms live and thrive there