Exploring Insect Life

On the Boston Harbor Islands

Insects can be HARMFULDestroy crops

Spread diseasesDamage clothing and wood

Bite or sting

Harmful insects make up only 1½ % of all insect species!

Most are HELPFULMake honey and wax

Destroy pestsPollinate crops

Recycle plant and animal waste

FACT:9 out of every 10

animals on earth is an

INSECT.

So insects make up 90%

of all animal life on our planet!

Boston Harbor Islandsnational park area

Our insects today were sampled from 12 islands

Islands feature

different ECOSYSTEMS:

An environment that supports a community of interdependent living organisms,

both plants and animals.

Herbivores

Eat live plants (leaves,

wood, stems, roots)

Scavengers

Eat dead plants and animals

Eat decayed plants or animal

wasteand break them down

into nutrients

Decomposers

Predators

Eat live animals

Pollinators

Eat pollen and/or nectar from flowers

Now it’s our turn to examine insects, following three

simple steps:

1. Identify

2. Record

3. Sort