Bugs are NOT Bad! with Stephen Lyn Bales

Put down your pesticide! Very few caterpillars reach their mature size because birds gobble them down. It is estimated that a pair of chickadees need 6,000 caterpillars to raise one brood of fledglings. Carpenter bees pollinate tomatoes. Flies pollinate pawpaws. Gnats pollinate Jack-in-the pulpits while hummingbirds eat gnats. Ants plant trillium seeds while flickers eat ants. Cardinals eat adult beetles while brown thrashers eat their grubs. And the list goes on and on. Let’s take a new look at common “pests” because the planet needs ’em! You need them!

Join Michelle Campanis, education coordinator at the University of Tennessee Arboretum, and senior naturalist, Stephen Lyn Bales for a look at many more reasons why bugs are not bad and join the multitudes that are stepping away from the sprayer.

This First Thursday Nature Supper Club on August 4 at 7 p.m. is free but you must register to receive your Zoom link and you will be sent a link to watch the recording at your convenience.  Closed captions are available.