Question: Why insects over mammals, reptiles, birds...?

Tom Dally answered on 10 Mar 2020: last edited 10 Mar 2020 1:31 pm

Well, for a start there are more species of insect in the world than there are species of mammal, reptile, and bird combined. That insane amount of variety means that the scope for research on insects is huge!
I actually started out wanting to be a palaeontologist (dinosaur scientist) when I was younger. Then, when I was doing my undergraduate degree, I was lucky enough to spend two months in Peru doing research on monkeys in the Amazon rainforest. And I still love reading about different animals. But insects are just so much more interesting to me. They take so many different forms, live in so many different environments, and have such amazing behaviours, that I’m always being surprised by them as a group. I love that I can never know everything about them! Insects are also really important because they help regulate so many environmental processes: they pollinate plants and recycle nutrients in the soil, they are prey species for birds and mammals (and other insects), and remove waste from our environment. They are also beautiful to look at: check out ruby-tailed wasps, orchid bees, and jewel beetles.
Mammals, birds, and reptiles are all great in their own way, and I know plenty of people who study them. But insects are just special!