2023-11-24 11:39:29
The proverb says: “it is not the small beast that will eat the big one”. And yet, for many of us, at the sight of insects such as mosquitoes, ants and wasps, our hairs stand on end. Sometimes a feeling of disgust may arise. We understand that the latter have a bad press. Aware of this observation, Cristela Sanchez Oms and Diane Bigot, both doctors in biology and ecology, created Fourmidables® end of 2019 in Gironde. They offer educational activities to raise public awareness of insects. The goal is to contribute to their protection and that of their ecosystems.
Cristela Sanchez Oms/ Photo Fourmidables®
“We wanted to share all our knowledge and especially our passion for insects,” says Cristela enthusiastically. “We noticed that people often don’t understand why we are interested in it. They are stigmatized, unloved animals. But I thought it was a shame that people mightn’t know what was going on behind the laboratory doors. So I offered these general public activities to Diane,” adds this enthusiast. The two women met while writing their thesis at the Institute for Research on Insect Biology in Tours.
Learn while having fun
Today, the two educational engineers lead workshops with schools, EHPAD residents, associations, families, friends, etc. The watchwords of these sessions are: learning, play, originality and above all, fun. Because, according to them, this last ingredient was sometimes missing in this type of workshop, especially for children. This is why they pull out all the stops. “Whether the workshops are for adults or children, it’s the same way of proceeding, because adults also like to have fun, to have stars in their eyes. So, we explain what an insect is. We bring back with us very beautiful naturalist collections. Then, we show exotic species which have magnificent colors. And there, people say that insects can be beautiful,” says Cristela with pride. This specifies that the insects in their collections were not hunted, but collected dead, from naturalist collections or second hand.
Photo Fourmidables®
But how do the children react during the activities? “Often the apprehensions that they are, it stings. This is part of the first negative feedback we get. We think of wasps, bees, and sometimes ants,” reports Diane. For her part, Cristela notes that “little ones in kindergarten are not afraid. They don’t have this negative view of insects. From the age of six, it starts to get complicated. If parents are afraid of it, they transmit their apprehension to the children.” This fear can be explained in different ways: poor representation in films, books, series, in which they represent the bad guys. They are also frequently associated with dirt and sometimes vectors of disease. However, “it is by learning to know them, by reading, by watching documentaries, that we demystify them,” adds the scientist.
Essentials for biodiversity
However, insects are essential for our biodiversity. For example, the mosquito allows the pollination of the cocoa tree flower. Without him, there would be no chocolate. Insects serve as food for many insectivorous animals such as bats, hedgehogs, fish, birds. They therefore play an important role in the food chain.
“If there is a decline in the insect population, there will inevitably be a decline in birds and amphibians. This has been shown on birds, which, over the last 30 years, have suffered significant losses in terms of numbers for this reason,” explains Diane.
Diane Bigot/Photo Fourmidables®
This decline in population has many reasons: pesticides, light and air pollution, urbanization, lack of vegetated space. “Intensive agriculture with monocultures creates a lot of damage. Insects therefore only have one source of food even though they need to diversify their diet,” explains the doctor of biology.
Hummingbird Actions
During the Fourmidables® events, the two specialists do not hesitate to share the small actions that we can do on our own scale to give a boost to the insect population, such as:
Install small shelters in the garden and on the balcony, so that they can take shelter. Feed them by planting flowers. In summer, when it is very hot and there is no water, put small cups of water.
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