Those bugs have abilities honed over centuries
Q. With these warmer days, I see bugs out already. How did they survive the winter?
A. Insects as a class have been around since the Ordovician Age, nearly 500 million years ago. They rose from crustaceans about the same time as terrestrial plants. Simultaneous development of insects and plants speaks to a long relationship, once carried on by weevils the size of border collies and giant ferns, now carried on by tomato hornworms and your prized Big Boy tomatoes.
Since then, insects have evolved numerous survival strategies. Mostly, it depends on what they ate. To survive winter, droughts and other natural events, they either hibernate, migrate or repopulate. In our area, it takes several weeks of -15 to -20 temperatures to decimate their numbers. Many are below the average frost line in the soil, or insulated by any thick blanket of snow. Studies have found insects that would perish in -20 temps in a yard will survive when given the shelter of a house foundation, or something similar. Hibernation may also play a role.
In the first "ate," hibernate, some insects slow their respiration and metabolism down in response to cold weather and shorter daylight. They are able to produce a type of alcohol in their circulatory system, just like the antifreeze in your car.
Insects hibernate underground, under logs or in your house. Stink bugs, ladybugs and box elder bugs are fond of finding chinks in your house and squeezing their way inside. They're harmless, but if you find them too much a nuisance, simply sweep or vacuum them up. Then either deposit them in a container to be returned outside when the weather warms, or dispose of them.
Extremely cold winters, with extended subzero temperatures, will diminish many of the insects, so they take the form of pupae, or a chrysalis, which will protect against the elements. On a sunny spring day, when the temperature nears 60 degrees, you may observe clouds of midges, ants and fly activity as they awaken from hibernation.
In the second "ate," migrate, insects, like many animals, migrate to more favorable weather. Monarch butterflies are the poster child for migration. Involving several generations, they migrate from Canada and the Midwest all the way to their wintering ground in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In the third "ate," repopulate, the insect strategy is to ensure the survival of the species by laying eggs and hoping there will be enough survivors after the loss of eggs to the elements and predators to create a new generation.
In short, insects have adapted to the many cycles the Earth has gone through, and as a "living planet" will continue to do so. Compared to how long the Class Insecta has been around, ancient man has been in existence less than one tenth of the time, and modern man one 10,000th of the time, so we should admire the insect's abilities to survive and endure, in spite of how annoying that mosquito is on your patio on the Fourth of July.
- Matt Steichmann
• Provided by Master Gardeners through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines, and University of Illinois Extension, North Cook Branch Office, Arlington Heights. Call (847) 298-3502 on Wednesdays or email northcookmg@gmail.com. Visit web.extension.illinois.edu/mg.