It's easy to love monkeys, birds, butterflies, whales, turtles, and all the big beautiful animals of nature but bugs can be a bit of a hard sell. With more than half our human population living in urban areas where there are more buildings than trees, more people than animals, more streets than rivers, and more malls than oceans, it's sort of easy to forget to love insects and bugs as well as how to respectfully live amongst them.
OK, so the blood sucking mosquitoes and horse flies may be some of our least favorite but it's important to remember they still have an important part in nature feeding the frogs, fish, geckos, bats, and birds, that we all love so much and depend on for pollinating our fruit trees. It's taken a very long time for us humans to learn that we should not kill bees but rather support them and encourage their healthy populations so we can grow our food like those juicy mangoes we talked about last week.
During the Amazilia soap lab tour we take our guests on, we are so fortunate to experience and learn about the Stingless Melipona Honey Bees that are being lovingly tended and cared for by our friends Melissa and Jean. Jean talks about his bees like each and every one of them is his sweet, delicate little baby and rightfully so. Melissa and Jean realize how important bees are for pollination of the plants on their property and, much like caring for their goats, tending and love of the endangered Melipona bees is a delicate process which they clearly enjoy.
Melipona bees are endemic to the Northern Yucatan and also found throughout the tropics and subtropics of our beautiful planet. The medicinal benefits of their sweet nectar has been well known for thousands of years and in fact, the Melipona species is a treasured and sacred bee to many cultures. For the Mayan people of the Yucatan, beekeeping of the Melipona species has been a fundamental part of their lives for centuries with the knowledge being honorably passed down from generation to generation.
Now hopping into our hiking shoes and heading up into the mountains of the Cerro Hoyas you might more easily spot that huge grasshopper you see at the top or not so easily - the green Katydid above. These two related insects are not only beautiful but serve as nutrient rich and tasty prey to our friends the bats, birds, rodents, frogs, and snakes of the jungle. Our kittens find them quite entertaining as well.
The green katydid is a nocturnal insect who helps create the jungle symphony with its clicking sounds created by rubbing their wings together. They do their part not only to feed their hungry predators but they too eat plants to encourage their growth as well as eating smaller bugs to help maintain a balance of plants leave-ing some for all to enjoy.
The Giant Red-winged grasshopper is one of the largest insects in the world commonly mistaken for a small bird because of her size and colorful wings when in flight. Her strict herbivore diet along with her strong mandibles and efficient stomach fluids enable her to digest a wide variety of plants in a place like the jungle which must appear like a candy store to her - hard to choose what to snack on when everything looks delicious. She plays a critical role in stimulation of plant growth while also controlling overgrowth of certain plants and contributing to nutrient recycling in nature.
So you see my friend, bugs are brilliant and they are here waiting to share their charms with you.
Your Friends in Morrillo,
Cari and Ryan Mackey
Owners and Hosts
Morrillo Beach Eco Resort
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