The marsh fritillary – a beautiful butterfly and Ireland’s only protected insect species – is about to become a star, featuring in a comic series and delivering the message that us humans unfairly give insects a hard time.
Beo, Raja and the Butterfly Effect is the creation of teams from several Irish universities, and is designed to engage younger audiences on biodiversity, while also showing its place in our history, culture and the Irish language. It comes with a serious message too on the critical importance of pollination and the bioeconomy.
Beo, Raja and the Butterfly Effect rallies to the cause of many insects that are vilified or at best ignored. Its creators hope it will benefit from the “butterfly effect”, where a seemingly small change in a complex system that can kick-start large, unpredictable but ultimately beneficial impacts.
The lead character – the marsh fritillary – meets other insects such as the common wasp, who retorts: “The bee gets the glory. The wasp gets the swat. I’m not pretty enough. I’m not cute. I work so hard at pest control and pollination all day long and what thanks do I get?”
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The butterfly helps to spread the word within their ranks as to their environmental importance, reminding them of their power and of how “each tiny wingbeat keeps ecosystems alive”.
“Insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet, and yet their importance in ecosystems is vastly underappreciated,” said Prof Jane Stout, vice-president for biodiversity and climate at Trinity College Dublin.
“They use various methods of communication, from visual and chemical to tactile and audio and while we can’t always see or hear them, they are important to healthy ecosystems that underpin the bioeconomy, which uses nature’s cycle – not fossil fuels – to create food, materials and energy,” she added.
Only a handful of species are problematic to people and many play crucial, beneficial roles. “Plenty of us have an inkling as to their importance as pollinators, but they are also key pest controllers and nutrient cyclers, and provide food for wild birds and other animals.” said Prof Stout, who specialises in pollination ecology.
The marsh fritillary is classified by the National Biodiversity Data Centre as “vulnerable” and at risk of extinction. It has a wide but patchy distribution; more common in the midlands and western half of the country. It has experienced population decline due to a decrease in suitable habitat.
The downloadable comic was a collaboration between TCD; UCD, Maynooth University, the Royal Entomological Society and the BiOrbic Research Ireland Centre for the Bioeconomy. It was part of a “restoring biodiversity challenge”, aiming to strengthen and integrate education and public engagement on the issue.
TCD assistant professor of business and nature Dr Catherine Farrell said: “Insects are essential to so many business supply chains, most obvious in terms of crops and food production, but with multiple contributions to so many aspects of our daily lives. The Butterfly Effect highlights this in a simple way: the small things really matter for the future of our society and economy.”
The layers in the comic are powerful and tie in elements of Irish history, said Dr Máire Nic an Bhaird of Maynooth University.
Ireland’s first president, Douglas Hyde, showed how language, heritage and land were deeply connected; “Just as he used that connection to revive Irish, we must now foster a love of the land to inspire young climate stewards and support bioeconomy solutions”, she added.
Dr Laoise Ní Chléirigh, also based at Maynooth, underlined the importance of the Irish language in the series – “a minority language where traditional ecological knowledge is deeply rooted, supporting both cultural and environmental continuity”.
It was a very enjoyable collaboration between ecology, education and engineering, integrating different perspectives on the importance of insects, said Dr Tom Curran of UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.
