Schoolchildren map Denmark’s overlooked insects

Some 30,294 pupils from 532 schools are taking part in Denmark’s largest national survey of insect diversity, DR reports. The experiment aims to identify small and overlooked species, including insects that have never previously been recorded in the country.

Pupils in 95 of Denmark’s 98 municipalities are setting traps outdoors and sending their catches to researchers for analysis. The goal is to create a nationwide picture of the diversity among Denmark’s smallest insects, including species that may be new to the country.

“We hope to gain a lot of new knowledge, especially about the small and perhaps less charismatic species, such as small parasitic wasps and small flies,” Aslak Kappel Hansen, an insect researcher at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, told P1 Morgen.

Among the species researchers hope to find are the parasitic flies Pales processionea and Carcelia iliaca, as well as the parasitic wasp Pimpla processionea. Research in Belgium suggests that these species may help regulate the oak processionary moth, whose caterpillar has been a familiar presence in Denmark this summer.

The pupils will also collect spider webs, which are among nature’s most effective collectors of insect eDNA. This environmental DNA consists of traces left behind by organisms, including hair, faeces and carcasses.

Researchers will assign genetic barcodes to the insects collected, allowing them to identify both known and unknown organisms. The findings could help reveal patterns and connections in nature that have not previously been recognised.

Hansen said nature management currently relies heavily on butterflies, bees and plants, as well as other large and charismatic species that represent only a small part of biodiversity. A broader evidence base could lead to improved management and better ways of protecting and restoring conditions for more species.

Small insects have historically been difficult to study because species differences could often be identified only by examining their reproductive organs. With a three-millimetre wasp, that can be particularly challenging. DNA technology now allows researchers to examine the insects’ genetic material instead.

Astra, Denmark’s national science centre, is conducting the survey with researchers from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Aarhus University and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The first results are due to be published in December.