Citizen Scientist MJ Hatfield Fights Insect Decline

KENDALVILLE, IOWA — In a world where bees flying over farm fields are considered trespassers and where the only thought folks give to bugs is how to get rid of them (swat, stomp, spray, trap…), why should we mourn their destruction? 

This is the same world where universities have taught pesticide use but not natural predators or conservation, a world that has seen more than a 75 percent decline in insects in less than 20 years. In such a world, what is to stand in the way of an insect apocalypse? MJ Hatfield for one. 

In 1996, on her farm adjacent to the beautiful Upper Iowa River — some ten miles south of Harmony and the Minnesota/Iowa border — Hatfield, a retired Fed Ex driver, set about planting agricultural fields as prairie.

She put in over 200 documented native species including orchids (“Oh, the smell of vanilla when the Lady Tresses bloom!”). Her friend, botanist Mark Leoschke, called her new field a “Fake Prairie.” Hatfield prefers to call it a “Faux Prairie,” a gentler title. 

Insects are beautiful at every stage: egg, larva, and adult. Here is a sampling of butterflies and moths as they develop. (Photos and graphic courtesy of MJ Hatfield)

Talking with Mark, and hearing his distinction between native versus newly planted prairies, Hatfield wondered if other species also judged the difference. Would they avoid her faux prairie efforts or would they make use of what’s there?

Grassland birds need large undisturbed areas but not necessarily native prairies, right? And insects? Do they care if the flowers they need have planted themselves or were helped along by a human?  This curiosity was the start of Hatfield’s incredible journey. 

Only a small percentage of insects are considered pests

Along the way, Hatfield does more than study insects. She collects, documents and shares what she finds. She’ll tell you that bugs are infinitely diverse, beautiful, resourceful, quirky, useful and adaptable. She’ll add that less than 4 percent of all insects are “pests” and even these are not considered pests to the bats, birds, fish and other wildlife that eat them. 

In the 1800s, naturalist, explorer and father of ornithology, John James Audubon travelled North America studying birds, making drawings, collecting specimens, researching habitats and sharing his findings. Hatfield quips, “If Audubon had been nearsighted, we might all be doing bugs instead of birds!” Hatfield, herself,  is something of a nearsighted Audubon. 

Hatfield in her lab, a converted bedroom in her house. Hatfield says that insects perform critical functions such as pollination and serve as a food source for animals further up the food chain. (Photo courtesy MJ Hatfield)

True or False? A Hatfield quiz

MJ Hatfield is a much-requested speaker on insects and contributes regularly to the online resource Bugguide.net. Since her first posting in 2007, Hatfield has provided nearly 25,000 photos of insects, many that had never been catalogued before. (Photo courtesy of MJ Hatfield)

Hatfield is happy to share insider information:

Hatfield has an insect named after her? 

True, she discovered Phytomyza hatfieldae: “This species is named in honor of MJ Hatfield, dedicated naturalist and advocate for Iowa’s natural areas.”

Hatfield keeps one room in her house just for rearing bug larvae?

True, the room doubles as a tropical plant room in the winter and it has a refrigerator/freezer dedicated to insects for overwintering larva, slowing down development or calming insects so they can be photographed! 

Hatfield regularly forages food for caterpillars and other immature insects?

True, if you’re going to rear larva or nymphs to adulthood, which is often necessary for identification and documentation (adult forms of insects are far better known than other stages), you have to remember the host plant you found them on and gather food that will allow them to mature.

Hatfield can tell you the Latin names of at least 2,000 native insects off the top of her head?

False, she’s never been good at bug names but she can tell you if she’s met a particular insect, if she’s reared it, and if so, its host plant and where she found it. Hatfield regularly posts insects on BugGuide Net. 

Hatfield has won an award for her work with insects?

True, Hatfield has won several awards for conservation efforts including Conservationist of the Year, Nature Champion and the Iowa Academy of Science, Distinguished Citizen Scientist awards. 

Hatfield studies insects extensively but believes that it takes professional scientists to advocate for insects and only they can prevent insect extinctions?

False, Hatfield will tell you that natural history science is too much fun to leave to the professionals, and that no one person or even group of people can stop the precipitous decline of insects. It will take the efforts of us all – preferably sooner rather than later.

Bugs are often small or in hiding. Can you spot the insects in these photos? A moth, larva, katydid, walking stick and spider. Hatfield once studied a spider that looked hairy. With a closer look, she found that all the hairs were baby spiders riding on mama’s back. (Photo and graphic courtesy of MJ Hatfield)

Chatting with Hatfield will disillusion any listener from their common beliefs about how insects should be treated. Insects, she says, not only perform critical functions like pollinating, aerating and decomposing (think of dung beetles, carpenter ants and wood lice), they are also the food source of animals further up the food chain from fish to birds to moles.

In fact, she continues, because insects are so small and hard to measure, their decline is often measured in the rapid reduction in the birds that eat them. Perhaps you’ve noticed fewer birds and more quiet in your world. 

Studies show that the population of insect-eating birds in North America has declined by at least 40 percent from 1966 to 2013. Most importantly, Hatfield would tell you that it doesn’t matter what role they play, insects have value in themselves. They’re fascinating and beautiful just by being. 

Hatfield loves to share bugs with kids, especially fireflies. When walking her property as darkness falls in the summer, fireflies by the hundreds rise up from the prairie. Hatfield says that each species of firefly has its own unique flash pattern. (Photo courtesy of MJ Hatfield)

Saving the insects

So, what can we do to save the insects? Hatfield has a few ideas.

Connect children to nature. If you interact with children, help them find the wonder in nature, build on their natural curiosity and engage them in the great outdoors.

Start noticing insects. It’s a much bigger and more fascinating group than just houseflies and mosquitoes. There are 81 species of lady beetles in Iowa alone! Maybe stop trying to kill them for long enough to see them. 

Leave or create a little habitat for insects. Native habitats for insects are rapidly being converted for human use – farming, roads, housing, factories, parking lots, golf courses and shopping centers. Iowa has already lost 99.9 percent of its prairies. You don’t have to create a whole prairie like Hatfield, just leave a small section of your lawn unmowed. Maybe toss in some native flowers or grasses for them. Go for native pollinator friendly plants and seeds and don’t use pesticides.

Hatfield finds beauty in nature. And if she doesn’t find it, she creates it. She has planted nearly 50 acres of prairie on her farm in Iowa. (Photo courtesy of MJ Hatfield)

Reduce light pollution. Insects get confused by lights at night. There are some you can’t do anything about, but consider how much you light your own yard and garden. Let the dark lovers have their nighttime.

Support local farmers and sustainable farming methods.

If your own curiosity sparks a similar journey, Hatfield has one caveat for you: “There is a fine line between passion and obsession. Once you start really looking at insects, entomology or a leap into citizen science may be in your future.”