The Bee All and End All- the pros and cons of charismatic macrofauna
Some of the most popular animals on earth are the so-called charismatic megafauna: elephants, tigers, gorillas, the list goes on. They are also known as flagship species and have become symbols for conservation movements, used on merchandise and posters. These species have often risen in popularity because they are endangered, giving a reason for protection, but this isn’t always a good thing.
The risk with focusing on a small handful of species is always that other, less glamorous, species will be ignored as a result. There are plenty of examples of this phenomenon for megafauna, especially mammals, but given that insects are already less popular than other animal groups, it is seriously concerning that this might be causing many insect species to be neglected.
Part of the issue with charismatic fauna is that the appeal of any given species is often determined by public opinion rather than an evidence-based hierarchy. An opinion survey carried out in Wiltshire in the UK found that charismatic species such as the chalkhill blue butterfly (Lysandra coridon Poda) were rated as being more beneficial to the local countryside ecosystem than the bloody-nosed beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa Fabricius). Whilst this may seem innocuous, it can be damaging if the ignored species becomes neglected.
Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) are undoubtedly a popular species, despite being less abundant in the strawberry pollination study mentioned above. You have probably heard the quote “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would have four years left to live” which is spuriously attributed to Albert Einstein who, even if he did say it, was not exactly an ecological entomologist.
Despite not even being true, this message has stuck in the public consciousness and may be responsible for the popularity of bee conservation. But what if honeybees were actually the bad guys? Oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is one of the most flower-dense crops and relies heavily on wild pollinators. One 2016 study found that managed honeybee hives suppressed wild pollinator density over a two-year period. On a large scale, widespread prioritisation of honeybee conservation and use over wild pollinator communities could lead to loss of wild species if their displacement from abundant food sources negatively affects their fitness.
In some cases, focusing on a small subsection of species can actually benefit others. These are known as ‘Umbrella species’ because work to conserve them indirectly protects other species from endangerment. One excellent example of this is the use of the grain support beetle (Aegosoma scabricorne Scopoli), a species of longhorn beetle which feeds on dead wood in Central Europe. Although A. scabricorne is itself endangered, it is a good candidate for an umbrella species for protecting many other similar species of beetle because it is one of the largest species of beetle in Europe and is highly polyphagous. This means that any efforts to protect it are likely to also benefit other species in the same habitat.
To return to the pollinator example, this is where I believe a focus on bees may not be the end of the world for other pollinators. Wildflower strips are often recommended to growers to increase crop pollination. The use of images of charismatic pollinators, almost exclusively bumblebees, to encourage engagement in pollinator conservation may not in this instance be exclusionary.
Bumblebees are an attractive and accessible insect for the general public; I am sure tea towels with a fly print wouldn’t sell as well! Wildflower strips planted near to a strawberry crop were found to increase numbers of both bumblebees and hoverflies (Syrphidae spp.) foraging on the strawberry plants. In fact, bumblebee species richness can be used as a proxy for overall pollinator presence in a crop, even when it is known that species diversity included species from multiple insect orders, including flies, and butterflies and moths.
Not to turn this into Paley’s Watch, but it is important to consider ecosystems as a carefully tuned machine made up of cogs all of which are important to its function, rather than as an amorphous blob which can be well represented by a single component.
On a shallower level, conservation needs to be funded somehow, and if a handful of species are able to generate revenue and interest which can then be used to carry out less popular work, then of course that can be encouraged. The World Wildlife Fund has a panda as its logo but focuses work on hundreds of species ranging from big cats to vultures. Flagship species can be crucial for the community they are part of, but it may be dangerous to hyper-focus on only a handful of species whilst countless others slide towards extinction unnoticed.
