“Insects, worms, and other small animals that carry out vital functions for life on earth have declined by 45 percent average over 35 years, threatening human and food supplies..”
–Steve Connor, “Vital invertebrates decline 45 percent, study finds,” independent.co.uk, July 2014
To initially get a grasp of the idea behind this insect house we first have to begin by looking at the architecture of Rudolph Schindler. One of the major aspects that Schindler focused on was geometric shapes and their mathematical relationship. For example the smaller square on the base is proportional to the larger square on the base. Throughout our project this association between shape and scale is expressed quite regularly. This relationship is what he considers harmony and through this harmony becomes true beauty.
Trying to keep to his principles, we further expanded this relationship by creating “rooms” within these geometric shapes. Each to house a different environment suited to distinct types of insects. One such way could be seen with the vertical slits in the top cube, which can be related to the figure of a butterfly. Inside this chamber we provide space for the butterflies to stay over the winter season. Also inside are some twigs to provide somewhere for them to cling. As you look further down there are wooden tubes suitable to a bee’s lifestyle. These tubes are easy to remove. Such mainte nance that is required when looking after a solitary bee colony has the owner clean out the residue left behind by the bee larvae. With the easy access and removal of the tubes this maintenance becomes trivial. As we rotate around the back we come across a meshed room that contains pine cones. This area is for those that go by the name earwigs.
Earwigs prefer dark and damp areas to live and breed. So by providing pinecones, we attempt to replicate this. Pinecones are relatively abundant, are great at creating dark areas, and provide some moisture. Each of these attributes cover the areas that the earwigs desire. Following around the model we arrive at what we have deemed the “Stick Forest.” This area is kind of a toss up when it comes to pinpointing the exact insect that this caters to. But it seems suitable to house the ladybugs, simply because it provides surfaces for them to perch upon and at the same time providing a cool area during the hot summer times. Next, we follow it back up to gaze at the back side of the central geometric shape. Here we have horizontal slits which are perfect for the lacewings. Lacewings have a wide and short body style so these slits provide enough room for them to move about. Inside are some twigs to help them cling to the surface and with enough space for them to move about they have extra area to lay their eggs. Lastly, we come back to these append age like structures extending from the side of the central geometric shape which continue to connect with the base. This is again to tie back to the work of Schindler by creating this feeling that there is a larger cube without physically having the material. Though this was not stated in the beginning, the choice in choosing Rudolph Schindler as inspiration was because he had developed homes for us humans so why not just take his principles and create a home for insects.
One of the biggest issues facing not just Wisconsin’s ecosystems, but even across the nation, is the horrifically large decline in the amount of insects that we have in our ecosystems. With each passing year, scientists are reporting lower and lower numbers of insects, such as, bees, hoverflies, and even butterflies. Where issues come into play is that not having that many insects in our daily lives may seem like a luxury, and many of us may want to see the world rid of all the “creepy crawlers”, it is actually detrimental to our lives if any of these species were to killed off, even bees and wasps, because they play a vital role in our lives. We have the power to save the insects, however, little is being done by the greater population to prevent the negative effects that would occur without insects. With the insect motel that we have created we hope to help save some of these insects, but it will be a human-race group effort to make sure that we do not lose these vital creatures.
Insect motels are one of the best ways to help the insect populations of the ecosystem that they are placed in thrive. One single insect motel can house up to 2000 different species of insects, creating an enormous amount of diversity of life working together. The potential upsides to insect motels can be best seen with the research that has been done with the solitary bee population (honeybees are not native to North America, the solitary bee is our continent’s native species). Unlike honeybees, who live in large colonies, the solitary bees have their own individual colonies. Insect motels that are intended to help support the solitary bee population will have hollowed out, natural material, this can range from hollowed out sticks or holes in logs, to bamboo shoots. Insect motels can have large numbers of these to allow for more female solitary bees the protection to lay their eggs and have them hatch without predation or human destruction kill off their offspring. After the “housing” has been used once, it is removed and new materials replace them, allowing for more solitary bees to do the same, and over time, the population returns to a healthy number of bees. Imagine how this affects the other thousands of species of insects and how even a single insect motel can promote these population regrowths.
Each type of insect may require specialized types of insect motels, or in large scale motels, specialized areas. Solitary bees will require the hollowed out areas, but ladybirds, for example, live best in pine cones. In large scale insect motels, multiple living conditions can be met, allowing for more species to receive the bene fits of life. The simple act of creating an insect motel can save and create a large amount of life and salvation for insects and humans’ daily lives will not be at risk of facing the loss of a major, if not the most major, contributor in our day to day lives, even if in the smallest manners.
REFLECTION & MAINTENANCE
During the process of constructing the final wooden model, we ran into several problems. The first being our craftsmanship. As we began cutting our pieces, we had forgotten to take into account the thickness of our material. Because of this, many of our measurements came out wrong, and we had to constantly adjust to make the pieces fit together. A method we could have done to resolve this issue was to take a breath and really look at our measurements so that they work. Another problem came when we ran short on sticks, so we had to bypass the idea of the exterior L’s. The butterfly holes posed a problem as well. We couldn’t find a tool to properly clean the sides of the slots, so we ended up with a rough-edged slot. When it came to gluing the project together we had staples bending and puncturing the sides or some that didn’t go all the way in. It was simply just damage control after damage control.
In the end, it became more of a damage control project than either of us predicted. There were several areas where we could improve. Again, craftsmanship was our biggest downfall with it ranging to inaccurate measurements to the actual cutting and assembly. The project gave us a better understanding on insects and how they are housed. Overall we are satisfied with our completed project.
For maintenance purposes, we kept a lot of the screws exposed to allow for the DNR to remove the wire mesh to remove and replace the material as they see fit. The bamboo shoots will also have to be replace from time to time due to once a bee uses the bamboo shoot, no other bee will be able to use it. We meerly place the bamboo shoots into the space to allow for easy removal.