If we don’t start counting insect populations, we won’t know what we’re losing (commentary)
Panchase Protected Forest, in the hills above Nepal’s second city of Pokhara, is known among botanists as an orchid haven. Hundreds of species grow there, many of them found nowhere else in Nepal. I have been working in Panchase for some time now, starting with the insects that live on mistletoes, trying to understand who […]
Panchase Protected Forest in Nepal’s hills above Pokhara is renowned among botanists as an orchid haven. It boasts hundreds of species, many unique to Nepal. For some time now, I have been studying the insects that inhabit mistletoes in Panchase, seeking to comprehend their presence, activities, and their connections to the surrounding plants.
This meticulous, painstaking task has revealed the vast gaps in our understanding of insects in Nepal in general. We lack a comprehensive picture of the species present. In many regions of Nepal, we are merely at the beginning of seeking answers to this question. For example, the pollinators of Panchase’s orchids remain undocumented.
We do not know which insects visit which flowers, which play essential roles, and which are merely incidental. Unraveling these relationships is a task yet to come. Orchids like the large group flourishing on a tree in Panchase Forest rely on insects as well. This protected area is home to 142 orchid species from 52 genera.
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