Insects galore

Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group

Insects are one of the most important links in the moorland food chain. They not only provide an essential food source for birds, reptiles and mammals but also some of our carnivorous plants.

They carry out a wide array of tasks from pollinating our flowers and even clean up decaying corpses. Healthy ecosystems have healthy insect populations so we thought we'd share some of our insect images to demonstrate just how healthy our managed moors really are.

Not all insects are popular with people and wildlife. The heather beetle is one such insect that in some years can decimate heather plants. The all too familiar midge is the enemy of the tourist. Whilst they can be a nuisance they still provide an important food source for bats, spiders and the sundew plants found on our moorlands here in the Dales. All these pictures were taken here in the Yorkshire Dales on our managed grouse moors. We think they look pretty rich in insect life don't you?