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Thinking of, caring for, looking at, understanding insects without messing with them

Nearly all of the resources I've linked to in bugs.html disagree with me on practices such as pinning, preserving, pesticide use, traps, and experimentation. As much as possible, I want to leave insects and all other living things be. I don't want to kidnap, confine, manipulate, or bother them when I do not have to.

I acknowledge that there is a lot anyone knows only because people studied insects which have been killed to make pinned or preserved displays, or insects which have been placed in contrived experimental conditions. What I know now depends on scientists engaging in practices that I don't want to opt into. That is why I link to the resources I've used. I continue to use them to relate what I observe to established knowledge about insects. I do not have any goals or deadlines with respect to insect watching, so for furthering my understanding, I will look but not touch. There is a lot that can be understood that way.

Regardless of what I want to understand about how insects live, I do not want to insert myself as an authority in how they should live, where they should be, what they should eat, and how they should die. That insects have their own desires and preferences for their own lives is good enough reason for me to take care not to deprive them of life and freedom, because it is really easy for me to do that as an animal who is very large in relation to them.

If you have a hunch about why insects are behaving as they do, can you find out without interfering with them? Can you live with not having that hunch confirmed? A controlled experiment expedites knowledge in a sense, reducing the amount of time you "have to" spend watching an animal to understand one particular thing about it. If you could take more time to watch insects where they are at, acting naturally and choosing who to relate to, what more could you understand? Maybe the specific answer to one specific question isn't that important.

How I try to observe insects

As much as possible, I leave insects alone. I do not pick them up unless I judge that they are in imminent danger (e.g.: trying to fly through a window, trapped and transfixed by a light source, on a sidewalk with heavy foot traffic). When I transport them, I try to inflict as little stress as possible. I cover them up to keep them in the dark, like you would while transporting any other animal. I do not want to handle or parade the insect in front of others, like they are a novelty or display object. I do not want to prolong their captivity. Being suddenly transported in an enclosure is a terrifying and powerless situation. If I take any photos, I do so after the insect is set free. They should be relocated somewhere with cover and in proximity to food plants/environmental features they would naturally prefer. If you intervene to move an insect, you need to put thought into a safe destination.

Some insects seem unbothered or at least tolerant of my presence while observing. Sometimes, they seem too occupied with feeding or grooming to care. Other times, they realize I am there and respond by moving out of view or communicating displeasure or a threat. Ladybugs and other beetles often run, purposefully scuttling to the underside of a leaf where I cannot see. Bees feeding on flowers will fly away and occasionally fly at my face. A good crisp photo of an insect is a nice thing, but disrupting insects to the point where they have to waste energy fleeing/fighting you is not worth it.

I take notes on insects I see. I write down ID guesses and identifying information (appearance, time of day, behaviour, interactions with plants and other animals). I take photos, but sometimes it's not possible to get a good one and it's better to observe with my own eyes rather than waste time getting the camera to focus.

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Based in Turtle Island on stolen land. UNTIL ALL CAGES ARE EMPTY...