Today marks the beginning of the annual National Insects Week, organised by the Royal Entomological Society. In the UK, there are over 24,000 species of insects, many of which are regular visitors to our own gardens. They consist of over 80% of terrestrial species on Earth.

An insect is defined as a small arthropod that has six jointed legs, compound eyes, one pair of antennae and normally two pairs of wings. Their bodies are split into three sections: the head, thorax and abdomen, and have a hard outer casing.

Insects provide a range of services to humans. They provide pollination for many of our food crops, decompose organic matter, provide biological control of pests and are biological indicators of healthy environments. The number and variety of insects are constantly in a state of flux, due to climate change and globalisation.

The Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre recently ran a critical species workshop, where local nature groups, county recorders and other stakeholders were invited to create a list of species which are the most important for conservation in Wiltshire. Many of the threats to these critical species included habitat loss, climate change and predation or overgrazing. 46 species were listed for Wiltshire as having a significant proportion of their natural distribution here and over 60% of those listed were invertebrates.

Some of these species included the Moss Carder Bee, the Red-shanked Carder Bee, Rugged Oil-beetle, the Orange-shouldered Blister Beetle, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary, the Willow Emerald Damselfly, the Scarce Chaser and the Wart-Biter Bush Cricket.

A few species on the list are considered keystone species, which are the species critical to the function of ecosystems or habitats and the survival of its dependent species. These included the Hornet Robberfly, the Phantom Hoverfly, the Large Marsh Grasshopper and the Rugged Oil-beetle.

Many of us will easily find insects in our garden, and it is our job to help their populations flourish. As they also help to attract other wildlife into our gardens including mammals and birds which feed on them. These are some easy things that we can do in our own gardens:

• Plant a variety of pollinator friendly plants such as lavender and buddleia. Unfortunately, garden centres now sell “double-flowered” plant varieties, which means they have been bred to have lots of large petals, and they hardly produce any nectar. So make sure to avoid these!
   
• Create a log pile in a shady corner of your garden, which will provide refuge for a variety of insects including worms, woodlice, millipedes, and centipedes. These provide a great food source for hedgehogs and if placed by water, also provide shelter for newts, toads and frogs.
   
• If you have space, build a pond which will provide an excellent habitat for dragonflies, damselflies and water beetles. Make sure it has sloping edges though, to make sure animals like hedgehogs can escape after having a drink.
   
• Let your hedges grow a bit wild, and make sure to plant up the gaps with species like Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Hazel. Hedgerows provide a vital habitat for insects such as the Brown Hairstreak butterfly, whose caterpillars feed exclusively on blackthorn. They provide wildlife corridors for species like dormice and hedgehogs, and the flowers provide a great source of nectar for pollinators.

Make sure to submit any sightings of insects to your local records centre or submit them via a wildlife recording app, like iNaturalist or iRecord!