Mansfield students welcoming some bug tourists

Following their lessons online about the lifecycles and habitats of insects, animal care tutor Cherilyn Huff set a project for students to create homes for insects out of items they could find around the house.

Students on the introduction to animal care course learnt more about how important insects are for the environment, as well as discovering what they eat, the kind of threats they face and what their habitats are like.

They were asked to complete a practical activity to make a simple insect home and place it in a safe, dark area in their gardens and then submit a photograph and a write-up explaining how it was created.

The group also tuned-in to television wildlife expert Steve Backshall’s live YouTube lesson about insects to give them additional information about the life of bugs and creepy crawlies.

Cherilyn said: “The group worked really hard on this project, both in terms of learning more about these ‘mini beasts’ and how they live, and also putting their efforts into crafting insect hotels from a range of materials.

“We covered a range of facts about all sorts of insects including spiders, butterflies, snails, caterpillars and bees, and the class learnt such a lot.

“We discussed what kind of habitats insects prefer and I was so impressed by their work.”

Cherilyn also covered the topic of the importance of bees for our environment.

The group learnt how honey bee colonies operate with a single queen and hundreds of male drones, together with 20-80,000 female worker bees.

Student Paulina Gasparowicz, from Mansfield Woodhouse, said: “To make my bug hotel I used an old board, a few sticks, a piece of cardboard, chopped bamboo and pieces of wood and wooden balls for decoration.

“It took quite a lot of work because I wanted to make something which would last a long time.

“I hope that it’s suitable for a range of insects like ants, beetles, caterpillars and maybe even bees.

“Our gardens get so many insects, so shall wait and see.”