Buzzing Excitement at Les Butineries: Celebrating Insects and Pollinators in Montreal

2024-07-13 22:01:07

MONTREAL – From July 26 to 28, unloved insects and pollinators will finally be given their due as part of the Les Butineries event, at the Montreal Insectarium.

These three days of free activities will try for the second year in a row to arouse the curiosity of the population of Montreal while reminding them that pollination is everyone’s business.

Fun activities are planned for young and old alike, and they always involve an educational element, especially to highlight the role Montrealers can play in protecting biodiversity. Whether it’s creating gardens and oases at home or choosing native plants to create an insect-friendly habitat, plenty of experts will be on hand to guide visitors on how to get their hands on the soil.

“We are going to bring insects as raw materials,” explains Maxim Larrivee, general director of the Insectarium. We invite the population of Montreal to come and celebrate pollinators.”

Games, makeup and crafts are available, as well as the traditional insect parade.

This year, two evening events have been added to the festivities, combining science and the arts through dance and music performances. In this sense, the program of the experimental musician Leon Louder will certainly surprise the guests: the pieces he will present are created from the sounds of insects.

So insects will be in the spotlight, literally: “We are going to hang sheets that we will illuminate with UV lights to attract insects. (…) We find a nocturnal fauna that is not fully known to humans, but which is colorful and has an incredible variety,” Mr. Larrivee rejoices.

Experts from the eco-neighborhood group and Polliflora, a solidarity cooperative that creates gardens for pollinators, will join the Insectarium team to answer visitors’ questions.

Awareness is needed

So the outdoor site of the Insectarium will have a festive atmosphere, which is in contrast to the situation of insects around the world, which is not so exciting. In the last 30 years, about 30% of insect abundance in temperate environments (60% in tropical environments) has disappeared due to multiple environmental pressures, such as habitat destruction or large-scale use of pesticides.

Hence, according to Mr. Larrivee, the importance of events such as Les Butineries, which attracted 3,000 visitors last year. “Nearly 40% of pollination is done by insects at night,” he explains in an interview with the Canadian Press.

“Insects are playing essential ecosystem roles,” he declares, asserting in particular that 80% of the food that ends up on our tables is pollinated by insects and that these creatures therefore benefit from being recognized and protected.

According to Mr. Larrivee, it is important that people learn how to be with insects.

It is also one of the missions of the Insectarium to try to change the emotional relationship between critters and people. “Often, the contacts that occur between the two worlds, humans and insects, are made in an unexpected way and the surprise and the lack of knowledge (assure) that the experience is not necessarily favorable,” explains the director.

So the Insectarium helps to deconstruct this relationship by creating a safe space where people can have positive experiences with insects.

This year, the Butterflies coincide with the International Monarch Tracking Blitz, which invites people to identify the butterfly’s host plant and count the caterpillars found there, to help estimate the size of the butterfly’s summer population.