“Insects are the foundation of our ecology on this planet, they provide us with so much,’ said Barber. ‘In the U.S. alone, wild insects contribute an estimated $70 billion to the economy every year through free services such as pollination and waste disposal. That’s incredible, and most people have no idea,’ added Akito Kawahara, lead author of the study and associate curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity.” Read the article here from contributing writer Natalie van Hoose, nvanhoose@flmnh.ufl.edu.