Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
What have insects ever done for us?
As the dominant, multicellular life-form on the planet, the ecological impact of insects is colossal. Without insects performing essential ecosystem services, the Earth would be a very different place, and most terrestrial vertebrates that depend on them directly as food would become extinct. The loss of bees alone might cause the extinction of a quarter of all life on Earth. A total loss of insects might see the human population plummet to perhaps a few hundred thousand individuals subsisting mainly on cereals and a few fish.
George McGavin studied Zoology at Edinburgh University, followed by a PhD in entomology at Imperial College and the Natural History Museum in London. After 25 years as an academic at Oxford University, he became an award-winning television presenter. George is an Honorary Research Associate of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and an Honorary Principal Research Fellow at Imperial College. George is also a Fellow of the Linnean Society and the Royal Geographical Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and an Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. As well as his many TV documentaries, George has written numerous books on insects and other animals. In 2019 he became the President of the Dorset Wildlife Trust.
Visit our website: oumnh.ox.ac.uk
Your generous donations help to keep our public programmes running. Donate to the Museum: oxgive.info/3gObNNl
What have insects ever done for us?
As the dominant, multicellular life-form on the planet, the ecological impact of insects is colossal. Without insects performing essential ecosystem services, the Earth would be a very different place, and most terrestrial vertebrates that depend on them directly as food would become extinct. The loss of bees alone might cause the extinction of a quarter of all life on Earth. A total loss of insects might see the human population plummet to perhaps a few hundred thousand individuals subsisting mainly on cereals and a few fish.
George McGavin studied Zoology at Edinburgh University, followed by a PhD in entomology at Imperial College and the Natural History Museum in London. After 25 years as an academic at Oxford University, he became an award-winning television presenter. George is an Honorary Research Associate of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and an Honorary Principal Research Fellow at Imperial College. George is also a Fellow of the Linnean Society and the Royal Geographical Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and an Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. As well as his many TV documentaries, George has written numerous books on insects and other animals. In 2019 he became the President of the Dorset Wildlife Trust.
Visit our website: oumnh.ox.ac.uk
Your generous donations help to keep our public programmes running. Donate to the Museum: oxgive.info/3gObNNl
