It’s an Insect’s World, We Just Live on it: Exploring Entomogeomorphology as a Potential Subdiscipline of Geography

ABSTRACT

There is little doubt insects and other “creepy crawlies” make up the bulk of life on Earth, and yet their immense influence on landscape change and development have not really garnered adequate attention in geomorphologic and zoogeographic research. What studies do exist focus almost exclusively on ants and termites. Unfortunately, this barely scratches the surface of the myriad of ways in which insects influence – and are influenced by – various landscape dynamics. There are so many more “earth movers” within the broad entomologic designation beyond the obvious anthills and burrows, and with them so much potential to discover new and exciting connections between Earth and its most abundant group of occupants. Honoring the chronically curious and exploratory legacy of the late Dr. Orme, this paper offers a review of extant research bridging geomorphology and entomology, supplemented by observational vignettes exploring “entomogeomorphology” as a potential branch of scientific exploration. Much like Dr. Orme’s diverse research foci, there are very few landscapes left untouched by some form of insect activity and it is time we start paying more attention.

KEYWORDS:

• Entomology
• entomogeomorphology
• insects
• biogeomorphology
• zoogeomorphology
• landscape change

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

Profound thanks are due to my own “Academic Papas”—Dr. Thomas Paradise and Dr. Ronald Dorn—for passing on their knowledge, passion, and love of geography, just as Dr. Orme did for them. I am proud to be of Orme-ian lineage and grateful to be part of such a prolific legacy.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).