Special exhibition from 29. September 2023 to 01 December 2024
On the park bench in the lunch break, on the paved sidewalk or looking at the green strip in the traffic jam - they are always there: Frankfurt's little helpers. Often unnoticed and unnoticed by human eyes or even chased away with a fleeting wave of the hand. We're talking about "city insects" such as the hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), the black path ant (Lasius niger) or the blue-winged grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens). They all perform important functions in our city as pollinators, natural pest controllers, carrion disposers or food for other animals. The new special exhibition "City insects - Frankfurt's little helpers" invites you to get to know and appreciate this valuable insect world on our doorstep - together with the scientists* of the Senckenberg Nature Research Society and the project "SLInBio - Urban lifestyles and the valorization of biodiversity".
At the lunch table in the garden with schnitzel and green sauce, wasps often try our patience. But the yellow-black insects not only help themselves to human food, they also eat the larvae of flies, mosquitoes and horseflies, they exterminate other dead animals as "health policemen" among the insects and pollinate flowers - unlike bees - even in cool weather, wind and rain. This can be seen vividly and with a wink in the new special exhibition "City insects - Frankfurt's little helpers" on the second floor of the Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt: Two plates on the allotment fence offer wasps a feast - one with the aforementioned Frankfurt favorite dish, the other with flowers, insects and a dead mouse.
The common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) and the German wasp (Vespula germanica) are, of course, not the only insects in the Main metropolis. "An astonishing number of insects are found in Frankfurt and the surrounding area, and they perform tasks that are also useful to us humans," explains Dr. Brigitte Franzen, director of the Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt, and continues, "With the exhibition, we want to awaken a sense of appreciation for these little helpers and their achievements, which too often go unnoticed." Highlights of the exhibition include an enlarged model of a grove hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus). The larva of the insect - which looks similar to a wasp - eats aphids to the delight of garden owners. Another model shows this in an impressive close-up.
In cities, some insect groups find a mosaic of very different habitats in a small space. These habitat structures along with their inhabitants are presented in the exhibition: Fallow land, original pieces of forest, such as Frankfurt's Biegwald, urban parks and botanical gardens, orchard meadows, private gardens, but also the city center provide a habitat for a wide variety of insects. "In order to get an overview of the insects living here, the results of the project "Biotope Mapping", which was commissioned by the Environmental Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main and carried out by the Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum Frankfurt, were tremendously helpful," says curator of the exhibition Maximilian Bugert and explains further: "Since 1985, wilderness areas in the Main metropolis have been investigated here. Many of the species found in the process, we show in our show."
Among them is the blue-winged grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens): beautiful when it opens its light blue wings, but otherwise almost invisible, because excellently camouflaged. This species, which is protected throughout Europe, is regularly encountered on Frankfurt's wastelands. The "chameleon" among insects can adapt its body color to its surroundings in one to two days. "Unused fallow land in the city is conquered by nature in a short time. But they also change quickly, so that different plants and insects find a habitat there. First there are open soils there, which provide a habitat for ground-nesting bees or the wasteland shrike, for example, then low perennials and grasses grow until woody plants and trees are added, which are then usually cleared again," Bugert explains.
Longer-lived habitats in Frankfurt are wooded areas, such as the Biegwald - a piece of "old wilderness" between Bockenheim and Rödelheim. There, for example, the heroic goat (Cerambyx cerdo) crawls on original, thick-trunked oaks. It is therefore considered a "primeval forest relic" and - with a size of a little finger - is one of the largest beetles in Europe. It is threatened with extinction and is strictly protected. In the exhibition, visitors can help the heroic beetle survive by offering it "stepping stones" to move from one habitat to another.
What insects do for all of us is made clear by the example of meadow orchards. Without pollinators, the quality of the apple harvest would look different. Frankfurt's cultural assets such as cider or green sauce would be rare, costly commodities. In the exhibition, a total of nine symbols repeatedly remind us of the system services that insects provide for us free of charge: from pollination, to recycling materials, as food for other animals, to recreation. On the park bench in the exhibition, for example, visitors can consciously enjoy the beauty and diversity of the six-legged helpers and relax at the same time: Images of Frankfurt's urban insects are projected via a beamer. Visitors can also send in their own photos for this purpose by e-mail to stadtinsekten@senckenberg.de; they will be regularly added to the exhibition.
For all their diversity, however, city insects are also exposed to some dangers, be it light pollution from street and building lighting or building materials contaminated with pesticides that end up in the groundwater. "For the conservation of insect diversity, urban society is also needed," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Mulch, Director of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt and member of the Senckenberg Board of Directors, explaining, "Human behavior has a direct impact on the diversity of dragonflies, butterflies, bees and other insects. The research of the SLInBio project will help to identify measures through which insect diversity in the city can be promoted. In the exhibition, we address the research and provide initial suggestions." "Protecting insects requires a broad alliance and knowledge of how important insects are to us as a society. We are exploring this in the SLInBio research project," says project manager Dr. Marion Mehring of ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research. "The exhibition is a central element of our research work, which asks about the effects of urban lifestyles on insect diversity."
In the collaborative project SLInBio, Senckenberg entomologists*, among others, are also investigating how the insect diversity in Frankfurt's private gardens is doing in concrete terms. For this purpose, they examined 16 home gardens and allotment garden plots in Frankfurt. They took DNA samples from insect traces on flower heads, leaves and from the water to determine which insects are present there. The evaluations have not yet been completed, but the initial results already show that gardens can be rich in insects even in large cities like Frankfurt.
Those who want to help find out more about insect diversity in Hesse can document and upload their own observations with their cell phones via the "Insects Hesse" project (https://portal.insekten-hessen.de). A counter in the exhibition shows the current numbers of reported insect species, individuals and people who participate.
"City insects - Frankfurt's little helpers"
29. September 2023 to 01 December 2024<x><BR</x> Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum Frankfurt
Opening Hours
Mun, Tues., Thurs., Fri. 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.<x><BR</x> Wed. 9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.<x><BR</x> Sat., Sun, Holidays 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Admission
Adults (18 years and older): 12,00 €
Children, pupils*, teenagers from 6 years: 4,50 €
Family: 2 adults and up to 3 children from 6-17 years: 30,00 €
