Life in the deadwood

Torsby municipality has created a park in the town center of Torsby. The purpouse of the park is to support biodiveristy and create awarness among people. In the park there is several infosign, here you can read these in english.

Little nests

Everyone needs a safe place, a home. Many of our pollinators dig out their own nests and lay their eggs in sand and gravel. Dead trees are also attractive nesting spots for many insects.

The butterfly park has prepared sandbeds and insect hotels. The trees in the park and its´ surroundings also provide additional protection for insects, birds and other animals.

How to build an insect hotel

Find, or build, a box for the frame of the hotel.

Place the frame in a sunny and wind protected spot, preferably close to flowers, trees or bushes.

Put some partition walls in to make a number of compartments in the hotel.

Fill the compartments with different nature materials, like wood drilled with 2-12 mm wide and minimum 10-15 cm deep holes. 12-15 cm long bamboo sticks, wood shavings, reed straws or bricks with holes.

Fill the compartments and cover the front with chicken wire for protection agains birds and keeping everything staeady and in place.

Pollination and beetles

We mostly associate pollinators with bees and butterflies but beetles can also spread pollen. The oldest proof of this is an archeological finding in amber, a 99 million years old beetle with 62 pollen grains stuck to it.

Beetles often thrives in environments such as sunlit areas of stone, gravel and sand (for exempel stonewalls and grawel roads) but also old and dead forest trees, as you can se exempels of in the picture below.

Upper left: The tiger beetle, a lightning fast predator, likes sandy, sunny locations (Photographer Gunilla Åberg)

Upper right: The net-winged beetle is one of our contemporary beetles (Photographer Gunilla Åberg)

Below: Pictures of importans habitats for many insects.