As part of the ČZU Campus sustainability challenge 2021, students proposed placing three insect hotels to support the biodiversity of pollinators.
Commercially produced hotels were not sufficiently and correctly equipped with material from an entomological point of view, therefore the purchased hotels were first appropriately modified by adding material, provided with a non-defective coating, roof and support posts in the Pavilion of wood of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences (FLD) and after agreement with the Demonstration and Experimental Workplace ( DEP) and the manager of Libosad, suitable habitats were selected and modified hotels were occupied.
On the recommendation of entomologists, we located the hotels in the southwest direction, in a place with a rich food supply (species-rich habitat of flowering plants). They are mainly intended for solitary insects, of which there are 500 species in the Czech Republic. We expect that the most frequent inhabitants will be various types of solitary bees, some species of bees and wasps, spiders or ladybugs. In addition to pollination, these insects (e.g. ladybugs) can also provide biological protection against pests (e.g. eating aphids).
We thank colleagues and students from FLD and DEP for their cooperation and help in the modification and installation of insect hotels:
Ing. Ondřej Dvořák, Ph.D.
Ing. Kryštof Kubista
Bc. Jakub Kováč
David Liebezeit
