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Anyone who’s bought a Christmas tree in recent weeks has brought not just a tree through the door, but an entire ecosystem. According to Marcus Stensmyr, Senior Lecturer in Zoophysiology at Lund University, a Christmas tree can carry around 20,000 tiny insects.
Up to 20,000 small insects can live on the Christmas tree and enter the door.
Most insects are so small that they can barely be seen with the naked eye. They all live in the Christmas tree and follow them to the house.
– The most common are mites, other small spiders and lice. Then, of course, all those who eat these little insects also follow: tiny beetles and earthworms, says Marcus Stensmyr.
Having your Christmas tree teeming with invisible life may seem a bit awkward, but there’s no need to worry.
– They live in the Christmas tree and will not spread throughout the rest of the house. Our indoor environment is not very favorable for them, they are adapted to a completely different humidity and temperature. So you don’t have to worry about having 20,000 mites all over your apartment, says Marcus Stensmyr.
The inhabitants of the spruce are roughly the same throughout the country. Of the species hiding in the Christmas tree, several, such as tiny beetles, can awaken to life from hibernation when they enter the heat indoors. If a small insect, against all odds, leaves the tree, it will not survive long: it is too hot and too dry.
For those who don’t think this sounds scary but exciting, there are good chances to study insects more closely.
– If you have a small magnifying glass and you shine with a flashlight, you can check if you find something between the needles, and inside the trunk, says Stensmyr, and continues:
– It is quite fascinating that you have your own ecosystem at home.
