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Where have all the insects gone?

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Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#211

Post by whichquestion »

silicon2401 wrote: post #201
foxhop wrote: post #176

We used technology to make the earth sick. The insects are fleeing to safe havens in places like my small backyard. Seriously all I did was stopped mowing, and instead use simple nudges to guide the manifestation of a natural system! So much abundance here, with some practice we all can make habitats for humans and animals (including attracting animals and humans by growing tasty food). We will rebuild stronger toget…

I used to want a backyard wildlife refuge until I realized this also means having a backyard refuge for ticks. I'd love to know if there's a way around this

One way to lower your risk of ticks is to manage the parts of your yard you use most. Mowing paths into your yard instead of mowing the entire yard can help and allow the other parts of your yard to grow, planting patches of yard with native plants and allowing plants to grow instead of turf.

If you can find a way to attract Opossum they are net tick destroyers. Keeping out deer will only help so well, as small mammals(chipmunks, mice, etc) are primarily the sustainers of tick populations.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#212

Post by 0des »

cranekam wrote: post #132
bluGill wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that is why you need a semicolon. The Oxford comma is good as well, but what you showed was where a semicolon is called for.

I don't think a semicolon is right here. Are you proposing this? "He spent a sabbatical conducting field work on Trinidad and Tobago; and in Suriname." That sounds very odd indeed — I wouldn't say the sentence with a semicolon-sized gap in it and reading it with one is jarring. There's nothing wrong with the original sentence. When I read and say it I do so with the same cadence as "He spent a sabbatical conducting f…

I was taught to use a semicolon when both fragments can stand alone as discrete sentences.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#213

Post by revolvingocelot »

DiffEq wrote: post #179
revolvingocelot wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are no "Marxist" countries on the planet. I'm not sure there ever were. I think I understand what you're trying to say, but someone could very easily take what you wrote as the suggestion that there are two types of countries: "capitalist" and "non-capitalist (Marxist)". That's... you should actually read Marx, or decide on a less fraught descriptor. For that matter, how much of the ecological devastation in th…

I don't disagree; just like there are no true capitalist countries. However there is a degree in which you lean one way or the other and it may vary depending on industry. For instance the Health care in the United States mentioned earlier in this thread is thought to be capitalist - but it is so heavily regulated in certain ways that it is probably leaning more towards a Marxist creation.

>but it is so heavily regulated in certain ways that it is probably leaning more towards a Marxist creation

I find it interesting that you don't mention those ways, or why they might make the US healthcare system "Marxist". Marxism is a form of socioeconomic analysis, not an economic system, nor a scheme of healthcare regulation. I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to convey.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#214

Post by CalRobert »

silicon2401 wrote: post #201
foxhop wrote: post #176

We used technology to make the earth sick. The insects are fleeing to safe havens in places like my small backyard. Seriously all I did was stopped mowing, and instead use simple nudges to guide the manifestation of a natural system! So much abundance here, with some practice we all can make habitats for humans and animals (including attracting animals and humans by growing tasty food). We will rebuild stronger toget…

I used to want a backyard wildlife refuge until I realized this also means having a backyard refuge for ticks. I'd love to know if there's a way around this

Do you get them even in the suburbs? If your yard is big enough, keep an area mowed short and a 3-5 meter buffer between that and tall growth. But that takes quite a lot of space.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#215

Post by mod »

quasse wrote: post #175
micromacrofoot wrote: post #90

I had noticed this decline anecdotally previous years, and this summer made a concentrated effort to plant wildflowers to attract pollinators and it did wonderfully. I saw more bees and butterflies than ever. I plan to do this as long as I can and would encourage others to do the same! I was amazed by the difference.

I've been planting wildflowers at my new house as well and it's very fun to watch which plants different insects prefer. I've noticed that Monarch butterflies ignore almost all plants in my area but they love Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia). I wonder how much of that is regional, since they're supposed to like Zineas and Verbena but they've shown zero interest in mine.

At my place the Monarchs (a couple weeks ago) were all attracted to a plant I haven't properly identified.

It looks like queen anne's lace--crowns of many tiny, white flowers. We have a few similar-looking species in the region (Ozarks), and it could be any of them.

Maybe worth a shot finding out if you want some other options for them!

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#216

Post by dragonwriter »

jonny_eh wrote: post #71

> He spent a sabbatical conducting field work on Trinidad and Tobago and in Suriname. What a great example for why we need the Oxford Comma.

Actually, the use of the preposition with each item makes this perfectly clear and unambiguous without any gratuitous added punctuation.

“in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname” (aside from any issue with conventional use of “on” for the former) would be awkward.

Since its a two-item list, an Oxford comma would never be appropriate, so it can't signal the need for it.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#217

Post by fouc »

mellavora wrote: post #149
thisiscorrect wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could that be explained by improved aerodynamics of cars now compared to then? Has that been studied?

For me, I noticed the change over one year. I had a job where I commuted the same stretch of highway every day. For the first few years, every May/June the windshield was always badly crusted with bugs. Then suddenly one year, no bugs. Same car.

Yeah but what about the year after?

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#218

Post by monkeydreams »

rib3ye wrote: post #32

I feel like if this were true we would be seeing a major decline in the sales of pesticides, at least on consumer-level volume. Has anyone dug into those numbers?

> I feel like if this were true we would be seeing a major decline in the sales of pesticides, at least on consumer-level volume. Has anyone dug into those numbers?

I just don't see the causative link as the pesticides are used prophylacticly. Fewer insects would tend, IMO, to reinforce the behaviour, not reduce it.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#219

Post by mod »

subsubzero wrote: post #68

Maybe the author doesn't see insects as they are in a heavily populated city with exterminators everywhere. Down in Southern California I have seen more bees this past year than I have ever seen. A few things I do feel like I see alot less than I used to see is dragonflies and praying mantis. I remember as a kid I used to see so many of both, now I may see one or two a month(dragonflies), and praying mantis once or t…

I've had a different year, as well. Fewer bees seemed pretty obvious, but more wasps this year, including a swarm of wasps that I didn't even know swarmed--they normally have 3 or 4 wasps on a relatively small hive.

But I've got lots and lots of mantises this year. One evening, attracted by the lights of my workshop, I counted 6 mantises climbing around my windows at the same time. I've continued to see them elsewhere, though one at a time. I've never seen more than a few per season, previously.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#220

Post by scrose »

pengaru wrote: post #129

Last year I had a jarring experience driving through some of the agricultural land near the Salton Sea en route to Bombay Beach coming down from JTNP, taking back roads. The general region is desert, water and food is scarce, but through this agricultural zone there's this dense pocket of food and water on the surface. I was in a Miata with the top down, and the amount of chemicals they were using to keep the pests/i…

For anyone unfamiliar with the history of the Salton sea and the effect all these chemicals have had on the surrounding areas, check out this documentary: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8TjGAWxL23c

A part of me wants to visit just to fully take in the reality of it all. But I don’t think my family would be too happy.

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