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Where have all the insects gone?

newyorker.com

221–230 of 299 posts

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#221
post #16

Not just insects. Where I used to live even birds had left. A decade of stronger regulations and cleaning the closer by river made animals come back. And the river started to look less like a sewer and more like a river. The pollution that kills insects is not good for humans either.

On a side note, I noticed after the pandemic began, the birds began starving because they started eating out of our dog's bowls of food.

We feed crows in our area peanuts and when neighbors complained of crap on their cars we stopped for a bit, but they were really aggressive in asking for peanuts. Sometimes there are 10 of them on the wires near the street. They follow my wife home from a main roost a few blocks away--they seem to recognize her in her car. It's unclear if there's a connection to the article.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a side note, I noticed after the pandemic began, the birds began starving because they started eating out of our dog's bowls of food.

A lot of birds are getting way closer to our windows than they used to be (lived in the same place for 40 years). These aren't angry bird (npi), usually they keep their distance with humans, but now they come very close very often.. I cannot not interpret it as a sign of risk taking facing higher needs.

In the last month we've had 2 small birds (that don't eat peanuts we leave out for crows) come into our kitchen (wife leaves it open when she cooks). In 20 years here, that never happened before.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#223
post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of pesticide use on the consumer side comes from pest control companies where people have a recurring service that preemptively sprays the entire yard and house. The customer just sees that they don’t have bugs, and assumes it’s because the service is working. For there to be a decline in sales, consumers would need to be purchasing products only in response to an infestation, but with such a service, they aren…

I used to use a lawn service, and told them no pesticides or herbicides.

I’m talking about pest control services, not lawn (i.e. mowing) services. Depending on where you live, it’s legal to “treat” the entire lawn area preemptively, not just the areas within a few feet of the house.

Part of the sales pitch is also “if we treat all your neighbors, then all those bugs are going to come to your yard”. They really have no interest in just pest control; it’s a hard sell to sign up another customer.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#224

> 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.

Did he meet any interesting Trinidad and Tobagoans? Or is it Trinidadian and Tobagon?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidadians_and_Tobagonians

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> the solution to these types of problems are incompatible with capitalism as we practice it today. It isn't, regulations to price in externalities is a cornerstone of modern capitalism as practiced everywhere in the west. If your government isn't doing its job then you shouldn't blame capital, you should blame your government, your voters or the system you use to count votes and elect officials. If companies can jus…

[deleted]

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My 85y old grandma got lyme this year and she hasn't left the city in more than 5 years. Birds can transfer ticks from thousands of kilometers away. Her garden is very nice though with the long grass and all that.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#227
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a side note, I noticed after the pandemic began, the birds began starving because they started eating out of our dog's bowls of food.

We feed crows in our area peanuts and when neighbors complained of crap on their cars we stopped for a bit, but they were really aggressive in asking for peanuts. Sometimes there are 10 of them on the wires near the street. They follow my wife home from a main roost a few blocks away--they seem to recognize her in her car. It's unclear if there's a connection to the article.

crows are super clever, when I drive brisbane to sydney they'll be in the middle of the road eating kangaroos and other dead animals, they dont fly away they just hop to the right of the line so I dont squish them at 100 miles an hour, watch me go by then go back to what they are doing - they actually know which side of the road I'll go past and that they will be safe.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#228
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here, but in California's Central Valley.

Remember need to scrape off bugs from windshield after each trip thru I5 ~10 years ago. No need to do that anymore..... On the other hand, in my back yard, I grow a lot veggi, strawberry with worm casting from kitchen scraps. I do still lot of insects. A lot of birds nested around my house. Produce 10-15 young birds. I found a very cool looking giant tomato worm a size of my biggest finger. It ate half of (7 ft heigh…

I love creating little sanctuaries and do think they’re useful as pockets of support and diversity. Also, the Tomato Hornworm is an awesome creature and results in a Hummingbird Moth. I try to feed them vegetative branches and keep them separate if I can so that they hang around and we still get tomatoes.
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