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Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#51

Post by someweirdperson »

denton-scratch wrote: post #42
queuep wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read last week about mooses avoiding certain hunting spots during hunting season. Link in Swedish, not sure how scientific this is but… https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/mQQWbO/algarna-overlist...

Is "moose" a word like "sheep", that is it's own plural? (I honestly don't know, but "mooses" sounded odd).

My guess would have been meese. Luckily, all the information is out there.

> "plural moose or (dated, rare) mooses or (non-standard, jocular) meese" [0]

[0] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/moose

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#52

Post by vidarh »

marcyb5st wrote: post #32
lynguist wrote: post #22

I’ve noticed the same with snails. When I was a child in the 90s, the sidewalks were full of snails, and during a 10 minute stroll, I’d often find tens of small snails. Today I find 1 or 2 snails after rainfall, if at all.

Fireflies for me. I live in Italy and between the vineyards it was full of them. Now I occasionally see one or two. It's a pity not only because it is a concrete sign of habitat degradation, but it was also mesmerizing to walk and have them filing around you. Something my kids won't experience.

Between two long trips to Italy in my childhood, the fireflies we could see from the terrace of a small B&B we stayed at in a small village not far from Genoa is one of my most enduring memories.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#53

Post by oxfordmale »

vlovich123 wrote: post #17

To everyone replying “aerodynamics”, I’ve had the same car for about 9 years now and the drive along the 5 from Bay Area to LA feels like there’s fewer bugs on my windshield (granted not recorded diligently for scientific purposes but whereas before I’d need to scrub the windshield at least once halfway these days I can drive all the way and still don’t need a wash at the end) Same goes for the argument that bugs hav…

Same tests have been run on licence plates. As they have remained in a similar position for decades, aerodynamics is clearly not the major contributing factor.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#55

Post by Cthulhu_ »

titzer wrote: post #37

It's partly due to mowing alongside highways and medians. That is primarily motivated by keeping the number of small animals down, reducing fire risk, and other reasons, but fewer tall grasses means drastically fewer bugs. Also, pesticides and general global insect decline. This is not primarily due to aerodynamics.

It's smart to keep it maintained for safety reasons, but that doesn't explain the full story - there's bound to be plenty of unkempt grassland and whatnot further away from the road where insect populations SHOULD be thriving.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#56

Post by alangibson »

I recently went back to my hometown in the USA after a couple of decades away. I was struck by how there we're almost none of the fireflies, grasshoppers and assorted other bugs I'd chased as a kid. I chalked it up to being a nostalgic old man, but I've never shaken that feeling that something is definitely not right.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#58

Post by klabb3 »

Moru wrote: post #7
np- wrote: post #6

Totally anecdotally: I have to scrub a thick layer of bugs off my motorcycle helmet after every single ride but almost never off the windshield of my car. Though this could also be a function of where I’m going (typically rural back roads on the bike and highway/interstate in the car), but even then I’m still not sure, since there is a decent amount of overlap in local routes

Yes, the modern car windshields have a much flatter angle than old cars but it's not as news worthy. :-)

They account for this factor, and several others, in the study. There's an world wide decimation of insect populations, and it has received minor coverage relative to its likely significance to ecosystems.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#60

Post by mustafabisic1 »

I noticed that I didn't use "insect removal" mode on automatic car washes in like two years now. Even after long trips.

Gotta say it's a bit scary. Together with air temperature in Bosnia being 27 degrees celsius, definitely rings some bad alarms.

Totally a gut feeling, but those can be correct often.

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