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

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

#211

Post by shkkmo »

thereddaikon wrote: post #177
jgraham wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's good to see a comment that recognises that this "bug splatter on the windshield" data is mostly just an easily observed hook to connect the measured declines to people's everyday life experiences. The topic seems to come up here ever few months, and there's always a significant percentage of the discussion devoted to aerodynamic effects, or changes in insect distribution specific to roadside habitats. Those conv…

insecticides kill insects? Big if true. Sounds like it working as designed.

Insecticides are designed to wipe out global populations of insects rather than just controlling pest insects inside a limited area? If you have actual evidence for this, it seem like it would form the basis of significant lawsuits against pesticide companies because we would have evidence of intent to cause significant ecological damage.

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

#212

Post by a1445c8b »

stinos wrote: post #104
another_story wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually find it rather interesting how many people here, in a forum I generally assume to be better informed than elsewhere, seem wholly unaware of the dramatic decrease in insects over the last few decades.

I also find it rather interesting to see talks about insect decline while it's only one part of the larger issue, rated by some as important as the climate crisis: the biodiversity crisis. Dramatic decreases are happening for way more species than just insects.

But is it “only one part” or more like a reliable indicator of the overall ecological health?

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

#213

Post by addingadimensio »

DonaldFisk wrote: post #167
dutchbrit wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s also sad to see what people are doing to their gardens over here. Fake grass, no plants/just bricks. Not to mention the municipalities mowing nice patches of grass/plants/flowers where insects thrive.

It would be nice if people realized that they can have a low-maintenance, inexpensive, and insect-friendly garden full of pretty wild flowers, by planting a perennial meadow. This needs to be cut once a year. In the UK, you can buy perennial meadow seed mixes from https://www.scotiaseeds.co.uk , https://wildseed.co.uk , https://www.wildflower.co.uk , and several other companies. Elsewhere, there should be equivalents…

I just love picking ticks off my children

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

#214

Post by mod »

Nasrudith wrote: post #162
alangibson wrote: post #56

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.

Anecdotal, but I was pleased to see fireflies returning after not seeing them post puberty. Not denying general trends at all but it makes me wonder what is the cause of counter examples. Maybe more neighbors not overgrooming their lawns or the local park's native species garden?

In the case of fireflies, they lay eggs in leaf litter. So you need some unkempt properties or wild land.

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

#215

Post by Beltalowda »

otabdeveloper4 wrote: post #190
Beltalowda wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ants have very interesting learning behaviour, but I don't think you can really say they're "smarter" than a mouse, or even "intelligent" (depending on your exact definition of that). You can teach a computer English better than the average human (see e.g. Grammarly), but that does not make the computer smarter. The learning behaviour of ants is certainly amazing, but very limited in scope. Ants can response to their…

> or just a piece of machinery responding in a pre-programmed way? Is a mouse responding in a pre-programmed way? I'd say you're just showing mammalian bias here. > given the tiny size of their brains compared to higher animals I think it's fair to say the machinery for any kind of emotion just isn't there First of all, a whale isn't necessarily smarter than a monkey just because it has a much bigger (physically) bra…

> Is a mouse responding in a pre-programmed way?

All life is to some level – including your and me – but that doesn't mean there aren't distinctions.

> a whale isn't necessarily smarter than a monkey just because it has a much bigger (physically) brain

I claimed that brain size is deterministic of intelligence, but it's not as if any brain of any size can do anything; there are real physical limits here. Ant brains are tiny, and ants are probably the smartest insects: others have even smaller brains.

Either way, I'm mostly interested in the emotional experience of insects and other animals, rather than intelligence. I think that's a more important factor in deciding whether inflicting harm is morally acceptable or not.

Mice, of course, are also not especially clever or have rich emotional lives in the same way that a dog or pig might have, but there does seem to be some of it, whereas I'm not seeing any in ants or other insects.

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

#216

Post by skrbjc »

_0w8t wrote: post #131
chickenimprint wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that work? We don't have enough land as it is. And we can't pay for the additional labor small farms need, or food inflation will explode. Making agriculture unproductive will just push the demand outwards like a beaker of toxic reactants boiling over. We can't impose more trade restrictions on foreign agricultural goods either, for fear of a trade war. This hopeless romanticism of small organic mom-and-pop…

The current agricultural land in US alone can easily feed by various estimates at least 2 billions people. The trouble is that most of it is used to grow corn etc. to feed animals in the industrial meat production.

One third is used for animal feed, a third for ethanol to blend into gasoline and a third for food consumption directly.

To me it seems like the ethanol production part would be the easiest to put towards human consumption.

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

#217

Post by nightski »

stinos wrote: post #184
DonaldFisk wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be nice if people realized that they can have a low-maintenance, inexpensive, and insect-friendly garden full of pretty wild flowers, by planting a perennial meadow. This needs to be cut once a year. In the UK, you can buy perennial meadow seed mixes from https://www.scotiaseeds.co.uk , https://wildseed.co.uk , https://www.wildflower.co.uk , and several other companies. Elsewhere, there should be equivalents…

by planting a perennial meadow While this works, an alternative if you have a lawn already is to just stop cutting it every x weeks but mow once or twice a year. Mow paths where needed. More often than not there are already seeds/plants in the soil which just never got the chance to grow. And if not, depending on where you live, fauna and wind will transport seeds to your garden. The end result (mind you, takes years…

Yes that will bring back the insects, in droves. It's a nightmare and you won't enjoy being in your yard at all.

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

#218

Post by stinos »

a1445c8b wrote: post #212
stinos wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also find it rather interesting to see talks about insect decline while it's only one part of the larger issue, rated by some as important as the climate crisis: the biodiversity crisis. Dramatic decreases are happening for way more species than just insects.

But is it “only one part” or more like a reliable indicator of the overall ecological health?

Both?

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

#219

Post by leokennis »

donkeyd wrote: post #142
fleddr wrote: post #74

Here in the ultra-dense Netherlands, threats to insects are magnified. As such, it's easier to point to specific causes. Butterflies: 50% reduction in 50 years. Beetles: 75% decline since 1985. Ladybugs: 50% reduction in 20 years. Across the border in Germany: a 75% decline in flying insects since 1989. It doesn't take much of a scientist to see the trend. I've been hiking the forests here multiple times per week for…

Wow, it's refreshing to see a Dutch person write down the impact of nitrogen as facts. Around me, its seems like slowly everyone is starting to doubt/deny the impact of nitrogen and whether it's something we need to care about. I'm starting to feel less at home in this country by the day because of it (and all the upside down flags consequently).

The farmers' protests are insane. They either flat out deny science, or frame biodiversity as some "left wing bleeding heart liberal" hobby.

Despite that they get offered millions to stop their farming activities.

Despite that they dump asbestos on highways and threaten politicians by visiting their homes.

And despite that our politicians cheer them on.

It really is the worst of times.

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

#220

Post by stinos »

addingadimensio wrote: post #213
DonaldFisk wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be nice if people realized that they can have a low-maintenance, inexpensive, and insect-friendly garden full of pretty wild flowers, by planting a perennial meadow. This needs to be cut once a year. In the UK, you can buy perennial meadow seed mixes from https://www.scotiaseeds.co.uk , https://wildseed.co.uk , https://www.wildflower.co.uk , and several other companies. Elsewhere, there should be equivalents…

I just love picking ticks off my children

I can stroll through acres of local meadows and not find any ticks. Once I dare come close to bushes or go off tracks in the woods though, it's a disaster. I.e. I don't know why, but in any case the 'grass is riddled with ticks' seems highly location-dependent.
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