Where have all the insects gone?
sciencemag.org
Where have all the insects gone?
1–10 of 117 posts
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#2I remember reading about this some years ago and noticing the same windshield phenomenon. However, on a midwestern road trip a few weeks ago I noticed more and larger insect populations than I had in years. I wonder if increased organic farming and native flora projects have helped the biomass, if not the composition, of insects recover.
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#3Interesting article. I live in Costa Rica in the country side in the mountain and we are experiencing the same issue here. Back in the date, there were really big grasshoppers and all kind of colorful bugs. Now they no longer exists. I tried to blame the bad agricultural practices the do a heavy usage of pesticides.
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#4One issue not mentioned in the article is mono cultures and foreign plant species. With forign plant species the issue is that there are no insects that have evolved off them, and with mono-cultures the issue is that they may only support a small subset of insets. One thing people can do is plant native plants in their gardens. This creates an island of bio diversity.
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#5They're all terrifying wasps or yellowjackets now.
And they're all constantly trying to build nests in or near my house. I thought this was universal knowledge...
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#6I wonder what the long-term impacts of so many homeowners applying lawncare chemicals will have. It just seems like a bad idea to spray chemicals all over the lawn, yet so many do it it. I also wonder how many are over-applying, thus making matters worse. Any thoughts on how to change people's mindsets. It seems herd mentality has taken over, even though most likely know this is not healthy or environmentally friendly.
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#7I wonder what the long-term impacts of so many homeowners applying lawncare chemicals will have. It just seems like a bad idea to spray chemicals all over the lawn, yet so many do it it. I also wonder how many are over-applying, thus making matters worse. Any thoughts on how to change people's mindsets. It seems herd mentality has taken over, even though most likely know this is not healthy or environmentally friendl…
Lawns, in general, are not environment-friendly because of the need to use fuel to cut it and for spraying chemicals to keep the weeds and mosquitoes out. I lost the battle with my HOA to completely take the lawn out and instead just plant some useful trees. People don't realize how much money they spend on a 30 year basis to keep the lawns healthy.
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#8"The mass of insects collected by monitoring traps in the Orbroicher Bruch nature reserve in northwest Germany dropped by 78% in 24 years". That number is scary. If that number is even close to the same across the world, the planet is in more trouble than anyone realizes
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#9Interesting. So maybe it wasn't just my imagination.
I remember butterflies being everywhere in Spring in this area when I was a kid. Fields and air full of 'em for weeks. Monarchs especially, but all kinds. I haven't seen that kind of thing even once in probably a decade, at least.
And the windshield thing. I hadn't really thought about it, but I remember my parents having to scrape the windshield just about every gas-station stop to get rid of several really bad splatters. Now I rarely get even one bad one, and almost never need to scrape, even on road trips.
Re: Where have all the insects gone?
#10I wonder what the long-term impacts of so many homeowners applying lawncare chemicals will have. It just seems like a bad idea to spray chemicals all over the lawn, yet so many do it it. I also wonder how many are over-applying, thus making matters worse. Any thoughts on how to change people's mindsets. It seems herd mentality has taken over, even though most likely know this is not healthy or environmentally friendl…
Lawns, in general, are not environment-friendly because of the need to use fuel to cut it and for spraying chemicals to keep the weeds and mosquitoes out. I lost the battle with my HOA to completely take the lawn out and instead just plant some useful trees. People don't realize how much money they spend on a 30 year basis to keep the lawns healthy.
http://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/
Got one of this for my lawn about 8 years ago and it was probably the best investment i've made for the lawn. Not only does it remove the maintenance but it also keeps the grass cut to a certain length, drying out the weeds and fertilising the grass with the smaller cut off parts. On top of that it's electric.
I agree, trees would be better but in your situation i can only recommend it.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, mine been running for 8 years with only 1 battery replacement and the occasional razor blade replacement. The climate where i live is really rainy and it has survived so far.