Where have all the insects gone?
There has been no real shortage of midges when the weather has been right for them ie warm, still and muggy. Fortunately for us humans those conditions have been few and far between so far this summer. However spare a thought for the poor midges. This is not the first recent Year of Few Midges.
What made me think about this was that I recently drove down to Glasgow and Penrith and home again and since then have been driving round the Island in hot, for us, weather (until yesterday!).
During all that time I didn't have to clean my windscreen once of dead insects.
It doesn't seem long ago that I spent hours each summer cleaning dead insects off windscreen, headlights, number plate and so on and I even had special spray-on fluid for the job.
Has anyone else noticed the dearth of insects?
Earlier in the year I thought there were more than usual, but nothing like there used to be when you had to clean your screen after a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly used to notice the midges when you went camping in Scotland. Glen Brittle in Skye and Glencoe were awful.
Tasker, the Scottish Midge is legendary!
DeleteWell, I certainly found horseflies around when travelling in the open railway carriage last week. At least, one found me. I have a huge blister on my knee where the little blighter bit me...through my trousers!
ReplyDeleteJayCee, I haven't experienced any horseflies here this year yet - vile creatures but, here, not as annoying as midges.
DeleteFrom "The Guardian" Feb 2019: "The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.
ReplyDeleteMore than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century."
YP, I have just set up a couple of insect hotels and it will be interesting to see if they are used. I've noticed this year a decrease in many species over last year. A lot of damage (particularly to out bee population) was caused when they all came out in April when we had a few warm weeks. The bees came for the early flowering lungwort and ajuga but then the bitter north and north-east gales came and killed them and the plants.
DeleteIt has been a quiet year but last year was one of the best. I think many were fooled by a few barmy weeks then killed in the frost that followed. Modern cars being more aerodynamic don't seem to collect many insects which is just as well as my washer pump has packed up and is the very devil to get at.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it is safe to ignore 90% of anything published in the MSM and 100% of anything in the Guardian.
Adrian, I agree about them being fooled and killed this year but that would only be a small part of the missing millions. It's true too that our cars are far more aerodynamic and I hadn't thought of that. I don't totally share your view of the MSN but I've never forgiven The Guardian for the Dag Hammersholdt blunder.
DeleteGB, now you have me curious as to what the Dag Hammerskjold blunder was?
DeleteI feel sorrier for things that eat midges.
ReplyDeleteTigger, that is one of the best comments this blog has ever seen!
DeleteThanks for the laugh, Tigger.
DeleteU
I fear revealing I notice a low insect population lest they show up in droves. I made a comment elsewhere about not liking slugs. Last night, several slugs were on my deck. I might see normally one or two slime trails in the morning, never early evening a slug reunion.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, I sincerely hope that they do not show up in droves. On the whole in Scotland insects are largely an annoyance rather than a threat but they can, nevertheless, on occasion deliver a nasty punch.
DeleteThat is interesting. I must admit I haven't noticed as many mosquitoes as we used to get or flies for that matter but in the country they are still bad.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I recall the flies in the outback of Western Australia more than anywhere and they made life a misery. I also remember the routines we adopted because of the spiders. We have nothing like that in Scotland apart from midges (which are occasional with the weather rather than constant).
DeleteIt has been all over the media here for a few years now that the number of insects has been suffering a sharp decline snce the 1970s. This was one reason for the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg to introduce a regulation that forbids people to turn existing gardens in pebble deserts. I don't know how well this regulation is controlled and pursued, but I can see how the tendency of many to turn their gardens into sterile outdoor rooms contributes to the decline.
ReplyDeleteAlso, strips of wildflower meadows are mandatory here for farmers, in proportion to how many acres of land they work.
Meike, I've rather missed most of the media comments on the subject but I'm suddenly awakening. I have planted wild flowers for the bees, butterflies and moths for a couple of years but wasn't thinking of the millions of other insects.
DeleteI think your midges are on holiday in the Lake District. Thankfully they haven't found me. X
ReplyDeleteWell, Jules, I hope that you and Lily stay hidden. I don't recall them being a major problem when I used to spend time there although I do recall a plague of ladybirds one year.
DeleteI don't drive and I live in the city, but yes, even so I have noted that there are probably less insects around than there used to be. Our local newspaper here has been writing about people noticing a lot of dead bumble bees under the linden trees lining certain streets in town; the reason supposed to be that with the hot and dry weather we've been having in July, nature is out of sync and there's no nectar left where the bumble bees expect to find it. (This week on my balcony I've had earwigs seeking shelter from torrential rain in my flower pots, though - and I wish they wouldn't! I'm afraid I'm somewhat prejudiced when it comes to which insects I welcome...)
ReplyDeleteMonica, I'm afraid we are all a bit prejudiced about some insects. For me it's midges, horseflies, wasps, and earwigs in the house.
DeleteGraham, I would agree about all those - and have add that I don't really welcome any insects at all "in the house"! I had a butterfly fluttering into my living room one hot day. I love butterflies, but even those I prefer to stay outdoors! (Luckily I did manage to show it the way out without hurting it...)
DeleteI had hoped that the mosquito numbers were down this year, but this morning I find a couple of bites on my right arm. Life goes on.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bummer, Cro. Mozzie bites are something I've only experienced in Italy. I was kept awake by a mozzie one evening and slept under the sheet which proved to be absolutely no deterrent at all to the little bugger(s).
DeleteHere on Long Island, mosquitoes are more the problem... only on the beaches at night do you get "noseeums" that resemble midges in annoyance factor. And here, the mosquitoes are in full effect.
ReplyDeleteWhat I had noticed over the past few years was a dearth of birds in the garden. We used to have loads of catbirds, blue jays, cardinals, robins, sparrows, woodpeckers, etc. Happily, this year I have been seeing them all again... but for a few years there I was worried the municipalities had killed them all off with their insistence on spraying poison to kill bugs (which the birds then ingest when eating the bugs).
Also happy to see the butterflies again... I grow as many butterfly-friendly and bee-friendly flowers as I can. Just now, the porcelain berry vines are attracting loads of winged creatures - and the flowers haven't even bloomed yet!
Marcheline, mozzies are not, thank heaven, a problem here. I have so shortage of birds in the garden although the type of bird varies from year to year. We used to have Green Finch years and Sparrow years but now the sparrows rule the roost. We have plenty of sea birds and raptors too.
DeleteCan't stand mozzies, they annoy the heck out of me when they buzz in my ear at night over Summer however one thing I did notice was that we had less praying mantis than usual and didn't hear as many cicadas as we use to. Wonder what's happening
ReplyDeleteAmy, in Hawkes Bay I experienced few mozzies but had plenty of the praying mantis and cicadas. Just thinking about them makes me homesick for the nights in The Cottage with their sounds.
DeleteThere are fewer insects in our garden now, compared to what we used to have. Even stick insects used to be quite common, now it is hard to even find a ladybird!
ReplyDeleteYes, I love the sound of cicadas as well - the sound of summer :)
Margaret, it seems to be a problem everywhere. I used to love sitting on the deck listening to the cicadas. One of the many New Zealand things that I miss.
DeleteHello, we notice this increasingly and read with alarm various studies confirming our observations as gardeners. Marked decline in butterflies is most noticeable. Also, when we drove on long distance journeys to holiday destinations, from when I was a kid to maybe 5 years ago, we used to scrub insects from the windscreen every time we had to stop for rest and refueling. Not so any more. There is a reported 75% decrease (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809) in Germany. For the UK, the Guardian had a scary review recently: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/17/where-have-insects-gone-climate-change-population-decline
ReplyDeleteWe are the makers of this.
Sabine, we are the authors one way or another of most of the change in our environment at the moment. It's always happened but not at this speed.
DeleteNo midges here, no matter what the season. I don't like midges, no matter what the season. What good they do in the whole scheme of things beats me. No mozzies at present, either...a few make their presence known during summer, but not enough to be nuisances. I still am swift enough of hand to give them a fatal whack if they dare try to nip me! :)
ReplyDeleteTake good care, Graham...boost up your Vitamin B intake...that will help keep the midges from nipping you.
Lee, fortunately midges don't cause me a biting problem to any extent. The problem is that they get in my ears, eyes and just about everywhere else and it can be most unpleasant.
DeleteLet's just say I am overjoyed at the (rare) sight of a ladybird, and very happy that mosquitos and their nightly buzz do not feature in my life any more. Hope I didn't speak too soon. What will next night bring? Sod's law - no doubt. I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteU
Well, Ursula, I do hope that nothing untoward happened.
DeleteI've noticed the absence of insects too and even though weeds are about to overtake my property I've decided not to cut until after they bloom. I used to notice many bees on my hollyhocks, but none this year! Really a scary omen.
ReplyDeleteJill, no bees on the hollyhocks really is scary. If it continues we are in trouble.
DeleteWell this is timely, and profound.
ReplyDeleteOn my last campervan trip I drove 1,000 miles and to my shame, have not cleaned the van since I got back. This morning I walked around the Beast knowing I needed to give her a good wash and realised the windscreen is still clean and the white bonnet was not plastered with the bodies of countless poor creatures caught in whatever vortex hurles them to their deaths on our vehicles.
You rightly say we are the authors of this change, but there is no other species on the planet who is so over-populated and lacking in predators. An earlier apex predator (dinosaurs) were wiped out and the earth carried on quite well without them, I often think that is what has to happen to homo sapiens. Miserable b*gger, aren't I?