Where Have All the Insects Gone? (sciencemag.org)

Entomologists have been assessing diversity and abundance across western Germany and have found that between 1989 and 2013 the biomass of invertebrates caught had fallen by nearly 80 percent. From an article on Science magazine: Scientists have tracked alarming declines in domesticated honey bees, monarch butterflies, and lightning bugs. But few have paid attention to the moths, hover flies, beetles, and countless other insects that buzz and flitter through the warm months. "We have a pretty good track record of ignoring most noncharismatic species," which most insects are, says Joe Nocera, an ecologist at the University of New Brunswick in Canada. [...] A new set of long-term data is coming to light, this time from a dedicated group of mostly amateur entomologists who have tracked insect abundance at more than 100 nature reserves in western Europe since the 1980s. Over that time the group, the Krefeld Entomological Society, has seen the yearly insect catches fluctuate, as expected. But in 2013 they spotted something alarming. When they returned to one of their earliest trapping sites from 1989, the total mass of their catch had fallen by nearly 80%. Perhaps it was a particularly bad year, they thought, so they set up the traps again in 2014. The numbers were just as low. Through more direct comparisons, the group -- which had preserved thousands of samples over 3 decades -- found dramatic declines across more than a dozen other sites. Such losses reverberate up the food chain. "If you're an insect-eating bird living in that area, four-fifths of your food is gone in the last quarter-century, which is staggering," says Dave Goulson, an ecologist at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, who is working with the Krefeld group to analyze and publish some of the data. "One almost hopes that it's not representative -- that it's some strange artifact."

Comments

Re:Editor's note

[msmash]

You guys are the best. Seriously, reading the comments on Slashdot has been one of the things I have deeply enjoyed and cherished for years. Everyday, I learn something new. Everyday, someone shares anecdotes that often changes -- and always broadens -- my perspective on things. You guys are really smart, passionate, funny, and empathetic.

Re:lightning bugs and forestry companies

[NG Resonance]

In the '90s, I spent summers on a Great Plains farm and saw fireflies by the multitude, year after year. By the mid-2000s, though, they had all disappeared. Haven't seen them in at least a decade, and I do wonder if pesticides are responsible -- the farmers who worked the surrounding land in my youth aren't those who are working it today.

Re:I've noticed it too

[Thelasko]

I attributed it to climate change and loss of continuous habitat.

I've attributed it to habitat loss, but not climate change. Roundup ready crops has enabled the farming industry to nearly eradicate a lot of habitat. Particularly the milkweed used by monarch butterflies.

Re:I've noticed it too

[angel'o'sphere]

Of course it is climate change, idiot.
Most insects need to 'hibernate' over the winter. Because: there is no food!
The winters used to be cold, really cold, in Germany. Now they are piss warm.
Insects preparing for hibernation now get killed by simple things like mold.
Because winters are now warm and moisty.

To grasp that you don't need a PhD.