Flying Insects Have Been Disappearing Over the Past Few Decades, Study Shows (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years, according to a new study that has shocked scientists. Insects are an integral part of life on Earth as both pollinators and prey for other wildlife and it was known that some species such as butterflies were declining. But the newly revealed scale of the losses to all insects has prompted warnings that the world is "on course for ecological Armageddon," with profound impacts on human society. The new data was gathered in nature reserves across Germany but has implications for all landscapes dominated by agriculture, the researchers said. The cause of the huge decline is as yet unclear, although the destruction of wild areas and widespread use of pesticides are the most likely factors and climate change may play a role. The scientists were able to rule out weather and changes to landscape in the reserves as causes, but data on pesticide levels has not been collected. The research, published in the journal Plos One, is based on the work of dozens of amateur entomologists across Germany who began using strictly standardized ways of collecting insects in 1989.

Comments

Not Mosquitos

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad the reduction in bees hasn't translated to a reduction of mosquitoes.

I would gladly destroy every bee on earth if I could sit outside without spraying a ton of chemicals on myself to prevent mosquito bites carrying disease.

Nuke em all, and let the god of flying bastards sort it out.

Re:Not Mosquitos

[Anonymous Coward]

Girls, girls, you're both wrong!

AC, you're wrong that "The only mosquitoes that don't bother humans are the ones that are so remote that they can't reach us to do so". There's many species that don't SUCK BLOOD, or harm humans in any way. But they still pollinate. You don't see those that often, because they have no reason to track and swarm mammals, but there's a bunch of them everywhere.

And other AC, you're wrong that "You need to realize that the ecosystem of the Earth is like a pile of Jenga blocks, and by removing one you very well may send the whole thing crashing down."

There's actually a bunch of filthy vermin that should be expunged as soon as possible. For instance, the Asian Tiger Mosquito should be rendered extinct as fast as possible. It's role in the ecosystem can be met by non-shitty mosquitoes (some of which is has partially displaced recently).

More complete BS

[nicoleb_x]

Did they even consider that 25 years ago they had an unusually high density of insects and now we are back to normal? I think they did not!

Re:Rachel Carson vindicated... sorta?

[Ol Olsoc]

So we ended up with the lose-lose of banning DDT and still ending up with the outcome she predicted.

Now what?

Umm, no we didn't. Neonicotinoids are almost certainly the cause of this, has nothing to do with DDT. DDT, which for some halfassed reason is championed by some as the holy grail of insect killers, a majick chemical that no insect will ever develop immunity to, because majick!

DDT was retired because birds were susceptible to it, laying thinner and thinner shells until they would crack under their own weight. Not sure how old you are, but when I was a kid in the early 1960's, it was so rare to see a hawk or other raptor, to the point that if we saw one while out in the car, we'd often stop because it was exciting. Hellava price to pay for a chemical that the insects will develop resistance to, just like weeds have developed resistance to Roundup.

Under some emergency stopgap circumstances, we can use DDT. Just not regularly. Don't want resistance built up to it. Just like old school penicillin, we're saving it. Because once those two are no longer effective, we are well and truly fucked. Just not in the fun way.