What happened to all of the bugs? A 50 year observation from one location.

a reply to: charlyv

Perspectives from an old dude.

Same perspective here, eastern New York/Catskill region. We have a lot less bugs than twenty years ago. Scary the difference. However we still have reasonable number of caterpillars and mosquitos. Moths, butterflies, bees, ants -- all noticeably fewer than before. Bears, the largest insect around here (and only four legs, mind you) have not been affected, yet.

a reply to: charlyv

I have been living in swamp country on the gulf of mexico for 37 years.
There has been no drop in bug population here I can assure you.

Don't read into that to much. I am just telling you how it is in my tiny spot of the world.

a reply to: charlyv

Anecdotal evidence from England.

Just the other day I was speaking to my mother on the phone and she asked if I had seen any 'daddy long legs' this year. en.m.wikipedia.org...
Because usually there are loads in autumn, but this year there had hardly been any.

I had to agree with her. I haven't seen many either.

Other things seem to have changed too, since I was young. The weather seems different. Used to be loads of snow, but I haven't seen any for years now.

Ive heard one odd theory about interdimensional bees. That like humans and missing time near in mountains. Small insects get dimensionaly shifted by small portals that form.

Nothing like noticing the decline of nature right outside your door.

You're not to supposed to notice stuff like that that, just what global weather will be like in the future.

Where I live in Ohio the mosquitoes are no longer as bad as they were 15 years ago when I was a kid- I also no longer see any Monarchs, it's been years. I keep planting those wildflowers they like in the hopes they'll stop by during migration some season but they haven't in a long time. I also don't see as many caterpillars as I used to, in fact I can't recall a time I've seen one instead of a bag worm in the last 5 years.

The only thing I have now is a plethora of Spiders and Ants. Which grosses me out but good riddance to the mosquitoes.

-Alee

a reply to: charlyv

I read an article about this a while ago...

I'm outside quite a lot, hiking with the dogs close to rivers, in the hills or whatever. I rarely get beset by insects. When I was a kid, I remember "lightning bugs"(fireflies) that would light up the area in high numbers (Northern Virginia) and now when I see them they are very few in number.

So where did they go?

Of the scant records that do exist, many come from amateur naturalists, whether butterfly collectors or bird watchers. Now, 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.

Beyond the striking drop in overall insect biomass, the data point to losses in overlooked groups for which almost no one has kept records. In the Krefeld data, hover flies—important pollinators often mistaken for bees—show a particularly steep decline. In 1989, the group's traps in one reserve collected 17,291 hover flies from 143 species. In 2014, at the same locations, they found only 2737 individuals from 104 species.

where have all the insects gone?

So...the most prolific of all living beings on earthand their biomass is slowly waning? What is happening? What is the impact for humanity?

If we are indeed losing pollinators, who benefits from this loss? Who loses? How do we stop it?

a reply to: charlyv

Wish i had that problem i have 2 bug zzappers have to continually buy wasp spray beeause there everywhere. Then sprsy the yard with sevin or you cant go outside without being eaten. My bet is yourneighbors spend money to create your bug free zone.

Noticed the same up here on Alberta. So few bees and butterflies in the summer now. It's really a sad thing.

I've also noticed a distinct lack of birds as well. It's so quiet. Too quiet.

However, back home in the good old desert, insects everywhere, and so many birds singing.

My own suspicion is that the spraying for mosquitos up here is killing other stuff and the birds are going. I sure haven't seen the bats circling the light posts at night catching insects in years either.

Over the past few years, we've noticed the same things down in, of all places, Florida (inland, semi-rural). In fact, we live less than 2 miles from a massive swamp. Amusingly, in trips to more northern states, I noticed more bugs up there than down here. It's just that Florida's bugs are, well, gigantic and abnormal looking.

When I first breezed down here, I couldn't go outside without being swarmed and eaten alive by no-see-ums, mosquitoes the size of your face, and biting flies. Now, I don't see half the amount.

The last time I spent a few months up north, it was during the may-fly season, and it wasn't all that bad, considering how several years ago, they had a season so bad that there were piles of dead, rotting may-flies the size of small snow mounds all over the place.

Back to Florida--we have those awful love-bugs. During their season, they are everywhere and I mean everywhere. The past two years haven't been too bad at all, in fact I almost forgot we had that problem.

originally posted by: Mandy555
a reply to: charlyv

Anecdotal evidence from England.

Just the other day I was speaking to my mother on the phone and she asked if I had seen any 'daddy long legs' this year. en.m.wikipedia.org...
Because usually there are loads in autumn, but this year there had hardly been any.

I had to agree with her. I haven't seen many either.

Other things seem to have changed too, since I was young. The weather seems different. Used to be loads of snow, but I haven't seen any for years now.

God, now you mention it, last year there were hundreds of daddy long legs here in Scotland, but I haven't seen a single one this year.

Used to be you couldn't open a window without one of them sneaking in.

I am in the southern Maryland area, I remember when we were young, that every spring there were so many lighting bugs you could see them all over the yard ,
We could just walk around and catch them but now you barely see any .
Same with the shiny green Beatles ( June bugs) , they would be everywhere and now I haven't seen more than one or two in years .
I agree that something has happened to them .

a reply to: NerdGoddess

Plant showy milkweed to provide Monarch butterfly food, patience: seeds take a while to germinate.
Hundreds of milkweeds, ask a permaculture or horticulture specialist to make sure you plant right one(s).

I agree and have been watching bug for over 50 years. The first thing I noticed was less moths, then bees. Now it's beetles, butterflies, true bugs as well as large garden spiders like Golden garden spiders we used to see regularly. There are 3 new things introduced to the environment that likely play a role; neonicotinoids - insectide, GMO foods by Monsanto that contain unnatural chemicals and may act on the genetic basis of insects. Finally, we have the electromagnetic smog thanks to cell phones and wifi which act upon their navigational senses and disrupt migrations as well as their ability to find their way to food and back to the nest.

This is all technology we rushed out for the sake of profit before studying how it would affect the environment, including humans. This is the fatal flaw in Capitalism and Corporate control over it.

a reply to: charlyv>>>> This is anecdotal but I noticed some changes in bug populations this year. One, we've been invaded by the Spotted lanternfly here in SE Pa. First it was the Japanese beetle and the gypsy moth, then it was the stink bug, now the Spotted lanternfly. Asian bugs SUCK. This fall there weren't the swarms of ladybugs we see usually warming themselves on the house. There were also no grasshoppers. Fireflys came out later way late in June and were still around later than usual. Wasps WERE fewer, yellowjackets at least. Monarch butterflys made a comeback, but the honeybees are still scarce. I didn't see as many bumblebees. Also gnats were not a summer problem until very late in the season in September. Maybe the chemtrail # they spray on us is taking the bug populations down.

I am in UK been here since 1978.
now I dont see wasps. not much of any thing.

we know what it is. man!
you are killing them all off.
sounds good? birds next then other animals.

you will Have to use GMO crops.
as you need bees butterflys to polenat them.
it may be to late to stop it!
it will take 20 to 50 years to heal the planet.

oh and the GMO food will help by killing off most of the humans.
your are all so stupid.
Sci-Fi books have been teling this storie for 70 years.
that aliens are humans kill them selfs off.

a reply to: charlyv

Urban bugs are definitely decreasing in numbers in the UK. I wonder how much is down to how we deal with dog turds and domestic waste? We all used to have the type of garbage cans/bins that Oscar the Grouch lived in. There'd be open bin bags nearby whereas now it's all fines and prosecutions. Lids hanging off, flies laying eggs, bugs everywhere. Summers used to be marked by flies in kitchens and crawling on the windows. Dog turds littered parklands and pavements. Flies and more flies. I remember these titchy tiny flies that would crawl on our arms in summer and I haven't seen them for years.

Nowadays we're tying all the waste in bag after bag after bag and throwing them in cans/bins with hinged lids. It has to have a major effect on how many flies are around in summer.

Butterflies, mayflies and dragonflies have really taken a hit too. I can't say I've a clue why, but they're declining by every measure we have in the UK. Even moths.

originally posted by: Painterz a reply to: buddha a reply to: Kandinsky

Same thing here in the Scottish highlands.

Used the in the summer at night the windows would not swarming with midges and moths and all sorts. This year? I barely saw a single insect.

Seriously weird. And scary.

Yes it is. We are also on close to the same latitude. I don't really know what that would imply other than weather, but it is interesting that you notice the same thing over there. Thanks.

a reply to: Mandy555

There is another mention of weather with the effect. Interesting.

a reply to: NerdGoddess

Where I live in Ohio the mosquitoes are no longer as bad as they were 15 years ago when I was a kid- I also no longer see any Monarchs, it's been years.

We are close to the same latitude as well. Really appears that the bugs are migrating South in some cases, and dying out in others. There is serious work for biologists here.