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A32 FEATURE
Saturday 22 September 2018

Bye bye bugs? Scientists fear non-pest insects are declining

By SETH BORENSTEIN THE SUSPECTS
Associated Press Most scientists say lots
OXFORD, Pa. (AP) — A sta- of factors, not just one,
ple of summer — swarms of caused the apparent de-
bugs — seems to be a thing cline in flying insects.
of the past. And that’s got Suspects include habitat
scientists worried. loss, insecticide use, the
Pesky mosquitoes, disease- killing of native weeds, sin-
carrying ticks, crop-munch- gle-crop agriculture, inva-
ing aphids and cockroach- sive species, light pollution,
es are doing just fine. But highway traffic and climate
the more beneficial flying change.
insects of summer — native “It’s death by a thousand
bees, moths, butterflies, la- cuts, and that’s really bad
dybugs, lovebugs, mayflies news,” Wagner said.
and fireflies — appear to To Tallamy, two causes
be less abundant. stand out: Humans’ war on
Scientists think something weeds and vast farmland
is amiss, but they can’t be planted with the same few
certain: In the past, they crops.
didn’t systematically count Weeds and native plants
the population of flying in- are what bugs eat and
sects, so they can’t make where they live, Tallamy
a proper comparison to to- In this May 26, 2010 file photo, a Coccinellidae, more commonly known as a ladybug or ladybird said. Milkweeds, crucial to
day. Nevertheless, they’re beetle, rests on the petals of a rose in Portland, Ore. the beautiful monarch but-
pretty sure across the globe Associated Press terfly, are dwindling fast.
there are fewer insects that headlights, and most no- But there’s not much re- ogist May Berenbaum. In- Manicured lawns in the
are crucial to as much as tice few squashed bugs. search looking at all flying dividual studies aren’t con- United States are so preva-
80 percent of what we eat. Researchers are quick to insects in big areas. vincing in themselves, “but lent that, added together,
Yes, some insects are pests. point out that such exercis- THE EVIDENCE the sheer accumulated they are as big as New Eng-
But they also pollinate es aren’t good scientific ex- Last year, a study that found weight of evidence seems land, he said.
plants, are a key link in the periments, since they don’t an 82 percent mid-summer to be shifting” to show a Those landscapes are “es-
food chain and help de- include control groups or decline in the number and problem, she said. sentially dead zones,” he
compose life. make comparisons with weight of bugs captured in After the German study, said.
“You have total ecosystem past results. (Today’s cars traps in 63 nature preserves countries started asking if Light pollution is another
collapse if you lose your also are more aerodynam- in Germany compared with they have similar problems, big problem for species
insects. How much worse ic, so bugs are more likely 27 years earlier. It was one said ecologist Toke Thomas such as moths and fireflies,
can it get than that?” said to slip past them and live to of the few, if only, broad Hoye of Aarhus University in bug experts said. Insects
University of Delaware en- buzz about it.) studies. Scientists say simi- Denmark. He studied flies are attracted to brightness,
tomologist Doug Tallamy. Still, there are signs of de- lar comparisons can’t be in a few spots in remote where they become easy
If they disappeared, “the cline. Research has shown done elsewhere because Greenland and noticed an prey and expend energy
world would start to rot.” dwindling individual species similar bug counts weren’t 80 percent drop in numbers they should be using to get
He noted Harvard biolo- in specific places, including done decades ago. since 1996. food, Tallamy said.
gist E.O. Wilson once called lightning bugs, moths and “We don’t know how much “It’s clearly not a German Jesse Barber of Boise State
bugs: “The little things that bumblebees. One study we’re losing if we don’t thing,” said University of is in the middle of a study of
run the world.” estimated a 14 percent know how much we have,” Connecticut entomolo- fireflies and other insects at
The 89-year-old Wilson re- decline in ladybugs in the said University of Hawaii en- gist David Wagner, who Grand Teton National Park.
called that he once frol- United States and Canada tomologist Helen Spafford. has chronicled declines He said he notices a dis-
icked in a “Washington from 1987 to 2006. University The lack of older data in moth populations in the tinct connection between
alive with insects, espe- of Florida urban entomolo- makes it “unclear to what northeastern United States. light pollution and dwin-
cially butterflies.” Now, “the gist Philip Koehler said he’s degree we’re experiencing “We just need to find out dling populations.
flying insects are virtually seen a recent decrease in an arthropocalypse,” said how widespread the phe- “We’re hitting insects dur-
gone.” lovebugs — insects that fly University of Illinois entomol- nomenon is.” ing the day, we’re hitting
It hit home last year when connected and coated them at night,” Tallamy
he drove from suburban Florida’s windshields in the said. “We’re hitting them
Boston to Vermont and de- 1970s and 1980s. This year, just about everywhere.”
cided to count how many he said, “was kind of disap- Lawns, light pollution and
bugs hit his windshield. The pointing, I thought.” bug-massacring high-
result: A single moth. University of Nevada, Reno, way traffic are associated
WINDSHIELD TEST researcher Lee Dyer and where people congregate.
The un-scientific experi- his colleagues have been But Danish scientist Hoye
ment is called the wind- looking at insects at the found a noticeable drop
shield test. Wilson recom- La Selva Biological Station in muscid flies in Greenland
mends everyday people in Costa Rica since 1991. 300 miles (500 kilometers)
do it themselves to see. There’s a big insect trap from civilization. His studies
Baby Boomers will probably sheet under black light that linked declines to warmer
notice the difference, Tal- decades ago would be temperatures.
lamy said. covered with bugs. Now, Other scientists say human-
Several scientists have con- “there’s no insects on that caused climate change
ducted their own tests with sheet,” he said. In this June 27, 2017 file photo, mayflies swarm around the bright may play a role, albeit
lights of a ballpark during a baseball game in Cincinnati.
windshields, car grilles and Associated Press small.q