The Elephant

The climate change and environmental emergency: a comprehensive resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens

Topic: Insects


Featured Articles:

The collapse of insects

  2023-05-28 (or before) in Reuters

The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble and the consequences could be dire.

  Tagged under: Insects | Collapse


Related Articles (117)

SITC calls for new Government focus and support on halting the decline of insects and other invertebrates across the UK - Committees - UK Parliament

  2024-08-30 (or before) in UK Parliament Committees

In today’s report on insect decline and food security, the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee calls for “effective and sustainable crop protection strategies to be demonstrated at a commercial scale” and for Government to begin to more strongly support the development, regulation and practical application of pesticide alternatives.

  Tagged under: Insects


Tropical beetles more sensitive to impacts are less likely to be known to science

  2024-08-30 (or before) in ScienceDirect.com

Insects are posited to be declining globally. This is particularly pertinent in tropical forests, which exhibit both the highest levels of biodiversit…

  Tagged under: Insects


Where have all the insects gone?

  2024-08-26 (or before) in Financial Times

  Tagged under: Insects


‘This year has been dead’: where have Britain’s insects gone?

  2024-08-15 in The Guardian

Surveys suggest that wet weather and habitat deterioration are among the causes of devastating population declines, but there are ways to help

  Tagged under: Insects | Butterflies and Moths


Are some of your household products killing insects and wildlife?

  2024-08-09 in The Guardian

Flea treatments for dogs, ant killer, washing-up liquid and herbicides may be partly to blame for decline in UK

  Tagged under: Insects


All-night streetlights make leaves inedible to insects, study finds

  2024-08-05 in The Guardian

Scientists believe artificial light may be affecting natural ecology of plant life by creating extended photosynthesis

  Tagged under: Insects | Insect Populations


Insect pollinators: The time is now for identifying species of greatest conservation need

  2024-08-05 (or before) in wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Relatively few pollinating insects have appeared as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in State Wildlife Action Plans, decadal-scale blueprints for wildlife conservation efforts across the ...

  Tagged under: Conservation | Bees | Insects


Court Rejects Federal Pesticide-Spraying Program on Millions of Acres of Western Rangelands

  2024-08-02 in Center for Biological Diversity

PORTLAND, Ore.— The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and the Center for Biological Diversity won a lawsuit today against the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service over its program allowing insecticide spraying on millions of acres in 17 western states to kill native grasshoppers and crickets.

  Tagged under: Insects


Dramatic decline in insect populations over last 50 years, study finds | ITV News

  2024-08-02 in ITV

The study tests the number of different insects present on cereal crops which overall has revealed that numbers have dropped. | ITV News Meridian

  Tagged under: Insects


‘Warning sign to us all’ as UK butterfly numbers hit record low

  2024-07-29 in The Guardian

Conservation charity raises alarm over climate crisis after wet spring and summer dampen mating chances

  Tagged under: Insects | Butterflies and Moths


Something has gone wrong for insects, says Cambridgeshire charity

  2024-07-25 in The BBC

A conservation charity says that humans and other life forms could not survive without bugs.

  Tagged under: Insects


‘It’s really scary’: How rat poisons are wreaking havoc on raptors and other wildlife

  2024-07-25 (or before) in Science | AAAS

Supertoxic rodenticides can accumulate in birds, mammals, and insects, even killing some. Scientists want to understand the damage—and limit it

  Tagged under: Insects | Birds | Agriculture | Pollution


Country diary: An alarmingly bad day searching for butterflies | Jennifer Jones

  2024-07-20 in The Guardian

Green Beach, Sefton coast, Merseyside: It was a glorious day in a biodiversity hotspot that’s full of different habitats – where were they all?

  Tagged under: Insects | Butterflies and Moths


Light pollution is a driver of insect declines

  2024-07-17 (or before) in ScienceDirect.com

Insects around the world are rapidly declining. Concerns over what this loss means for food security and ecological communities have compelled a growi…

  Tagged under: Insects


Where are all the butterflies this summer? Their absence is telling us something important | Tony Juniper

  2024-07-13 in The Guardian

This isn’t down to one wet, cold British spring but a disturbing longer-term decline in Britain’s insects. Thankfully, we can help, says the campaigner Tony Juniper

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects | Butterflies and Moths


Air pollution threatens key crop pollinators, study finds

  2024-07-11 by in thenewlede.org

By Shannon Kelleher Air pollution jeopardizes bees and other pollinators essential for food production, according to a new study that sheds light on a significant but underrecognized threat to beneficial insects. In a study published Thursday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers found  that bees, as well as some moths and butterflies, became about a third less efficient at foraging for food, on average, after exposure to elevated air pollution levels. The findings were based on an analysis of data from 120 scientific papers on how 40 types of insects respond to ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and parti...

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects | Butterflies and Moths


‘I have seen the decline’: pesticides linked to falling UK insect numbers

  2024-06-19 in The Guardian

Experts say invertebrates are exposed to range of chemicals, some of which are 10,000 times more toxic than DDT

  Tagged under: Insects


Wildlife experts urge action on pesticides as UK insect populations plummet

  2024-06-14 in The Guardian

Campaigners say next government must reduce use and toxicity of pesticides before it is too late

  Tagged under: Insects


The end of the great northern forests? The tiny tree-killing beetle wreaking havoc on our ancient giants

  2024-06-05 in The Guardian

Forests across Europe, the US and Canada have been hard hit by drought, fires and bark beetles. Now scientists fear the northern hemisphere’s greatest carbon sink is nearing a tipping point

  Tagged under: Tipping Points | Insects | Collapse | Drought


Swallow, swift and house martin populations have nearly halved, finds UK bird survey

  2024-05-16 in The Guardian

Reduction in insect numbers contributes to drop, and there are declines across more than a third of bird species surveyed

  Tagged under: Insects


Scientists reveal "major" new factor in bumblebee decline

  2024-05-03 in Newsweek

A study found that bumblebee nests may be getting too hot, and the species are struggling to thermoregulate these temperatures.

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects


‘Bug splat’ survey shows 78% decline in flying insects in two decades | The Independent

  2024-04-23 in The Independent

The citizen science project asks people to record the number of flying insects that are squashed on their car number plates after a drive.

  Tagged under: Insects


The shrill carder: once-common bumblebee heading for extinction

  2024-04-11 in The Guardian

Bombus sylvarum is now found in only a few pockets as intensive farming destroys UK wildflower habitats

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects | Extinction


Effects of climate change on Lepidoptera pollen loads and their pollination services in space and time - Oecologia

  2024-03-25 in Springer Verlag

Shifts in flowering time among plant communities as a result of climate change, including extreme weather events, are a growing concern. These plant phenological changes may affect the quantity and quality of food sources for specialized insect pollinators. Plant–pollinator interactions are threatened by habitat alterations and biodiversity loss, and changes in these interactions may lead to declines in flower visitors and pollination services. Most prior research has focused on short-term plant–pollinator interactions, which do not accurately capture changes in pollination services. Here, we characterized long-term ...

  Tagged under: Insects | Biodiversity Loss | Butterflies and Moths | Drought


Climate change is warping the seasons

  2024-03-06 by in The Conversation

A new series will investigate what’s happening to nature’s calendar.

  Tagged under: Insects | Wildlife | Agriculture | Climate Change | Climate Change Impacts


On‐site floral resources and surrounding landscape characteristics impact pollinator biodiversity at solar parks

  2024-03-04 (or before) in British Ecological Society Journals

Abstract There is increasing land use change for solar parks and growing recognition that they could be used to support insect pollinators. However, understanding of pollinator response to solar pa...

  Tagged under: Agriculture | Insects | Solar Energy


Weatherwatch: how solar farms benefit bees and butterflies

  2024-03-01 in The Guardian

Research shows pollinating insects thrive in solar parks, particularly where a variety of plants are flourishing

  Tagged under: Insects | Bees | Butterflies and Moths


Climate change may cause crisis amid important insect populations, researchers say - CBS News

  2024-02-24 in CBS News

Scientists estimate that 40% of insect species are in decline, and a third are endangered.

  Tagged under: Insects | Insect Populations


Worst fall armyworm incursion on record costing farmers millions - ABC News

  2024-02-14 in ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The invasive insect causes millions of dollars in losses across Australia's summer crop-growing regions.

  Tagged under: Farming | Insects


Climate change causing 60% of plants and insects to fall out of sync

  2023-12-12 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

Seasonal timings of plants are advancing an average of four times faster than insects, throwing key interactions like pollination out of sync. This is according to new findings from researchers at the University of Oxford and Chinese Academy of Sciences that will be presented at the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting in held Belfast December 12–15.

  Tagged under: Insects


Food, soil, water: how the extinction of insects would transform our planet

  2023-11-10 in The Guardian

A new study doubles the number of species at risk of extinction to 2m, driven by the latest data on insects. Losing these tiny creatures would have huge implications for life on Earth

  Tagged under: Drought | Farming | Rivers | Wildlife | Insects | Extinction


Beekeepers stung by wettest July on record

  2023-09-18 (or before) in Belfast Telegraph

Beekeepers are counting the cost of freak summer weather that left the insects and locally produced honey at risk.

  Tagged under: Insects | Bees


Red fire ant colonies found in Italy and could spread across Europe, says study

  2023-09-11 in The Guardian

Researchers identify 88 nests of destructive invasive non-native species near Syracuse in Sicily

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Insects


Sharp rise in Asian hornet sightings in UK causes alarm

  2023-08-17 in The Guardian

Wildlife experts fear spread could devastate native bees, which the hornets dismember and eat

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects | Bees


Insect apocalypse

  2023-08-15 (or before) in Princeton University Press

Insects underpin almost all terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. But in the last few decades, populations all over the world have collapsed with terrifying speed.

  Tagged under: Insects | Insect Populations | Collapse


Recent and future declines of a historically widespread pollinator linked to climate, land cover, and pesticides | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

  2023-07-14 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

The acute decline in global biodiversity includes not only the loss of rare species, but also the rapid collapse of common species across many diff...

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Bees | Insects | Collapse | Biodiversity Loss


Bee Population Decline

  2023-07-14 (or before) in osu.edu

Looking for the latest buzz on how to help the bees? Look no further.

  Tagged under: Insect Populations | Bees | Insects


US honeybees suffer second deadliest season on record

  2023-06-23 in The Guardian

Nearly 50% of US bee colonies died off last year, although efforts have helped the overall bee population remain ‘relatively stable’

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Bees | Insects


Insect decline a threat to fruit crops and food security, scientists warn MPs

  2023-06-07 in The Guardian

Poor pollination caused by destructive farming methods leads to loss of biodiversity and is a threat to food production, inquiry told

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Insects | Food Production and Consumption | Biodiversity Loss


Europe has lost over half a billion birds in 40 years. The single biggest cause? Pesticides and fertilisers

  2023-06-01 by in The Conversation

Insect-eating birds such as swifts and yellow wagtails are particularly vulnerable.

  Tagged under: Insects


The collapse of insects

  2023-05-28 (or before) in Reuters

The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble and the consequences could be dire.

  Tagged under: Insects | Collapse


Why the climate crisis is making our insects run for the hills

  2023-05-28 in The Guardian

Around the world, different species are shifting their habitats upwards, with potentially catastrophic results for our ecosystems

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects


Accelerating declines of North America’s shorebirds signal the need for urgent conservation action

  2023-05-19 (or before) in Oxford Academic

Abstract. Shorebirds are declining to a greater extent than many other avian taxa around the world. In North America, shorebirds, along with aerial insectivores

  Tagged under: Birds | Insects


Melting glaciers in Alps threaten biodiversity of invertebrates, says study

  2023-05-04 in The Guardian

Overlooked animals vital for alpine ecosystems might lose most of their habitat and disappear, research suggests

  Tagged under: Insects


How Britain is losing essential hedgerows in the midst of a biodiversity crisis

  2023-04-27 in Channel 4

They are a symbol of the British landscape - a rich tapestry of nature, home to birds, to insects and to flowers. But hedges are under threat and new figures seen exclusively by this programme reveal the full extent of the destruction. So who's doing it - and who's fighting…

  Tagged under: Insects


"We Are Going To Run Out Of Food" - 7 Reasons There's Going To Be A Global Famine

  2023-04-25 in Collapse Musings

It is now a certainty that there is going to be a global famine in the near future. Here's why.

  Tagged under: Famine and Food Insecurity | Insects | Collapse


UK's flying insects have declined by 60% in 20 years

  2023-04-10 (or before) in The Natural History Museum, London

The UK's insect population has fallen sharply as the invertebrates are affected by rising temperatures and fragmented habitats.

  Tagged under: Insects


Decline in insect populations - Wikipedia

  2023-04-10 (or before) in Wikipedia

  Tagged under: Insects | Insect Populations


Air pollution hindering mating of fruit flies by reducing output of male scent

  2023-03-14 in The Guardian

Study shows high ozone levels make males emit fewer pheromones to attract females, which may lead to population decline

  Tagged under: Insects


About Neonicotinoids - Pesticide Action Network UK

  2023-02-07 (or before) in Pesticide Action Network

Neonicotinoids are powerful, systemic insecticides and are thought to be connected to the recent declines in bee populations.

  Tagged under: Insects | Insect Populations


Insects contribute to atmospheric electricity

  2023-01-16 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

By measuring the electrical fields near swarming honeybees, researchers have discovered that insects can produce as much atmospheric electric charge as a thunderstorm cloud. This type of electricity helps shape weather events, aids insects in finding food, and lifts spiders up in the air to migrate over large distances. The research, appearing on October 24 in the journal iScience, demonstrates that living things can have an impact on atmospheric electricity.

  Tagged under: Insects | Electricity


Honey bee life spans are 50 percent shorter today than they were 50 years ago: A drop in longevity for lab-kept honey bees could help explain colony losses and lower honey production in recent decades

  2022-12-23 (or before) in Science Daily

A new study by entomologists shows that the lifespan for individual honey bees kept in a controlled, laboratory environment is 50% shorter than it was in the 1970s. As the first study to show an overall decline in honey bee lifespan potentially independent of environmental stressors, this work hints that genetics may be influencing the broader trends of higher colony turnover rates seen in the beekeeping industry.

  Tagged under: Butterflies and Moths | Bees | Insects | Food Production and Consumption


The collapse of insects

  2022-12-07 (or before) in Reuters

The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble and the consequences could be dire.

  Tagged under: Insects | Collapse


Scientists warn of 'insect apocalypse' amid climate change

  2022-10-26 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

An emerging "insect apocalypse" will have radical effects on the environment and humankind, an Australian scientist has warned.

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Insects


Climate crisis poses ‘growing threat’ to health in UK, says expert

  2022-10-23 in The Guardian

Exclusive: Prof Dame Jenny Harries warns of dangers to food security, flooding and insect-borne diseases

  Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Climate Change | Insects | Health


Pesticide use around world almost doubles since 1990, report finds

  2022-10-18 in The Guardian

Agricultural chemicals drive falls of 30% in populations of field birds and butterflies, says Pesticide Atlas

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects | Insect Populations


Wax worm saliva rapidly breaks down plastic bags, scientists discover

  2022-10-04 in The Guardian

Its enzymes degrade polyethylene within hours at room temperature and could ‘revolutionise’ recycling

  Tagged under: Insects


Ants can be better than pesticides for growing healthy crops, study finds

  2022-08-17 in The Guardian

Harnessing natural insect power can. with proper management, have higher efficacy than resorting to harmful chemicals

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Insects | Health


Glyphosate weedkiller damages wild bee colonies, study reveals

  2022-06-02 in The Guardian

Most widely used pesticide in history harms critical ability of bumblebee to regulate nest temperature

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Bees | Insects


The world's insect populations are plummeting everywhere we look

  2022-05-30 (or before) in The Natural History Museum, London

Crashing numbers will have serious implications for our future.

  Tagged under: Insects | Insect Populations


Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust

  2022-05-05 (or before) in buglife.org.uk

Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust is a charity dedicated to conservation, education and policy change to protect insects, bugs and invertebrates

  Tagged under: Insects


Flying insect numbers have plunged by 60% since 2004, GB survey finds

  2022-05-05 in The Guardian

Scientists behind survey of car number plates said drop was ‘terrifying’, as life on Earth depends on insects

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects


Fact Sheet: Global Species Decline - Earth Day

  2022-03-18 by in Earth Day

The world is facing a mass extinction of species.  All species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods (insects and arachnids), fish, crustaceans, corals and other cnidarians, and plants have declined, in many cases, severely. Human civilization has had a negative impact on most living things.   We are currently living through a mass species extinction […]

  Tagged under: Fish | Insects | Coral Reefs | Extinction


UK overrules scientific advice by lifting ban on bee-harming pesticide

  2022-03-01 in The Guardian

Campaigners aghast as emergency exemption on use of thiamethoxam granted due to risk to sugar beet crop

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Bees | Insects


Lake Malawi's Fish Defy Death - While Their World Heritage Home Is Threatened | We Don't Have Time

  2022-02-28 (or before) in app.wedonthavetime.org

By Jeffrey Barbee January 27, 2022 In the shallow rocky waters below a high granite outcrop a fish lies sideways, fallen onto the sand below. Its skin the hue of a rotting corpse, the fish is unmoving, apparently dead. But looks can be deceiving. As scavenger fish approach, the play-dead fish springs into action, snapping up the would-be eaters in a flurry of motion. One of hundreds of new fish species discovered in the warm waters of Lake Malawi in the last four decades, the play-dead fish’s only home is now in danger of being destroyed. Play dead fish Nimbochromis livingstonii. Picture: Ken McKaye/allianceearth.org Lake...

  Tagged under: Deforestation | Extreme Weather | Africa | Fish | Rivers | Insects | Legislation | Electricity | Health | Trees | Finance


Researchers warn of looming 'insect apocalypse' under current conservation rules

  2022-02-04 (or before) in The National | Scottish News

CURRENT UK conservation policies fail to protect important insect species 'vital for our everyday lives and future existence’, according to new…

  Tagged under: Insects


How the speed of climate change is unbalancing the insect world

  2022-01-11 in The Guardian

The long read: The pace of global heating is forcing insect populations to move and adapt – and some aggressive species are thriving

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Insects | Insect Populations


Being Serious about Saving Bees

  2021-12-28 (or before) in USDA

Pollinators are a vital part of agricultural production. In the United States, more than one-third of all crop production – 90 crops ranging from nuts to berries to flowering vegetables - requires insect pollination. Managed honey bee colonies are our primary pollinators, adding at least $15 billion a year by increasing yields and helping to ensure superior-quality harvests.

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects


Direct pesticide exposure of insects in nature conservation areas in Germany - Scientific Reports

  2021-12-16 (or before) in Nature

In Germany, the decline of insect biomass was observed in nature conservation areas in agricultural landscapes. One of the main causal factors discussed is the use of synthetic pesticides in conventional agriculture. In a Germany-wide field study, we collected flying insects using Malaise traps in nature conservation areas adjacent to agricultural land. We used a multi-component chemical trace element analysis to detect 92 common agricultural pesticides in ethanol from insect traps sampled in May and August 2020. In total, residues of 47 current use pesticides were detected, and insect samples were on average contaminated with 1...

  Tagged under: Germany | Insects


Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a thousand cuts

  2021-12-14 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

Nature is under siege. In the last 10,000 y the human population has grown from 1 million to 7.8 billion. Much of Earth’s arable lands are already in agriculture (1), millions of acres of tropical forest are cleared each year (2, 3), atmospheric CO2 levels are at their highest concentrations in more than 3 million y (4), and climates are erratically and steadily changing from pole to pole, triggering unprecedented droughts, fires, and floods across continents. Indeed, most biologists agree that the world has entered its sixth mass extinction event, the first since the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 million y ago, when mor...

  Tagged under: Extinction Rebellion | Drought | Forest Fires | Insects | Trees | Extinction


[PDF] Discrepancy between acute and chronic toxicity induced by imidacloprid and its metabolites in Apis mellifera. | Semantic Scholar

  2021-11-22 (or before) in Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool

Oral acute and chronic toxicity of imidacloprid and its main metabolites and their main metabolites were investigated in Apis mellifera to show the rapid appearance of neurotoxicity symptoms, such as hyperresponsiveness, hyperactivity, and trembling and led to hyporesponsiveness and hypoactivity. Imidacloprid is a systemic nitroguanidine insecticide that belongs to the neonicotinoid family. As an agonist of the acetylcholine receptor, it attacks the insect nervous system and is extremely effective against various sucking and mining pests. Oral acute and chronic toxicity of imidacloprid and its main metabolites (5-hydroxyimidaclo...

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects


Pesticide and resource stressors additively impair wild bee reproduction | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

  2021-11-22 (or before) in Royal Society Publishing

Bees and other beneficial insects experience multiple stressors within agricultural landscapes that act together to impact their health and diminish their ability to deliver the ecosystem services on which human food supplies depend. Disentangling the ...

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects | Health


Bees may take generations to recover from one exposure to insecticides

  2021-11-22 in The Guardian

Study shows reduced reproduction and other negative impacts on performance of species

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Bees | Insects


Butterflies released in Finland contained parasitic wasps – with more wasps inside

  2021-09-14 in The Guardian

Introduction of Glanville fritillary leads to emergence of three new species on to Baltic Sea island

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects


How to avoid greenwashing and harmful pesticides in lawn care - EHN

  2021-08-26 in Environmental Health News

Natural. Holistic. Eco-friendly. What do these terms mean when it comes to landscaping and lawn care?

  Tagged under: Insects


LED streetlights decimating moth numbers in England

  2021-08-25 in The Guardian

‘Eco-friendly’ lights found to be worse than sodium ones – but both contribute to insect decline, says study

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects


The insect apocalypse: ‘Our world will grind to a halt without them’

  2021-07-25 in The Guardian

Insects have declined by 75% in the past 50 years – and the consequences may soon be catastrophic. Biologist Dave Goulson reveals the vital services they perform

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Bees | Insects


‘Honeybees are voracious’: is it time to put the brakes on the boom in beekeeping?

  2021-07-24 in The Guardian

The number of beehives in Britain’s cities is growing rapidly, putting pressure on native bees ‘that really need our help’, say scientists and experienced beekeepers

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Bees | Insects


Banned pesticide blamed for killing bees may be approved for fish farms

  2021-05-27 in The Guardian

Government agency appears to support introduction of system which uses insecticide US termed an ‘environmental hazard’

  Tagged under: Farming | Fish | Wildlife | Bees | Insects


The projected effect on insects, vertebrates, and plants of limiting global warming to 1.5°C rather than 2°C

  2021-03-10 (or before) in Science | AAAS

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C protects against half of the risks of 2°C warming for plants and vertebrates and two-thirds of the risks to insects.

  Tagged under: Insects


Butterfly numbers plummeting in US west as climate crisis takes toll

  2021-03-04 in The Guardian

The total number of butterflies west of the Rockies has fallen 1.6% a year since 1977, a study finds – ‘You extrapolate it and it’s crazy’

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects


The State Of Britain's Moths

  2021-03-03 (or before) in Butterfly Conservation

The State of Britain’s Larger Moths 2021 report is now available. This new report summarises current knowledge of the state of Britain’s c.900 species of larger moths, presenting analyses of long-term change based on millions of records gathered through the Rothamsted Insect Survey (RIS) and National Moth Recording Scheme (NMRS). Key findings: The total abundance of larger moths caught in the RIS light-trap network in Britain decreased by 33% over 50 years (1968–2017). Losses were greater in the southern half of Britain (39% decrease) than in the northern half (22%). Long-term abundance ...

  Tagged under: Climate Change | Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects | Biodiversity Loss


'Bee-killing' pesticide now will not be used on UK sugar beet fields

  2021-03-03 in The Guardian

Government gave emergency authorisation to a neonicotinoid earlier this year - but says chemical was not needed

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Bees | Insects


'A cause for worry': Mexico's monarch butterflies drop by 26% in year

  2021-02-25 in The Guardian

Butterflies had bad year after four times as many trees were lost to illegal logging and extreme climate conditions

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects | Mexico | Trees


A quarter of all known bee species haven't been seen since the 1990s

  2021-01-23 (or before) by in New Scientist

  Tagged under: Bees | Insects


Insect populations suffering death by 1,000 cuts, say scientists

  2021-01-11 in The Guardian

‘Frightening’ global decline is ‘tearing apart tapestry of life’, with climate crisis a critical concern

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects | Insect Populations


Discovery of 'cryptic species' shows Earth is even more biologically diverse

  2020-12-25 in The Guardian

Excitement as DNA barcoding technique leads to unmasking of new species tempered with fear that some are already at risk of extinction

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects | Extinction


An international effort to understand cycad pollinators

  2020-10-30 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

University of Guam researchers continue to expand knowledge of a unique group of plants called cycads. The world's contemporary cycad plants depend on small insects for pollination services. The Guam team's 2017 discovery of the new Cycadophila samara beetle and its pollination of cycads is now contributing to an international effort to more fully understand the intimate relationship between plant and insect.

  Tagged under: Insects


Record low number of British butterflies baffles scientists

  2020-09-28 in The Guardian

Annual Big Butterfly Count shows big falls in peacocks and small tortoiseshells

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects


Halve UK pesticide use to save insects, say conservationists

  2020-07-08 in The Guardian

Wildlife Trusts report also calls for expansion of projects such as flower-rich road verges and butterfly reintroductions

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Bees | Insects


‘Murder hornets’: race to protect North America's honeybees from giant invader

  2020-06-25 in The Guardian

Amateur beekeepers and scientists do ‘the whole CSI thing’ to stem the feared onslaught

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Bees | Insects


Agribusiness drives severe decline of essential insects | Climate & Capitalism

  2020-06-10 in Climate & Capitalism | An ecosocialist journal edited by Ian Angus

Four million tonnes of poison a year, most produced by four agribusiness giants, are killing essential insects everywhere. One-third of species face extinction.

  Tagged under: Capitalism | Insects | Extinction


Meta-analysis reveals declines in terrestrial but increases in freshwater insect abundances

  2020-04-25 (or before) in Science | AAAS

Global changes in insect populations reflect both decline and growth.

  Tagged under: Insects | Insect Populations


Nutrient dilution and climate cycles underlie declines in a dominant insect herbivore

  2020-04-25 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

Parsing variation in long-term patterns underlying insect abundances and assigning mechanisms are critical in light of recent reports of dramatic insect declines. Grasshopper abundances in a North American prairie exhibited both 5-y cycles and >2%/y declines over the past 20 y. Large-scale climate oscillations predicted the cycles in grasshopper abundances. Moreover, plant biomass doubled over the same period—likely due to changes in climate and increasing atmospheric CO2—diluting the concentrations in plant tissue of key nutrients which in turn predicted the declines of a dominant herbivore. Nutrient dilution, li...

  Tagged under: Predictions | Climate Change | Insects | Insect Populations


Insect numbers down 25% since 1990, global study finds

  2020-04-23 in The Guardian

Scientists say insects are vital and the losses worrying, with accelerating declines in Europe called ‘shocking’

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects | Biodiversity Loss


Scientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions

  2020-02-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.com

Here we build on the manifesto ‘World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, issued by the Alliance of World Scientists. As a group of conservation biologis…

  Tagged under: Insects | Extinction


Bees may struggle in winds caused by global warming, study finds

  2020-02-18 in The Guardian

Experiment revealed increased wind speeds reduced the efficiency of their foraging

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Bees | Insects


River insects and lichens bucking trend of wildlife losses

  2020-02-17 in The Guardian

Reductions in air and water pollution are most likely reason, say scientists

  Tagged under: Rivers | Wildlife | Insects


Car ‘splatometer’ tests reveal huge decline in number of insects

  2020-02-12 in The Guardian

Research shows abundance at sites in Europe has plunged by up to 80% in two decades

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects


Bumblebees' decline points to mass extinction – study

  2020-02-06 in The Guardian

Populations disappearing in areas where temperatures are getting hotter, scientists say

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Bees | Insects | Insect Populations | Extinction


Beetles and fire kill dozens of 'indestructible' giant sequoia trees

  2020-01-18 in The Guardian

Deadly interaction between insects, drought and fire damage have forced California’s park officials to trigger climate crisis plans intended for the 2050s

  Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Wildfires | Drought | Insects | California | Trees


Immediate, science-based community action can stop insect decline

  2020-01-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

This year, German environmentalists collected 1.75 million signatures for a 'save the bees' law requiring an immediate transition toward organic farming. But to create healthy ecosystems worldwide, people in communities across the globe will need to take similar action based on empathy for insects—and not only for bees and butterflies—according to entomologists Yves Basset from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Greg Lamarre from the University of South Bohemia, writing in Science. The authors present immediate, science-based actions to mitigate insect decline.

  Tagged under: Farming | Butterflies and Moths | Bees | Insects | Health


Urgent new ‘roadmap to recovery’ could reverse insect apocalypse

  2020-01-06 in The Guardian

Phasing out synthetic pesticides and fertilisers and aggressive emission reductions among series of solutions outlined by scientists

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects


Researchers united on international road map to insect recovery

  2020-01-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology

It's no secret that many insects are struggling worldwide. But we could fix these insects' problems, according to more than 70 scientists from 21 countries. Their road map to insect conservation and recovery is published in Nature Ecology & Evolution this week. From urgent 'no-regret' solutions to long-term global comparisons.

  Tagged under: Insects


Robust evidence of declines in insect abundance and biodiversity

  2019-11-27 (or before) in Nature

Data are mounting that document widespread insect losses. A long-term research project now provides the strongest evidence of this so far, and demonstrates the value of standardized monitoring programmes. Long-term standardized monitoring reveals the scale of biodiversity losses.

  Tagged under: Insects | Biodiversity Loss


Light pollution is key 'bringer of insect apocalypse'

  2019-11-22 in The Guardian

Exclusive: scientists say bug deaths can be cut by switching off unnecessary lights

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects


‘Insect apocalypse’ poses risk to all life on Earth, conservationists warn

  2019-11-13 in The Guardian

Report claims 400,000 insect species face extinction amid heavy use of pesticides

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Insects | Extinction


Fishery collapse ‘confirms Silent Spring pesticide prophecy'

  2019-10-31 in The Guardian

Common pesticides found to starve fish ‘astoundingly fast’ by killing aquatic insects

  Tagged under: Farming | Insect Populations | Fish | Pesticides | Wildlife | Insects | Collapse


The butterfly effect: what one species’ miraculous comeback can teach us

  2019-05-27 in The Guardian

The Duke of Burgundy is back from the brink – and the work to conserve it has helped other declining species. Does this mean there is hope in the face of Insectageddon?

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Butterflies and Moths | Insects


Humanity must save insects to save ourselves, leading scientist warns

  2019-05-07 in The Guardian

Insects are ‘the glue in nature’, says Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, underpinning the food and water we rely on

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects


Butterfly numbers fall by 84% in Netherlands over 130 years – study

  2019-04-01 by Patrick Barkham in The Guardian

European insect populations shrink as farming leaves ‘hardly any room for nature’

  Tagged under: Farming | Agriculture | Biodiversity Loss | Insect Populations | Butterflies and Moths | Wildlife | Insects


Widespread losses of pollinating insects revealed across Britain

  2019-03-26 in The Guardian

Wild bees and hoverflies lost from a quarter of the places they were found in 1980, study shows

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Bees | Insects


Buy organic food to help curb global insect collapse, say scientists

  2019-02-13 in The Guardian

Urging political action on pesticide use is another way to help stem ‘collapse of nature’

  Tagged under: Farming | Wildlife | Insects | Collapse


Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'

  2019-02-10 in The Guardian

Exclusive: Insects could vanish within a century at current rate of decline, says global review

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects | Collapse


Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'

  2019-02-10 in The Guardian

Exclusive: Insects could vanish within a century at current rate of decline, says global review

  Tagged under: Wildlife | Insects | Collapse


Insect collapse: ‘We are destroying our life support systems’ | Insects | The Guardian

  2019-01-15 (or before) in The Guardian

Scientist Brad Lister returned to Puerto Rican rainforest after 35 years to find 98% of ground insects had vanished

  Tagged under: Rainforests | Insects | Collapse


The Insect Apocalypse Is Here (Published 2018)

  2018-11-27 in The New York Times

  Tagged under: Insects


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