back to article The case of the disappearing insect. Boffin tells Reg: We don't know why... but we must act

"Insects are at the bottom of the ecosystem," the lead author of a study into a massive decrease in collected insects told The Reg. Their loss, he added, is "likely to collapse the entire pyramid". Between 1989 and 2016, boffins used nets to fill about 1,500 one-litre bottles with flying insects from 63 conservation sites in …

Page:

  1. baseh

    Pedantry

    "feeding amphibians or mammals such as birds" - revolutionary taxonomy

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. MrDamage Silver badge

        Re: Pedantry

        > ""mammals such as birds" Tits?"

        Or a brown throated warbler.

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon
          Joke

          Re: Pedantry

          Did someone mention mammaries?

          1. WolfFan Silver badge

            Re: Pedantry

            Did someone mention mammaries?

            pix or it didn't happen

        2. Roger Ramjet

          Re: Pedantry

          Don't forget the Woodcock, Pullet and Swallow.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Pedantry

            What about the Teat Owl? You know, the thing you dry dishes with.

            1. ravenviz Silver badge
              Coat

              Re: Pedantry

              Q. What's red and sits in a tree?

              A. A sanitary owl.

              1. Spasticus Autisticus
                Happy

                Re: Pedantry

                You horrible man, that's sick!

                But I'm sick and that made me laugh.

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Pedantry

      "Insects are at the bottom of the ecosystem,"

      Revolutionary ecology as well.

      1. KG6EAR

        Re: Pedantry

        Insects at the bottom? No, this is the whole problem with how people view the world around them. There is no bottom and no top of food chain, there is only the circle of life.. You may think insects are at the bottom because they are eaten by larger creatures, but are they truly? By that strange notion, we are below insects because they feed us. That's right. No needs to pollinate the crops, no plant products to eat. We would die quickly because without pollination, crops will ail and we will starve to death eventually.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

    Jokes aside, it's not a surprise, as long as more and more gardens, fields and woods are replaced by concrete. Builders are like a cancer, they won't stop until the whole body dies.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

      It is not that - they are disappearing in the countryside too.

      IMHO some of it is pesticides, the rest Roundup and other herbicides. In fact, this is a bigger reason to ban Roundup and friends than anything else.

      All herbicide resistant crops - maise, cereals, etc are wind-pollinated. They need no insects. Maise and cereals which are not sprayed with GlyPhospate always have a sprinkle of flowers throughout. Similarly, a lawn which has been left to develop "naturally" always has quite a few daisies and 20-30% clover which ranks towards the top of the bee, butterfly, etc "wishlist".

      Unfortunately, both are very rare nowdays and the study proves it. The former is because of the endless industry push, the latter because people are idiots. The "norm" for a lawn is it to be uniform, green, rye grass only and nothing will stop your average suburbia dweller splashing a bottle of glyphosphate a week on it to keep it this way. Quite funny - he expects there to be insects after that. How about actually putting some thought on what do insects like bees actually need?

      1. jmch Silver badge

        Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

        "herbicide resistant crops"

        The abomination of GM, designed to sell Gigatons of herbicide.

        Now, if GM could develop some pest-resistant crops, that would serve much better

        1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
          Unhappy

          "Now, if GM could develop some pest-resistant crops, that would serve much better"

          Funny you should say that....

          There are really 2 use cases for GM.

          1) Monster agribusiness (whatever Monsanto are calling themselves these days, but also people like Bayer and a fair few other chems companies who happen to be located in Germany) wanting to lock farmers into their seeds, but with their seeds "Special Sauce" (C Andrew Orlwski), usually higher yield (if you use their brand of insecticide/fungicide/herbicide/anythingelse-cide).

          2) The kind done in what are basically the "National Laboratories" of various third world and Far East countries to hard wire infection resistance, insect resistance and improved nutrition into the crops themselves (while preserving their fertility).

          One is aimed at improving the lot of the farmers in those countries, the other improving the dividend to the companies shareholders.

          Same techniques, rather different goals, and rather different outcomes.

        2. Disk0
          Holmes

          Re: pest-resistant

          What are those pests you speak of, if not also part of the ecosystem?

      2. Chris G

        Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

        I think you are slightly wrong there Mr Right Hand, most people,after getting rid of thr weeds want rid of the bugs next. Few people I have come across have the slightest clue about what bugs do and why they are important.

      3. This post has been deleted by its author

      4. big_D Silver badge

        @Vorland's right hand Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

        My wife has spent the last 7 years turning the garden of the house we bought from a "golfing green" lawn to an insect and bird paradise. It certainly seems to have done some good, the lawn is covered in different "meadow" flowers and the borders and flower beds are left to grow naturally, with mainly native plants.

        1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

          Re: @Vorland's right hand Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

          My wife has spent the last 7 years

          You are an exception. The lawns you see around are a testament to that. Less than one in 5 has clover which is the clearest indication that it has not been herbicide treated.

          1. Tom Paine

            Re: @Vorland's right hand Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

            I'm sure I'm not alone to find my corner of London suburbia infested with the disease of concreting over the front garden and parking a car on it. That certainly doesn't help. (OK sometimes they use geotextile and some low grade stone chippings; that's slightly less unsustainable urban drainage system but still .)

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @Vorland's right hand Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

          If I did that were I live, I'd probably get an ASBO.

        3. Tom Paine

          Re: @Vorland's right hand Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

          Entering my late 40s some sort of biological clock reached 7:30 in my head and the alarm went off. RIght! Must garden! What's a fork, then?

          Turns out the easy / lazy way in is incredibly simple, Dig over the borders in February / March, going round anything that looks like it knows what it's doing, Buy a box or two of pollinator-friendly wildflower mix for five or six quid. (There are lots available, your friendly local garden centre will have them or look online.) Six weeks later you'll have a fabulous cottage garden / wildflower meadow look going on, and the whole lot will be buzzing with bees (who knew there were so man different-looking ones?) and other pollinators such as hoverflies, butterflies and whatnot. And because they're annuals all you have to do is wait for them all to die off in the autumn / winter, maybe sprinkle or collect some of the seed heads for next year, either dig in the dead stuff or chuck it on a compost heap / in your green bin as appropriate. Hours of fun and a much healthier place to have a fag^h break when working at home than walking round the block in some polluted, chewing-gum spattered concrete canyon.

      5. Malcolm 1

        Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

        "Similarly, a lawn which has been left to develop "naturally" always has quite a few daisies and 20-30% clover which ranks towards the top of the bee, butterfly, etc "wishlist".

        Thanks - I feel much better about my laissez-faire attitude to lawn maintenance! It certainly as a healthy diversity of clover and daisies...

      6. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

        It is not that - they are disappearing in the countryside too....IMHO some of it is pesticides, the rest Roundup and other herbicides.

        You may be right, but the difference in use of pesticides probably gives us a very quick test of that. Ireland has the second lowest pesticide use in the EU (an order of magnitude lower than the Netherlands, Belgium or Italy. according to Eurostat), and location and prevailing weather patterns mean it is unlikely to affected by other countries use. So, if there's the same falling trend in Ireland (proper, academic research, of course), then chances are that it isn't pesticides as such, or only in some combination of factors. If the insect populations of Ireland are at the same levels as several decades ago, then there's very good reason to suspect that pesticides (although we shouldn't rule out things that have lower density in Ireland, such as vehicle or industrial emissions).

        A couple of other thoughts: Having seen efforts with farmers over many decades to be more wildlife friendly (primarily benefiting birds and small mammals), have we materially changed the predator-prey balance? And why has this problem surfaced now, after all the effective insecticides (like organophosphates, DDT et al) have been banned for years or subject to stringent restrictions? Back in the 1960s humans were dispensing those pesticides through fire hoses, using air-borne sprayers, chucking sheep dip in the river etc, and we still ended up with windscreens thickly coated with insects.

        Eeeh, lad, I can remember the day when a fly killer spray did what it said on the tin. The crap you get sold now only works by drowning them.

        1. ElReg!comments!Pierre

          Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

          Eeeh, lad, I can remember the day when a fly killer spray did what it said on the tin. The crap you get sold now only works by drowning them

          Mostly true, although you can still find the "good" stuff if you look properly. I have a can of that (used it twice I think; I am usually quite happy sharing the premise with unobstructive bugs). It works very well, although the instructions for inside use state that you should spray it quickly, exit the room immediately, close it thight and return only at least 1/2 an hour later and then open all windows etc.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

            Mostly true, although you can still find the "good" stuff if you look properly.

            Where, please? I'd love a can of organophosphate fly spray.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

              Mostly true, although you can still find the "good" stuff if you look properly.

              Where, please? I'd love a can of organophosphate fly spray.

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baygon which may/may not be available in your area. I used it a lot when I was in the Caribbean, but these wussy Yankees don't seem to allow it, even if it is supposed to be a SC Johnson product now. There's nothing like nice German nerve agents to clear out the building, but I can't find it in local stores and have to have people bring it in from the Caribbean for me. Bayer, the original makers, used to be IG Farben once upon a time. They made quite a name for themselves and their nerve agents during the mid 20th century.

            2. Pompous Git Silver badge

              Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

              "Where, please? I'd love a can of organophosphate fly spray."

              It's a bottle, not a can. Will this do?

              Malathion Garden Spray 500mL David Grays Aphid Scale Moth Tree Fruit Flies Pest

              1. Richard Parkin

                malathion just a brand name

                That Malathion Garden Spray does not contain organophosphate it’s just a clever brand name.

                1. Pompous Git Silver badge

                  Re: malathion just a brand name

                  "Malathion Garden Spray does not contain organophosphate it’s just a clever brand name."
                  Malathion is C10H19O6PS2. Or are you saying you could register Methylated Spirit as a brand name and sell bottles of water as Methylated Spirit?

                  1. Pompous Git Silver badge

                    Re: malathion just a brand name

                    OK, pesticides containing malathion have been withdrawn for horticultural/agricultural use in the UK. This is odd given that its mammalian/avian toxicity is extremely low. Indeed, you can still purchase Derbac-M liquid (malathion) from your local pharmacy. It's used on children and adults to control head lice, crab lice and scabies.

                    While you might think that you can consequently use Derbac-M in your garden with impunity, think again. While it's registered for use on you and yours, it is not registered for use in the garden so you would be performing an illegal act.

                    When Patrick Holden visited me in the late 1980s, he mentioned that it was now illegal for British housewives to pour their washing-up water over the rose bushes to kill the aphids. If you wanted to kill aphids with soft soap, you needed to purchase registered for use as a pesticide soft soap. It's a crazy world...

                    1. This post has been deleted by its author

              2. Tom Paine

                Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

                I grow lupins. I like bees and such and use chemicals as little as I can get away with. This is not a good combination (but it's great news for purveyors of washing-up liquid)

                1. This post has been deleted by its author

      7. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

        The "norm" for a lawn is it to be uniform, green, rye grass only and nothing will stop your average suburbia dweller splashing a bottle of glyphosphate a week on it to keep it this way.

        Glyphosate is a non-selective. Splashing a bottle of it a week will simply result in a wizened brown mat of ex-rye grass.

        1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

          Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

          Glyphosate is a non-selective.

          It is not, but grass is significantly more resistant to it naturally. As a result you have idiots walking around with THIS:

          https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weedol-Lawn-Weedkiller-Gun-Extra/dp/B01N9X5GV5/ref=sr_1_1?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1508507042&sr=1-1&keywords=Weedol+Gun

          That is Glyphosphate diluted to a point where it kills clover and other "weeds", but leaves grass alive.

          I was just 5 seconds short of blowing a fuse and shovelling it up the arse of the "professional lawn doctor" hired by the lady next door which was spraying it EVERYWHERE on her lawn.

          There are quite a few other combinations which in addition to the less nasty nasties also have glyphosphate. Weedol is not alone here.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

            1. Eddy Ito

              Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

              Personally I don't understand the whole desire for a grass lawn having grown up mowing the better part of two acres most weekends as a kid. I much prefer the low maintenance of things like clover, creeping thyme, low growing sedums, hazelwort, moneywort, creeping buttercup, hen and chicks, etc. All are relative low growing so keeping spaces open to highlight taller varieties. Sure it takes care in the beginning to select plants appropriate to the environment and getting them established but the ability to finally lose the lawnmower is bliss. Of course it requires also being fee from the tyranny of a homeowners association or a city which mandates a crisp green lawn.

              1. Pompous Git Silver badge

                Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

                "Personally I don't understand the whole desire for a grass lawn having grown up mowing the better part of two acres most weekends as a kid."
                Me either. Mind you, 30 odd years ago I discovered that sheep make very tasty lawnmowers :-)

                Props for mentioning some of the many alternatives to grass. Unfortunately, the alternatives aren't suited to high-traffic areas.

              2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

                Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

                "Of course it requires also being fee from the tyranny of a homeowners association or a city which mandates a crisp green lawn."

                Call it a flower bed. Put a small square of Astroturf in the middle if someone insists on there being a lawn in the garden.

          2. Pompous Git Silver badge

            Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

            @ Voland's right hand

            Glyphosate kills grasses. Clover is resistant to glyphosate; it gets knocked back, but recovers. Spray your lawn with glyphosate regularly and you will end up with a lawn consisting of clover.

            Some of the nasty effects attributed to glyphosate are due to the surfactant (wetting agent) mixed with it, for example killing frogs.

    2. jmch Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

      Judging by the bloody huge amount of flies and mosquitoes that managed to work their way indoors this summer there isn't a significant lack of them...

    3. ElReg!comments!Pierre
      Pint

      Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

      Or perhaps German instects are wising up and avoid traps. Took them long enough, too!

    4. big_D Silver badge

      Re: Maybe if they collected less insects, there would be more around...

      Although that isn't such a problem, where the studies are carried out, they are already protected areas.

      Heavy industrial farming is probably the biggest problem, along with general air pollution.

      The news here (Germany) last night ran the story and the emphasis was more heavily on the use of pesticides and turning traditional open fields into agricultural fields, with crops that aren't suited to the insects.

      One positive effect of the German policy on agriculture is that there are little to no gene manipulated crops here. Consumers have come out strongly against them and there is a growing trend to organic fruit and veg.

  3. TRT Silver badge

    Starship Troopers...

    without the deep space battle cruisers. :(

    1. Mike Moyle

      Re: Starship Troopers...

      More "Dust" by Charles Pellegrino, I would say. Cover blurb tag line: "Good news: The bugs are gone. Bad news: We're next!"

      Chilling, and highly recommended.

      https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/376650.Dust

  4. FIA Silver badge

    Stupid insects

    So, the take home message is it's taken 27 years for insects to learn to avoid giant nets.

    Looks like the rise of our insect overlords isn't so imminent after all.

    I for one will sleep better in my bed tonight.

    (Until the ecosystem collapses of course, then it's kill or be killed....)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Stupid insects

      Might explain why we've seen so few insects this year we didn't even bother attaching the window nets!

      Even the wasps barely put in an appearance. There's been an unmistakeable sharp drop in the flying stuff over the last 5 years or so. Even the mosquitoes only put in a token appearance, despite living close to a river.

      Our garden was still stuffed full of bee colonies, spiders, hover-flies, butterflies etc. It's pretty wild out there.

  5. Timmy B

    I'd like to see more

    I've had a brief flick through and will read more later tonight but on first look I would like to see the same sites checked frequently and not just at the start and end of the experiment. As a amateur ecologist and keen outdoorsman I often see some years when some insect species are very thin on the ground only to come back the next year in huge numbers. We don't know, from only having two samples from 7/8 sites if one of them was a particularly good or bad year for a common species. I'd really liked to have seen a breakdown by species and not just biomass (it may be there and I've not read it yet).

    Whatever, we need to take care of the insects or we're all doomed. I see light pollution, over development and intensive farming as areas we need to change for the better. Oh - and we need fewer people...

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like