Big Scare Material
Where Have All the Insects Gone...?
I'm already having a hard time accepting that the world is losing glaciers. (Same magazine - see below)
NOW I'm supposed to accept placidly and like a good little Olde Fart that we are losing insects by the giga-ton.
Deserves way more discussion. But first.....
*
Big news in Science Magazine, May 12 edition (we get ours kinda slow out here in the mountains)!
NextGen entomologists in Germany present the stunning news that just since 1989 insect population - most species - are down about 80%! Think starting with 10 dogs you love, and you've got 2 left. HUGE decline, and not a one-off, a continuing, terrifying trend. [SciMag]
I've been ranting about the mass extinction we are in for a while. "Moving fast enough for us to actually see" has been my evidence that this is moving really, really fast, geologically speaking.
What didn't occur to me was how dramatically some extinctions would lead the pack. Insects!
An effective attack on insects would be the most deadly Weapon of Mass Destruction imaginable. So why on Gaia would we be waging this attack against ourselves at this weakest spot? Are we nuts?
This a personal message to President Trump.
Dear Mr. President,
This is a chance to become a Hero of the Currently-Non-Core-Supporters.
Define and fix the Insect Apocalypse. Spend bigly on emergency research to define the problem all over America. Figure out what's causing this blitzkrieg on bugs. Then FIX IT, or at least get the fix started. It's probably complicated.
You will be a savior of mankind. Not kidding.
Scooter Duff
*pix credit
I'm already having a hard time accepting that the world is losing glaciers. (Same magazine - see below)
NOW I'm supposed to accept placidly and like a good little Olde Fart that we are losing insects by the giga-ton.
Deserves way more discussion. But first.....
*
...this REALLY worries me.
Big news in Science Magazine, May 12 edition (we get ours kinda slow out here in the mountains)!
NextGen entomologists in Germany present the stunning news that just since 1989 insect population - most species - are down about 80%! Think starting with 10 dogs you love, and you've got 2 left. HUGE decline, and not a one-off, a continuing, terrifying trend. [SciMag]
I've been ranting about the mass extinction we are in for a while. "Moving fast enough for us to actually see" has been my evidence that this is moving really, really fast, geologically speaking.
What didn't occur to me was how dramatically some extinctions would lead the pack. Insects!
An effective attack on insects would be the most deadly Weapon of Mass Destruction imaginable. So why on Gaia would we be waging this attack against ourselves at this weakest spot? Are we nuts?
This a personal message to President Trump.
Dear Mr. President,
This is a chance to become a Hero of the Currently-Non-Core-Supporters.
Define and fix the Insect Apocalypse. Spend bigly on emergency research to define the problem all over America. Figure out what's causing this blitzkrieg on bugs. Then FIX IT, or at least get the fix started. It's probably complicated.
You will be a savior of mankind. Not kidding.
Scooter Duff
*pix credit
Comments
Since I last posted there has been a marked increase in the local insect population. I must admit that I was a little concerned in that I did not notice much pollinator activity, but even so I was aware that there wasn’t really too much going on as far as flowering plants for them to work with and it was still really wet and cool for June. . That has all changed over the last week. The clover has started blooming as well as out hostas and yes, the bumble bees have arrived. I haven’t made any observations as far as concentrations but I will have a better feel for that by next Monday. Also I noticed for the first time mosquito larvae in the bird bath (the bastards). While mowing (I set the cut height at 5” and stop if I see a moth or bee of anything for that matter in front of me, my neighbors think I’m a lunatic) on Weds I noticed a northern brown snake sunning himself under on one of our sidewalks. He(?) looked nice and healthy . There main diet is worms and grubs and other slug like stuff so his presence would seem to indicate that at least that section of the local food chain is intact. Encouraging!
OK now for what I’m not too pleased with. From what I recall we normally have a pretty good number of daddy long leg spiders wandering around by this time of the year. I think I’ve seen maybe one so far. Maybe this is a product of the late start I alluded to before. Also I don’t think I’ve seen a single earwig or garden variety of slug (the big suckers, 3+ inches). I’ll keep an eye out. I’m admittedly a “glass half full” kinda guy so I’m going to stay optimistic.
Ending on a upbeat note - our population of carnivorous birds seems very large and healthy. We are under constant close air support (lol) by at least two families of grey cat birds. They follow us around apparently watching for any moth or other winged creature that we may kick up. Also we have robins out the wazzo. The rest of the bird population seems to be doing fine. We have been at our current residence since the late 90’s and since arriving we have kept our bird feeder filled. We also feed beef suet. Anyway I can write a few pages on just that, but one thing I wanted to share was that a bird showed up that I could not identify, and all of my searching led me to the uncomfortable conclusion that it was in face a ladderback woodpecker – which is indigenous to YOUR area, not PA! Anyway long story short refusal to accept that one stowed away in a moving truck and survived a cross country trip and made it to my feeder as a plausible explanation I delved deeper and found that in fact we are being visited by a yellow bellied sap sucker. Took forever to figure that out! Anyway take care, looking forward to hearing from you.