Overige insecten

Have you seen any Christmas beetles this year? Scientists say although populations differ between states, it is just one of many insects slowly disappearing and they are not sure why. Tanya Latty, an entomologist from the University of Sydney, said it was a question many people had been asking.

Chemical agriculture is destroying the ecosystems that sustain all life. Pesticides are a key culprit in the decline of bees, butterflies and other pollinators — leading some scientists to warn of a “second silent spring.” , Pesticides wreak havoc on the soil by killing the organisms that are the basis of soil life. And they pollute rivers, lakes and oceans, leading to fish die-offs.

Zwei Sorten Leuchtkäfer sind in der Schweiz verbreitet: Beim Grossen Leuchtkäfer (Lampyris noctiluca) leuchten nur die flügellosen Weibchen, beim Kleinen Leuchtkäfer (Lamprohiza splendidula) glitzern auch die fliegenden Männchen. Das bezaubernde Leuchten ist allerdings nicht mehr sehr häufig zu beobachten: Auch die Leuchtkäfer sind vom allgemeinen Insektensterben betroffen. Um darauf hinzuweisen, hat Pro Natura sie zum Tier des Jahres 2019 ernannt.

When American entomologist Bradford Lister first visited El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico in 1976, little did he know that a long-term study he was about to embark on would, 40 years later, reveal a “hyperalarming” new reality. In those decades, populations of arthropods, including insects and creepy crawlies like spiders and centipedes, had plunged by an almost unimaginable 98% in El Yunque, the only tropical rainforest within the US National Forest System.

The researchers measured the forest’s insects and other invertebrates, including spiders and centipedes by using trap methods with sticky plates and nets in the canopy. They collected the critters and larvae that crawled through the vegetation and examined the density of population. Each technique revealed that the dry weight of the captured insects were very less when compared to 1976. The researchers observed that there has been a significant decline in the population of insects of all species since 1976.

Researchers in the UK report new evidence that the pesticide fipronil, not the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, caused a massive die-off of honey bees in France from 1994 to 1998. Both pesticides hit the market in the early 1990s. At the time, beekeepers and environmentalists largely blamed imidacloprid for the bee deaths. Now, Philippa Holder and colleagues at the University of Exeter and Fera Science, a UK public-private venture focused on agricultural science, suggest that fipronil used on sunflowers was more likely the culprit (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Auf Einladung des Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) referierte der Insektenforscher Thomas Hörren vom Entomologischen Verein Krefeld (EVK) im Möllner Quellenhof vor 90 Besuchern über deren bahnbrechende Studie zum Thema “Rückgang der Insekten-Biodiversität”. An zahlreichen Standorten ausschließlich in Schutzgebieten hatte der EVK 27 Jahre lang die Insektenfauna untersucht. Aufgrund des enormer Datenbestand und der wissenschaftlichen Methodik waren die Entomologen in der Lage, nicht nur den schleichenden Verlust an Arten, sondern auch an Insekten-Biomasse zu dokumentieren.

A sharp decline in migratory bird populations has flummoxed ecologists trying to pinpoint the risks faced by these birds. New Cornell research points to a possible explanation for declines: the connection between aquatic insect prey and bird reproductive performance.