Overige insecten

Arthropods, invertebrates including insects that have external skeletons, are declining at an alarming rate. While the tropics harbor the majority of arthropod species, little is known about trends in their abundance. We compared arthropod biomass in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo rainforest with data taken during the 1970s and found that biomass had fallen 10 to 60 times. Our analyses revealed synchronous declines in the lizards, frogs, and birds that eat arthropods.

A staple of summer – swarms of bugs – seems to be a thing of the past. And that’s got scientists worried. Pesky mosquitoes, disease-carrying ticks, crop-munching aphids and cockroaches are doing just fine. But the more beneficial flying insects of summer – native bees, moths, butterflies, ladybugs, lovebugs, mayflies and fireflies – appear to be less abundant. Scientists think something is amiss, but they can’t be certain: In the past, they didn’t systematically count the population of flying insects, so they can’t make a proper comparison to today.

Four water supplies, one in Kilkenny, two in Limerick and one in Longford currently have a level of pesticides above the set EU standard, according to Irish Water. The pesticide that is being detected most frequently in drinking water supplies in Ireland is an herbicide called MCPA. This herbicide is in many products used to control thistle, dock and rush. This increase is because products containing MCPA are being used to control weeds on hard surfaces, in gardens, on farms or in forestry.

We measured uptake and dissipation of soil-applied imidacloprid and dinotefuran in nectar and leaves of 2 woody plant species, a broadleaf evergreen tree (Ilex attenuata) and a deciduous shrub (Clethra alnifolia), to assess concentrations to which pollinators and pests might be exposed in landscape settings. Three application timings, autumn (postbloom), spring (prebloom), and summer (early postbloom), were evaluated to see if taking advantage of differences in the neonicotinoids’ systemic mobility and persistence might enable pest control while minimizing transference into nectar.

Das Insektensterben in der Bundesrepublik hat besorgniserregende Ausmaße erreicht. „Eine aktuelle Studie bestätigt den Rückgang der Biomasse fliegender Insekten um 75 Prozent“, sagt der Greifswalder Zoologieprofessor Michael Schmitt. Es betrifft nicht nur die Bienen, über die in jüngster Zeit viel diskutiert wurde, sondern auch viele andere Arten. In den Jahren 1990 bis 2017 sind 63 Arten und zehn Unterarten der Blatt- und Samenkäfer wahrscheinlich in Mitteleuropa ausgestorben. Denn es gibt keine Nachrichten über ihr Auftreten in der Datenbank CryFaun mehr.

Scotland’s forests are treated and sprayed every year with hundreds of kilograms of a toxic pesticide blamed for killing bees and butterflies, The Ferret can reveal. Our investigation has uncovered widespread use of the nicotine-based insecticide, acetamiprid, by the forestry industry, provoking concerns from experts and alarm from environmentalists who fear “creeping degradation” of nature.

Since 1990, butterfly numbers have dropped by 58 per cent in woods, a government study has found. The report was published in June 2018 by the Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra). Woodland species that are struggling include the brown argus, common blue, peacock and purple hairstreak .In response to the report, charities have claimed that reform is needed to the country's farming laws in order to protect the environment in the wake of Brexit. They say the latest figures offer more evidence to support expert predictions of an 'ecological Armageddon'.

A great many birds eat a great many bugs: this is something that, in general, we already know. But just how much do they eat? Empirical figures are hard to come by — but according to a new estimate, published in the journal The Science of Nature, the total figure is truly breathtaking, roughly equivalent to the weight of meat and fish consumed each year by humans.

“SEE those little beetles with a black cross on a red background?” I lean in to take a look. “They’re Panagaeus cruxmajor – the crucifix ground beetle. They were collected by Charles Darwin back in the 1820s.” Ed Turner is curator of insects at the University of Cambridge’s Zoology Museum, where many of Darwin’s beetle collections are held. He is proud to show me specimens collected by the man himself, and I am chuffed to see them. But the thrill doesn’t last.