Overige insecten

The first comprehensive assessment of Europe's crickets and grasshoppers has found that more than a quarter of species are being driven to extinction. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the insect group is the most threatened of those assessed so far in Europe. Europe harbours more than 1,000 species of grasshopper and cricket. If we don't act now the sound of crickets could become a thing of the past, said the IUCN.

The phenylpyrazole insecticide fipronil is used in Dutch agriculture in seed coating of cabbage, onions and leek, but was also illegally used as treatment against poultry red mite. Crustaceans and aquatic insects have been shown to be highly sensitive to fipronil and its stable degradation products. An environmental quality standard (EQS) for fipronil in Dutch surface water has been set at 0.07 ng / L.

Senckenberg-Wissenschaftler konnten gemeinsam mit Kollegen der Technischen Universität München nachweisen, dass derzeit weit verbreiteten Insekten zukünftig ein hoher Artenverlust droht. Als Gründe für den Rückgang dieser „Generalisten“ nennt das Forscherteam eine Verinselung von Lebensräumen sowie die Intensivierung der Landwirtschaft. Auch die genetische Diversität der untersuchten Schmetterlingsarten wird laut der heute im Fachjournal „Biological Conservation“ veröffentlichten Studie zukünftig stark abnehmen – die Insekten reagieren in Folge sensibler auf Umweltveränderungen.

Few studies have quantified the relative reproductive success of passerines in urban habitats. I studied food availability and reproductive success of barn swallows Hirundo rustica in two urban habitats during 2012–2015. Barn swallows breeding in the town center experienced lower insect densities than those in the town periphery.

Few groups of insects have been surveyed over a very long period (50 years or more) in an area. Three groups were considered here meeting the long survey condition: ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), ground Scelionidae (Hymenoptera) and species of Tenthredo (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). The diversity of ground beetles in agricultural sites around Ottawa (Ontario) and Montreal (Quebec) has been markedly reduced during the 1980s and 1990s. During the same period we witnessed the collapse of other insect groups outside agricultural sites.

Neonicotinoids are the most prominent group of insecticides in the world and are commercialized in over 120 countries for the control of agricultural pests mainly due to their broad-spectrum activity and versatility in application. Though non-target soil organisms are likely to be exposed during application, there is paucity of information in scientific literature regarding their sensitivity to neonicotinoids.

The use of pyrethroid and neonicotinoid insecticides has increased in Australia over the last decade, and as a consequence, increased concentrations of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid have been measured in Australian rivers. Previous studies have shown that non-target crustaceans, including commercially important species, can be extremely sensitive to these pesticides.