"bugs are dying out"

[Anonymous]

I don't understand the "bugs are dying out"

I still have roaring grasshoppers and gnats in my face in the summer, ants in the back, stinkbugs on the windows ..

[Anonymous]

Do you see tons of dtagonflies, native bees, butterflies?

[Anonymous]

Anecdote isn't data. We really need better regulation on pesticides and to stop unnecessary mowing. You can do a small part yourself by planting pollinators plants and avoiding pesticides and herbicides yourself. But action has to happen at the larger level.

[Anonymous]

Everything is dying out other than mosquitoes. I can barely go outside in the summer.

[Anonymous]

How do we kill the rest of them? Can we get rid of the birds next?

[Anonymous]

Of course they’re dying out. You have ignorant people who spray their lawns for mosquitoes. What exactly do they think will happen to the rest of the bugs as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do we kill the rest of them? Can we get rid of the birds next?

Birds aren't real

[Anonymous]

I drive to Blacksburg to visit my son fairly regularly and the fact that I very rarely have dead bugs on my windshield to and from Blacksburg is shocking to me. For such a long drive if this was 40 years ago, my windshield would've been splattered with bugs.

[Anonymous]

If you are truly wondering, you could do a little research. Scientists study this and measure the number of insects and the decline over the past 20 years is stark - 70% decline, over 6% loss per year. Your own yard may not have declined that much, of course, but you may not notice that you fewer if there are any still around.

It really matters for human health. Insects are the base of the food pyramid, so if they collapse everything begins to unravel. There was an article in the Post recently about a few keystone species that impact human health. One was a frog (that eats bugs) and when its population declines malaria spikes because the mosquito population surges. There are millions of little connections like that we don’t understand. The best way to prevent all of those unknown harms is simply to not kill off insects. Protect their habitat, don’t use herbicides and pesticides unless you have to, and then with great care.

You can decide you don’t like insects or birds or frogs or nature in general, but you need them for your health. If you don’t like them it is perfectly valid to live in a city where there are fewer. But we’ve got to protect the habitat in rural and suburban areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do we kill the rest of them? Can we get rid of the birds next?

DDT was working. You made us stop using it.

[Anonymous]

Well all the "good" animals are dying out who feed in mosquitos thus it follows why they stick around!

Seriously though, many less fireflies, bees, butterflies. It's sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anecdote isn't data. We really need better regulation on pesticides and to stop unnecessary mowing. You can do a small part yourself by planting pollinators plants and avoiding pesticides and herbicides yourself. But action has to happen at the larger level.

"regulation on pestisdes"

Trump's administration has already rolled this back for our food supply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "bugs are dying out"

I still have roaring grasshoppers and gnats in my face in the summer, ants in the back, stinkbugs on the windows ..

Stinkbugs are not from here so having them is not a positive sign.

We need bees.

How many fireflies do you see? They have largely disappeared from my part of Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drive to Blacksburg to visit my son fairly regularly and the fact that I very rarely have dead bugs on my windshield to and from Blacksburg is shocking to me. For such a long drive if this was 40 years ago, my windshield would've been splattered with bugs.

cars are much more aerodynamic, that could be that bugs are carried away in the slip stream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "bugs are dying out"

I still have roaring grasshoppers and gnats in my face in the summer, ants in the back, stinkbugs on the windows ..

Stinkbugs are not from here so having them is not a positive sign.

We need bees.

How many fireflies do you see? They have largely disappeared from my part of Maryland.

Bees, wasps , fireflies,...