Oct 4, 20214 min read

Be worried! Insects are disappearing...

I have an insect phobia. So, I need insects to be outside my comfort zone to feel safe.

Experts have noticed an alarming decline of insect populations. I should be happy, but What's the story?

Changes can be noticed by the appearance of something or by its disappearance, the former being somewhat easier to spot than the latter.

Rachel Carson, one of the earliest environmental activists, did just that and wrote about it in her now famous book 'Silent spring'.[REF01].

She was referring to the disappearance of birds.

Read our article about Rachel Carlson

Some ways in which you might have noticed the change in insect populations are: Clean wind shields.

After driving around in summer for a while, the driver had to clean the wind shield and the front of the car from all the dead insects which found their end on it.

Nowadays, you may drive around for much longer before you have to clean your wind shield.

The older generation might also recall plumes of flies, mosquitoes and other airborne bugs gathering under street-lights.

Or, if you're picnicking in a park, you'll find yourself much less pestered by ants than the generation of your parents did when they were picnicking in a park.[REF02]

Why are insects important?

You might say:

The fewest of the annoying buggers around the better and, as far as mosquitoes are concerned, this author would certainly be inclined to agree.[REF03]

But you'd be wrong.

Insects are by far the most abundant class of species, not just in terms of diversity (which is staggering) but simply in terms of mass.

The (estimated) mass of insects on this world is an order of magnitude higher than the (equally estimated) mass of human beings and the same goes for all the fish in the waters and the ruminants (cows, sheep, goats etc.) on the ground.[REF04]

Insects are also one of the most ubiquitous class of species, they are found in practically all land-habitats.

This means they play their ecological role all over the planet, be it as part of the food webs or as decomposers of dead plant and animal material (detritus).

Some of them (especially the bees) are also important as pollinators.

What is the state of the insect world?

Even though the methodology is still disputed in expert circles, it is estimated that the insect biomass (i.e. the combined weight of all insects) is falling by up to 2.5% every year, a truly staggering amount.[REF04]

The diversity is rapidly declining as well.

More than four out of ten insect species have experienced population declines in the past decade.[REF04]

It might be argued that the studies on insect populations offer only anecdotal evidence, and that a more holistic view might yield a different picture.

That is not an unreasonable standpoint, however, it is equally not unreasonable to heed the warnings and to consider the implications of such findings.

What must definitely be seen as a warning bell is that the Chief Scientist at the National Geographic Society (Jonathan Baillie) and the vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Ya-Ping Zhang) are arguing for 50% of all land should be preserved for wildlife.[REF05]

What are the reasons for the insect apocalypse?

According to a meta-study,[REF06] the primary reason for the mass extinction of insects appears to be loss of habitat.

This loss of habitat is caused by two phenomena, a) the conversion of large swathes of land into agricultural monocultures, and b) increasing urbanisation.

Another important reason is the use of pesticides, especially in the large agricultural monocultures, already mentioned above.

Next on the list are biological factors, such as invasive species.

Global warming is going to have its influence on the insect world as well, both directly (how well can Beetle X handle the heat?) and indirectly, e.g. through climate change induced habitat loss (such as desertification).

What can you do?

The rapid decline of insect population and diversity has to be addressed at the source.

Where habitats are destroyed by agricultural practices, politics has to use its influence and ramp up the legislative pressure.

Politics can and must also have an educational effect.

The reasons for introducing laws curtailing or banning certain practices (not just agricultural ones) need to be well communicated.

Likewise, since landscapes and the habitats they constitute don't change at political borders, politics has to exert its influence through international stake-holder management.

As said above, politics has to exert its influence through cross-communal stake-holder management.

The individual citizen may also do their little bit by greening their balconies.

If you've got a garden, make sure you plant as many different plants as you can.

Letting your lawn grow into a meadow is also an idea (unless you want to play golf on it).

If you can, create a pond.

And if you're worried that all the insects who will claim your new, wilder garden as their home might come into your house and pester you - that's what insect screens have been invented for.

If you would like to know more about anthropogenic effects on the environment and its consequences for human life, talk to the experts.

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