The Worrying Decline of the Insects.

The reason there are fewer insects

Some 80% of wild plants rely on insects for pollination; 60% of birds rely on insects as a food source. We normally think little about insects and if we do it, it is mainly to think they are a pest and bother us. But insects form such an important link in the chain of life. When they go missing the entire world will suffer.

Dragon fly image Gerhard G.

Bees and Butterflies

I have written about the bees and their importance to our world. I have also mentioned butterflies, they also have a role in the Fauna and Flora of our earth. Bees and butterflies are diminishing, and now some more disturbing news has appeared. There is a new study which tells about the rapid decline of the total insect populations. It is a whopping 75% over 3 decades.

Have you ever visited a butterfly park? It is quite an experience to be in such close contact with these tender and beautiful insects. I visited a butterfly park in Fort Lauderdale in Florida in 1999. It was a breathtaking experience. Here, on the Costa del Sol, there is also a park that is well worth a visit.

You will have heard that the famous Monarch Butterfly is in decline, and again it is mainly our fault. Our thoughtless actions cause most of the problems.

Closeup of Bee image skeeze

An important study in Germany

They published this study in a peer-reviewed journal PLOS One (published by the Public Library of Science). In Germany, there are many nature reserves and they conducted this study within these nature reserves.

If a decline of insects is identified in these protected areas, you can imagine that in unprotected areas, cities, or industrial areas the decline will probably be even much more.

The Radboud University conducted the study in the Netherlands, together with the Entomological Society Krefeld in Germany.

Grasshopper image Wikilmages

It was not so easy to do this study, and they took the total spectrum of insects into consideration. It is like insect hunting. Malaise traps are being used and then the total-known as biomass- is weighted. Like that, the researchers found a steady decline. When you think insects make up some 70% of all animal species, we underestimate their importance.

One does not realize the many jobs they do like pollinating the crops we eat. They function as pest control, so we need fewer pesticides. Even in waste control, it is the ants and cockroaches that take care of it in urban areas.

Do you love little critters?

The insect world holds many surprises and while reading this book you will be shocked, delighted, and everything in between. Have you heard of beetles that can spray a substance that is boiling hot? How about female moths who hold their mates for ransom?

This and many more exciting details are presented by the writer Thomas Eisner in his book For Love of Insects.

His travels to Uruguay, Australia, Panama, Europe, and North America discover a minute world unknown to us. Come and join this voyage. It will show you why we should respect nature in all its forms.

Amazing fact

As insects represent around 70% of all animals in the world, it is still astonishing when one reads there is an estimated 10 quintillion, that is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 individual insects living in our world. We know that in the US there are 91.000 known species living.

Ladybug on flower image DerSilent

Another amazing fact

Do you know how many insects there are for each human? I suppose it is a tough question.
New figures show there are over 200 million. Recently there was an article published in the New York Times. It says there are some 300 pounds of insects for each pound of human flesh. My brain refuses to try to visualize this, but I know it is a lot!

Have a look at the following YouTube video. It explains the problem.

.

Conclusion

Our Planet is an amazing place. All living things play an important role, and if one group goes missing the entire system suffers. Fauna and Flora depend on each other, and it does not need humans to survive. We humans pose a danger to the survival of the environment.

We should think twice and hopefully conclude that we need nature, not the other way around.

Time has passed and more studies have become available. It does not look good at all. Here you can read an article from 2020 with more details.

I have made a special page for my visitors. It is a collection of useful things. Before you leave, have a look at Recommendations.

Source: CNN by Euan McKirby, and Smithsonian

Photo Source: Pixabay

Perhaps you would also like to read about the bees. If there are no more bees within 4 years, the human race will be extinct. Bees suffer because of pesticides. Because we take their habitat away and also because they die when exposed to radiation.

The Importance of Bees Part 2