OT: Where have the bugs gone?

A box fan works pretty good too, with the additional benefit it helps keep the room cool in summer!

You clearly do not work with or design complex electronic gear...

Neither does Robert Baer, though his idea of what constitutes "complex" electronic might involve fewer components than the group median.

This is interesting:

Lights near a highway may draw them away, less splatting on windshields. Maybe blue-rich LED lights attract more insects than old bulbs.

• "Scientists should pay greater attention to this factor when exploring the causes of insect population declines in the future." I say, "WAKE UP!" .. what about the poor birds that feed on those insects?

They will just hang out around the lamps.

There are no bugs. We have several high intensity lamps that run all night to illuminate parking lots for surveillance cameras. Normally they were ccovered with swarms of bugs. Now there are none.

We used to have spiders building webs in every nook and cranny. Now there are none.

I used to have problems with tiny gnats that could easily slip through window screens and dance around my overhead lights. Their bodies would litter my workbench in the morning. Now there are none.

I have seen one mosquito all summer. It was so weak and feeble it was easy to kill.

We used to have flights of ducks flying in V-formation and honking. Now there are none. Ducks feed on grass so they are not affected by loss of insects.

I may see only one or two birds each day. Most are gone.

There used to be lots of wasps feeding on flowers. Now there are none.

I have not seen a single bumblebee all summer.

Something is happening.

The damned things make it hard to sleep in. We have hawks, ravens, owls, pigeons, hummers, bluejays, mockingbirds, and zillions of small stuff that I don't know the name of. Seagulls walk on the roof above my office, and they are noisy. At outdoor-seating restaurants, there are usually a few small birds policing for crumbs. We get huge migratory flocks in the wet flyways, like around the rice fields near Yolo Causeway.

Bees chase Mo out of our garden. We used to keep a couple of hives, but she got stung once and had a systemic reaction. The doctor said "Get rid of the bees or die."

There is an active beekeeper community in San Francisco.

As discussed elsewhere, it's hard to trust "scientific" studies. Especially the gloom-and-doom ones, which are mostly what we see.

You have bugs. We had bugs last year. Now we have none.

You have birds. We had lots of birds last year. Now we have very few. No pigeons. Lots of seagulls. Why the difference?

Where did the ducks go? They eat grass, not insects. We have lots of grass.

What is happening to wipe out so many species, and what prevents it from going to your area?

All that disappeared in one year? Give it a few more years. Maybe you are seeing noise.

Animal populations are seriously chaotic.

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ht to illuminate parking lots for surveillance cameras. Normally they were ccovered with swarms of bugs. Now there are none.

e are none.

indow screens and dance around my overhead lights. Their bodies would litte r my workbench in the morning. Now there are none.

sy to kill.

there are none. Ducks feed on grass so they are not affected by loss of ins ects.

As John Larkin has pointed out elsewhere he finds it hard to trust scientif ic studies. He has never posted a link to one, so presumably what he is tal king about are newspaper reports of scientific studies - and newspapers are much more enthusiastic about publishing gloom-and-doom than they are about publishing less attention-getting work.

John Larkin does post links to denialist webites from time to time and he s eems to think that they are "scientific", which does rather cast doubt on h is judgement.

Scott Pruitt has now stopped being head of the EPA, but Trump does seem to have installed him to move the agency's focus away from protecting to environment more towards protecting the environment as much as possible while still letting people make money.

I wouldn't be in the least surprised if some large agribusiness has started using a lot more insecticide in the past year or so.

Where do you live Steve? I've still got plenty of bugs. Well, there have been very few honey bees in the last few year. There use to be a few hives in our woods, but they are now gone/ dead. (Kinda a known problem)

We have lots of other bees/ wasps etc. (The carpenter bees are a pest in my barn, but I've found they don't like spray paint... I spray paint the wood / hole and they move on to some other piece of wood.)

George H.

I have to say I'm not seeing nearly as many bugs lately. I keep a porch light on much of the night and the spiders would set up camp near them to catch their belly full of bugs each night. Now I'm not seeing the bugs and I'm not seeing the spiders.

Just one data point, but these guys have been around for 30 years.

Rick C.

Hmm, OK. I'll leave the outside lights on and check later.... that's easier later in the summer when the sun sets earlier. It's 8:30 here now, twilight is coming but ~2 hours till it's dark, (I'll be in bed.) (I live in the back half of the Eastern time zone. life's good on the trailing edge. :^)

We don't have bats living in the barn anymore. I miss the bats. (Even with the bat poop.)

George H.

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night to illuminate parking lots for surveillance cameras. Normally they w ere ccovered with swarms of bugs. Now there are none.

there are none.

gh window screens and dance around my overhead lights. Their bodies would l itter my workbench in the morning. Now there are none.

s easy to kill.

Now there are none. Ducks feed on grass so they are not affected by loss of insects.

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o pigeons. Lots of seagulls. Why the difference?

ass.

m going to your area?

Congrats on your solution to the MOSFET IDSS problem. That was hilarious an d made me laugh. So much for the SPICE gurus.

I live in Midland, Ontario. It is on the southeastern tip of Georgian Bay, and is a two hour drive north of Toronto. It is far from the Toronto smog t hat makes me so sick.

Midland is a small tourist town in the middle of cottage country. It is bas ically surrounded by water and forests. Here is a map:

There is not much farming nearby. This weakens the argument that the loss o f bugs is due to insecticide vapor drifting in the wind.

I first noticed the loss of birds long ago. Each year the morning chorus se emed to be fading. I assumed it was because the birds were moving further a way from the city center to the outskirts where there are more trees. I now know it was because the birds were dying.

Spider webs are a good indication of the level of flying insects. These in turn tell much about the population of other ground based insects. If there are fewer spider webs, we can assume the insect population is decreasing, and the bird population will also decrease. Birds need a high protein insec t diet during mating season. If there are no insects, birds will have a har d time surviving let alone feeding their young.

Last year was the last time there was a reasonable insect and bird populati on. This year there are no spider webs and very few birds.

If a population crashes, I don't see how it can recover. Enjoy your birds w hile you can, and monitor your spider webs.

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h light on much of the night and the spiders would set up camp near them to catch their belly full of bugs each night. Now I'm not seeing the bugs an d I'm not seeing the spiders.

While letting a cat out I realized there may be a simple explanation to the apparent bug issue here. We had the wettest spring I've ever seen. I thi nk we didn't have two sunny days in a row in two months along with multiple rains causing flooding. That may well have had some significant impact on the insect population. It certainly was unusual.

Rick C.

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ll night to illuminate parking lots for surveillance cameras. Normally they were ccovered with swarms of bugs. Now there are none.

w there are none.

ough window screens and dance around my overhead lights. Their bodies would litter my workbench in the morning. Now there are none.

was easy to kill.

. Now there are none. Ducks feed on grass so they are not affected by loss of insects.

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No pigeons. Lots of seagulls. Why the difference?

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rom going to your area?

and made me laugh. So much for the SPICE gurus. Hmm.. just hunt and peck.. I tried changing some other parameters first.

, and is a two hour drive north of Toronto. It is far from the Toronto smog that makes me so sick.

asically surrounded by water and forests. Here is a map:

Nice... Back in my youth I took a canoe trip in Killarney Provincial Park. I still have very fond memories.

of bugs is due to insecticide vapor drifting in the wind.

seemed to be fading. I assumed it was because the birds were moving further away from the city center to the outskirts where there are more trees. I n ow know it was because the birds were dying.

n turn tell much about the population of other ground based insects. If the re are fewer spider webs, we can assume the insect population is decreasing , and the bird population will also decrease. Birds need a high protein ins ect diet during mating season. If there are no insects, birds will have a h ard time surviving let alone feeding their young.

tion. This year there are no spider webs and very few birds.

while you can, and monitor your spider webs.

Hmm well it may be just local... and animals can drift in from the surroundings slowly. If you are really interested you might talk with some local wildlife experts.. (Audubon society, park rangers, conservationists.) They might have some idea of what's going on.

George H.

It's all over southern Ontario. I recently did a tour looking for another place to live. All the way to London, up to Wiarton (I got lost) across to Waterloo, up to Orangeville, then to Barrie and back home. Not one bug, not one bird on the entire trip.

I frequently take trips to Barrie (45 minute drive south). No bugs, no birds.

I took a drive to Elmvale for lunch today. Ace Grill - best fish and chips this side of heaven. 25 minute drive. No bugs, no birds.

I'm not talking about animals. They are hard to see. I think the smaller ones feed on insects, and are eaten by the larger ones.

I don't see how bugs can drift back in if there are none anywhere.

Good suggestions on contacts. When I get time I'll search.

Thanks