https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/why-fewer-bugs-are-splattering-on-your-car-windshield-nowadays/
Interesting article. There is likely some truth to it.
I read that a while back and it's true. I drive 30,000 miles a year and don't get those bug splats very often, I remember the family driving across the country in the 60s and having to scrub the remains off the windshield at every gas station stop!
maybe it's the aerodynamics of today's automobiles the midigates the mayhem
Bug splatters are down the last two years compared to 4-5 years ago. I do recall things being very buggy a few years back.
I think we can all agree 2019 was a piss poor fishing year.
I wonder if light pollution has anything to do with it. Like, it used to be that at night it was just the moon and car headlights and limited amounts of other light sources. But now there has been so much permanent human encroachment that the bugs spread out diffusely to the ample other light sources and less are being drawn to the auto headlights. But that still doesn't account for the lack of even middle of the daytime bug splatters that it seemed like were more ubiquitous "back in my day".
No clue, but there are some thought-provoking causal relationships to be made, I think. Of course, if the bug populations really were so drastically reduced, I would think it would have caused large reductions of birds. I'm not sure if there have been any studies looking at large scale bird population declines and, if so, what the results were.
Quote from: The Dude on February 14, 2020, 12:49:12 PMOf course, if the bug populations really were so drastically reduced, I would think it would have caused large reductions of birds. I'm not sure if there have been any studies looking at large scale bird population declines and, if so, what the results were.
Many bird specie populations have slid downhill. However, I don't think falling insect populations are even close to the top of the list of most damaging culprits. Collisions with windows/buildings/towers/vehicles are one of the worst killers. Not only does every house/building/skyscraper have a zillion windows for the bird to crash into due to it not knowing glass is there, but also the artificial lighting emitted by such. Birds are drawn toward the light, and then there's a window, then there's a dead bird. Wind turbines have become a serious threat. Also, cats. Cats kill tons.
I'm sure insect populations and habitat decline are also big factors.
All I know is that if we do not get a sustained cold snap soon, I'm not going in the woods this spring because of the ticks. I love my red meat way to much to play those odds.
Read and weep. Insects, birds – what next? Heads are firmly planted in our asses!
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-great-insect-dying-vanishing-act-in-europe-and-north-america/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-insect-populations-decline-scientists-are-trying-to-understand-why/
https://e360.yale.edu/features/insect_numbers_declining_why_it_matters
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/bird-population-decline/
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/19/762090471/north-america-has-lost-3-billion-birds-scientists-say
I once drove a Uhaul truck to Tampa. The love bugs were out. It was a massacre.
Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya have plenty of splatters.
Yadkin river generated a plague of mayflies about 4 years ago.
Quote from: Onslow on February 14, 2020, 19:10:37 PMSomalia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya have plenty of splatters.
Yadkin river generated a plague of mayflies about 4 years ago.
The Yadkin River hatch was by far the most impressive insect event I've ever seen. We lived right at the river at the time. Literal miles of the flying critters, and super thick. I seen it a couple times while living there and haven't seen anything like it since. A vehicle travelling through the area would wipe out who knows how many just passing through once.
Rinse and repeat. We are humans, and we are fucked. We fucked ourselves.
Quote from: Dougfish on February 14, 2020, 21:31:56 PMRinse and repeat. We are humans, and we are fucked. We fucked ourselves.
Yup, I don't actually worry about the world that will surround me for another 20 or so years, if I'm lucky, but I do agonize over what we've deposited for our progeny.
This issue demands a discussion with Big J the next time we fish, since he's the only person of faith that I'll entertain deep dialog on such matters. There are multiple reasons why I question the reality of a deity, but there is no why a benevolent creator would have concocted such an avaricious, thoughtless species. If I'm wrong, arrive at the Gates, and interrogated I'll succinctly say, "Your boss did a piss-poor job. Now, send me below so at least I can watch the suffering of my ex-wife and all the other succubi I romanced"