Where are the insects?

fieldgrade

fieldgrade

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I was getting a normal amount on my bike windshield earlier this spring. Now, maybe a couple of skeeters and a wasp or bee or two. That’s it.

I drove the truck from Raleigh to Charleston and back in the past 48 hours, and I think a dragonfly hit my windshield. Period.

What’s up with that?
 
MacEntyre said:
Bugs are cyclical... japanese beetles are showing up, but very few compared to a year ago. Lightening bugs, carpenter bees, wasps, beetles, etc are around.
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Overun with Jap beetles. Just nothing hitting the windshields.
 
Overall I've seen a huge decline in bugs. Remember when every trip over a couple miles resulted in a few splatters per mile? Not any more.

Sorry it's NPR but it's an interesting read. Something like we've lost 40% of bugs

 
I’m chewed up with skeeters. I just can’t figure out why my bike and the truck come home after 200 miles with nearly nothing on the windshield but a couple of little smudges.
 
fieldgrade said:
I was getting a normal amount on my bike windshield earlier this spring. Now, maybe a couple of skeeters and a wasp or bee or two. That’s it.

I drove the truck from Raleigh to Charleston and back in the past 48 hours, and I think a dragonfly hit my windshield. Period.

What’s up with that?
Click to expand...



Most of the gnats were in my shop today around lunch.
 
fieldgrade said:
I was getting a normal amount on my bike windshield earlier this spring. Now, maybe a couple of skeeters and a wasp or bee or two. That’s it.

I drove the truck from Raleigh to Charleston and back in the past 48 hours, and I think a dragonfly hit my windshield. Period.

What’s up with that?
Click to expand...
Not sure but I came back across eastern NC mid June and I’ve never seen so many damn bugs on the front of my truck. They musta all come over this way.
 
Clover around my place is crawling with Bumblebees yet I can count the number of Honeybees I’ve seen on both hands with fingers left over! This has been the case for several years prior…
 
Already honey bees are an endangered insect & modern chemical insecticides are even more toxic with longer 1/2 lives.
Like the Black snakes eating poisonous snake's, many insects are helpful in mans food production.

I have been growing organic food since 1974 & have seen the decline in many beneficial ( eats bad bugs ) insects.
My, .02.

www.mentalfloss.com

The Windshield Phenomenon: Why You See Fewer Bugs Splattering Cars Today

You may be grateful that your car's windshield is cleaner than it used to be, but the lack of bugs on the road isn't something to celebrate.
www.mentalfloss.com www.mentalfloss.com
 
If you're looking for red bugs look no further than Hanging Rock State Park. Took the grandchildren camping last September walked around in the woods went to bed in the tent. Two days later I had enough for me, you, your mama,daddy aunt uncle cats and dogs. Took about six weeks to recover. Going back in September with deet and not traipsing through the woods.
 
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Marturo said:
Already honey bees are an endangered insect & modern chemical insecticides are even more toxic with longer 1/2 lives.
Like the Black snakes eating poisonous snake's, many insects are helpful in mans food production.

I have been growing organic food since 1974 & have seen the decline in many beneficial ( eats bad bugs ) insects.
My, .02.

www.mentalfloss.com

The Windshield Phenomenon: Why You See Fewer Bugs Splattering Cars Today

You may be grateful that your car's windshield is cleaner than it used to be, but the lack of bugs on the road isn't something to celebrate.
www.mentalfloss.com www.mentalfloss.com
Click to expand...
I even had the “normal” amount of bugs on my bike early this spring, and the past several years. This is some weird phenom I’m noticing in the past 60 days.
 
I have a crab apple tree and when it bloomed in April I was walking the dogs past it one morning and it was literally buzzing. It was covered in honey bees must have been thousands of them. I was so happy to see them and I used to try and get rid of my clover but I don't any more because there always seems to be honey bees on it. Windshield wise about average so far this year.
 
Marturo said:
Already honey bees are an endangered insect & modern chemical insecticides are even more toxic with longer 1/2 lives.
Like the Black snakes eating poisonous snake's, many insects are helpful in mans food production.

I have been growing organic food since 1974 & have seen the decline in many beneficial ( eats bad bugs ) insects.
My, .02.

www.mentalfloss.com

The Windshield Phenomenon: Why You See Fewer Bugs Splattering Cars Today

You may be grateful that your car's windshield is cleaner than it used to be, but the lack of bugs on the road isn't something to celebrate.
www.mentalfloss.com www.mentalfloss.com
Click to expand...
Honey bees are not endangered. They have declined over recent years, but are not endangered. It is also not illegal to kill them. If a colony is living in the wall of your house, you can kill them and the bee police will not show up to arrest you.

I am a beekeeper and have a lot more bees this year than the past 10 years.
 
beamernc said:
Honey bees are not endangered. They have declined over recent years, but are not endangered. It is also not illegal to kill them. If a colony is living in the wall of your house, you can kill them and the bee police will not show up to arrest you.

I am a beekeeper and have a lot more bees this year than the past 10 years.
Click to expand...

I'm happy you have been so lucky.

www.agdaily.com

Are honey bees endangered? Here's the truth of the matter | AGDAILY

A long-running question is: Are honey bees endangered? There are practices people in and out of the agricultural industry can do to help.
www.agdaily.com www.agdaily.com
 
beamernc said:
Honey bees are not endangered. They have declined over recent years, but are not endangered. It is also not illegal to kill them. If a colony is living in the wall of your house, you can kill them and the bee police will not show up to arrest you.

I am a beekeeper and have a lot more bees this year than the past 10 years.
Click to expand...
I have seen honeybees this year for the first time since I can't remember.
 
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Marturo said:
I'm happy you have been so lucky.

www.agdaily.com

Are honey bees endangered? Here's the truth of the matter | AGDAILY

A long-running question is: Are honey bees endangered? There are practices people in and out of the agricultural industry can do to help.
www.agdaily.com www.agdaily.com
Click to expand...
I didn't read the whole article, but it looks like it trys to say they are endangered, but that is incorrect. Don't take my word for it, contact Dr. David Tarpy at NCSU. He's the apicultural specialist at State.
 
beamernc said:
I didn't read the whole article, but it looks like it trys to say they are endangered, but that is incorrect. Don't take my word for it, contact Dr. David Tarpy at NCSU. He's the apicultural specialist at State.
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I, for one, believe beemernc.

:cool:

Plenty of gnats and noseeums buzzin me while I work.
 
Homesteading festival thing wife and I went to a few months back we sat in on a presentation about bugs. Guy was very knowledgeable, and talked about the negative affects of pesticides. It was geared towards more of a "home gardener" and how to balance the bug population for a proper mix. Way he made it sound your environment can greatly change the big population. Bugs don't typically travel all that much so either you have them or you don't have them because your environment sucks.

Last year my house had zero lightening bugs and not many bees. Wife and I haven't done much but keep a few flowers alive and get chickens now our yard is full of bugs some good some bad. Aphids came in a storm on our onions a few weeks back but now it's calmed completely down with some other bugs taking them out. It makes me nervous but I'm trusting the experts advice.
 
I do recall in the mid 90s you would drive somewhere this time of year and the windshield would have almost a solid layer of bug parts on it. Scraping them off was just part of the routine.

Cant tell you the last time I had to do that? Also the woods were regularly loud as hell, which I loved, almost as good as rain on a metal roof. Not so much anymore... some crickets and other random crap but not like it once was.
 
Squanchy said:
Homesteading festival thing wife and I went to a few months back we sat in on a presentation about bugs. Guy was very knowledgeable, and talked about the negative affects of pesticides. It was geared towards more of a "home gardener" and how to balance the bug population for a proper mix. Way he made it sound your environment can greatly change the big population. Bugs don't typically travel all that much so either you have them or you don't have them because your environment sucks.

Last year my house had zero lightening bugs and not many bees. Wife and I haven't done much but keep a few flowers alive and get chickens now our yard is full of bugs some good some bad. Aphids came in a storm on our onions a few weeks back but now it's calmed completely down with some other bugs taking them out. It makes me nervous but I'm trusting the experts advice.
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See I don't do any gardening, I just pay my neighbour to mow with his big mower tank. I have almost no trees, bushes etc but my yard is usually pretty bright with lightning bugs every year. Likely because the only stuff to get sprayed in my yard is spray paint. I leave nature be other than the required shortening of the grass so my landlord doesn't hassle me.

If you have any sort of aphid issues, dump ladybirds (ladybugs) in that area, they're voracious carnivores who will slaughter every aphid they can find then settle down to gorge on them. They're also adorable.
 
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NCLivingBrit said:
If you have any sort of aphid issues, dump ladybirds (ladybugs) in that area, they're voracious carnivores who will slaughter every aphid they can find then settle down to gorge on them.
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We have had some ladybirds come into the yard to take out the aphids. Severe japanese beetle problem now and the chickens are not interested in eating them for some reason. I think they are what is tearing our raspberry leaves up. Blueberries are going strong though. Do not quite understand that.
 
beamernc said:
I didn't read the whole article, but it looks like it trys to say they are endangered, but that is incorrect. Don't take my word for it, contact Dr. David Tarpy at NCSU. He's the apicultural specialist at State.
Click to expand...
appears in "agdaily". Maybe that's shorthand for agenda daily.
 
Something a brother of mine brought up many years ago about GMO foods.

Pollenating insects aren't drawing to just any flowering plant. Many are adapted and drawn to certain species of plants. When plants are genetically modified, this may result in pollenating insects not recognizing them as food. This makes sense, as GM plants are often modified specifically for insect resistance.

The increasing cultivation of GM crops may indeed be having adverse effects on insect populations.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
Something a brother of mine brought up many years ago about GMO foods.

Pollenating insects aren't drawing to just any flowering plant. Many are adapted and drawn to certain species of plants. When plants are genetically modified, this may result in pollenating insects not recognizing them as food. This makes sense, as GM plants are often modified specifically for insect resistance.

The increasing cultivation of GM crops may indeed be having adverse effects on insect populations.
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This. The GMO thing has it's benefits and drawbacks. I'm of the opinion that the drawbacks are more than we're even aware, and outweigh the benefits.
 
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The most common GMO crops are wind pollinated or self pollinated. I believe corn is the most common GMO followed by soybeans.

I've heard folks blame the rise in gluten allergies on GMO wheat, but "there is no genetically modified wheat currently commercialized anywhere in the world", according to the National Wheat Foundation.

It cracks me hear to hear folks talk about all organic this or that and poo poo on farmers using herbicides and pesticides, and they in turn use all kinds of chemicals so they can have their beautiful lawns and get rid of mosquitos.
 
NCLivingBrit said:
If you have any sort of aphid issues, dump ladybirds (ladybugs) in that area, they're voracious carnivores who will slaughter every aphid they can find then settle down to gorge on them. They're also adorable.
Click to expand...
My experience with the "ladybugs" has been decidedly different.

There is an invasive species of ladybug look-a-lot-likes out there that (as I understand it) was brought in to eat aphids "nature's way," i.e. no icky chemicals.* Oddly enough, since they ain't from around here, they ain't got too many enemies, ergo THEY ARE PROLIFIC.

At my old place, there was an absolute plague of them every year from April through September. I mean Hordes! Mass waves of Adorable Sturmtruppen! EVERYWHERE. ALL THE TIME. They were easy to kill, but so what? The Hydra Hive replaced them at a 10 for 1 ratio. And their glossy half-dome shape an' wee bitty legs meant they could slip through the weatherstripping of doors & windows with impunity.

Dump them in your area at your peril.



___________________________________________
*If you didn't read that in Galagher's voice with a ch as in "Church," go back a read it again.
 
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Windini said:
My experience with the "ladybugs" has been decidedly different.

There is an invasive species of ladybug look-a-lot-likes out there that (as I understand it) was brought in to eat aphids "nature's way," i.e. no icky chemicals.* Oddly enough, since they ain't from around here, they ain't got too many enemies, ergo THEY ARE PROLIFIC.

At my old place, there was an absolute plague of them every year from April through September. I mean Hordes! Mass waves of Adorable Sturmtruppen! EVERYWHERE. ALL THE TIME. They were easy to kill, but so what? The Hydra Hive replaced them at a 10 for 1 ratio. And their glossy half-dome shape an' wee bitty legs meant they could slip through the weatherstripping of doors & windows with impunity.

Dump them in your area at your peril.



___________________________________________
*If you didn't read that in Galagher's voice with a ch as in "Church," go back a read it again.
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You mean the little yellowy green ones? Yeah I think those are Chinese or something, I'm talking about the red ones with seven spots.
 
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