A long time ago, the RSPB tried to persuade car drivers, lorry drivers etc to put a square patch of plastic on the front of their cars and send it in to us to assess the number of splatted insects on it. The ‘splatometer’ was a one-summer wonder but sometimes I wish we had persevered with it.
I was struck, on my journey to Scotland last week, how many splatted insects were on the front of my car and the windscreen – it really took me back to the days of my youth when windscreen-cleaning was a much more frequent and necessary chore for the driver.
I think I arrived in Scotland last week with the squidged bodies of many of Yorkshire’s, Durham’s and Northumberland’s insects – it really took me back. Perhaps the spell of really quite hot weather after such a long spell of cold weather was the cause of an eruption in insect biomass.
How are your windscreens?
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https://www.sahfos.ac.uk/
The great marine biologist, Sir Alistair Hardy, came up with idea of the continuous plankton recorder 85 years ago. The device is fitted to merchant ships plying the seas. This massive data gathering exercise continues today.
I remember that RSPB idea and the ‘why-didn’t-I-think-of-that’ moment that went with it.
Plankton, be it aerial or aquatic, is sort of quite important. Aren’t they something to do with food chains and eating?
The RSPB was on the right track but it must have stumbled and has definitely missed a trick. But it’s never too late to start another pilot using a different methodology. After all, there are enough brains out there. Hardy was a good artist and a bit of a dreamer as well as a fine scientist. Is there a clue there?
Lateral thinkers – we need them now – to increase vision in order to reduce visibility.
Alas, my windscreen remains clear.
I always fantasised that the answer to the Scottish midge was an airborne basking shark. If that were the case it would seem we’d be getting very concerned about our basking sharks by now!
No question that the amount of insects on the car dropped massively during the 20 years from the mid 70s onwards. And this corresponded with big drops in insectivore populations in the lowlands. It’s no coincidence that swallows and house martins have declined so much in the SE and Midlands. And I’ve never been convinced that any decline in swift is about nest sites so much as reduction in food availability. But what was the driver? General simplification in the landscape, new sprays, widespread use of slow release avermectins? Pollution? A combination of all these?
Agree. Trouble is there aren’t enough ‘trash species’ scientists out there collecting and crunching the data. And as for explorers of the ‘poor man’s rain forest’, the soil,
— far, far too few.
have you just killed lots of wild flying animals unnecessarily?
I’ve tried beating them towards guns Tom, but they just won’t fly in a straight line. Entirely unsporting of them.
The decline of flysquash is one of those phenomena that could easily feature on the Spurious Correlations website: http://tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations. It could be the result of an increase in prophylactic spraying against cereal aphids (beginning before the advent of neonicotinoids) or it could reflect the improving aerodynamics of modern jamjars, but my money is on a strong correlation with the consumption of quinoa in Islington.
“…or it could reflect the improving aerodynamics of modern jamjars”
I don’t imagine the aerodynamics of Mark’s “jamjar” underwent a sudden deterioration as he travelled north and yet he experienced an increase in flysquash compared to what he is accustomed to. It would seem therefore that at least some of the geographical or chronological variation in rates of flysquash must be explained by differences in the extent to which flies are exposed to being splatted.
I’m guessing that the days of Mark’s youth were over a good while before he set out for Scotland last week
Indeed, Filbert, that’s why I referred to geographical variation as well chronological. Thanks for helping me out though.
Thanks for the link, it went straight into my ‘favorites’.
As for that pseudo-cereal, quinoa, yes, you could be right.
There may also be a correlation with the current increase in pseudo-science.
By the way, I’m not so sure this grain is as healthy as it’s cracked up to be. Too much oxalate.
Best to stick to the champagne when Islington — especially while discussing all those BDGS issues.
http://alwayswellwithin.com/2010/04/30/the-low-oxalate-diet/
Well splatted here in Derbyshire and the midges and gnats and mossies are def moving south. They were Highland level yesterday on local reserve. Was watching Pied Flycatcher who had no trouble supplying his offspring every two minutes. I instantly became part of the food chain and therefore am now part Pied Fly.
We often drive between Bristol and Exmoor and for many years now I’ve notice/remarked on the distinct lack of the splatted insects we used to always see in our younger days – so far this year no different. Not a good sign for the food chain ☹️
Sadly, when riding a bike one doesn’t have the comfort of a windscreen. Oh well, its all protein, I suppose….
Mine is peachy clean right now, but that is because I’ve not been able bodied enough these last couple of weeks to get the car out on the road, or get me out to the car. There has been a small uptick these last years in number of insects as opposed to fifteen years ago though. I don’t think we’ll ever see 1960s and 70s levels of bug splatter again, and not just for environmental reasons (although that will be a big factor) but also because automobile makers are making their cars to have air and whatever is in the air slip by them more easily than the old bricks on wheels with their sharp corners and vertical surfaces.
I’ve just got back from a trip to Scotland and it’s very noticeable how many splatted insects I have on the front of the car – far more than 1000 miles of driving would have garnered in the south. Still an awful lot less than my dad would regularly get on his car in the 60s, however – a grim reminder of how few insects are left in the countryside.
On which note, the midges in Scotland were out last week, at least a month earlier than in my youth, and I’m told they stay active much later now too. A most unwelcome signal of climate change.
There certainly are a lot fewer bugs etc on my windscreen than in years gone by. I don’t need to fill the screenwash very often at all. Similar problem is the number of moths and bugs coming in at night through open windows. Used to get a house fulf of moths if I left a light on ten years ago, nowadays we get a lot less. Cockchafers – once quite numerous visitors indoors at our house are now a rarity.
Lots of reasons why less insects but past time the RSPB laid some of the blame at pollution from over 30 million vehicles on the road.
Of course it will never happen because that might upset their members(time they grew some b***s)
It is quite obvious if it is killing(scientifically proven)60 kg humans then it must be killing trillions of insects.
It must be a fact that this pollution even kills more humans and insects than modern farming.I doubt even RSPB would dispute that fact.
I weighed 60kg once
“It is quite obvious if it is killing(scientifically proven)60 kg humans then it must be killing trillions of insects.”
It is not quite that straightforward Dennis. Many of the human deaths attributed to pollution are specifically due to air pollution and in particular exposure to pollutants such as particulates, NOx, ozone and SO2 and road traffic is indeed a major source of these. There are important differences in the biology of people and insects though that mean we will not necessarily be affected to the same extent or in the same way. First of all we breathe in quite different ways so our exposure to the pollutants may not be the same. Secondly and perhaps more importantly, many of the human deaths from respiratory illness such as asthma, cancer, bronchial disease etc are presumed to be the consequence of long term exposure to pollution. With their short life-spans insects do not live long enough to be affected in this way. So, I am not saying that insects are unaffected by air pollution (I imagine they are) but we cannot really deduce from human health statistics how much or in what way insects might be affected by pollution.
Farming is certainly not the only thing that affects insects but it does, undeniably, have a major impact. Use of insecticides such as neonicotinoids and pyrethroids (and in the past various organo-phosphates and organo-chlorines) kills insects (its what they are designed to do!), potentially including non target species as well as the targeted pest. However, perhaps the biggest effect is not the direct killing of insects and other wildlife but rather depriving them of a home through habitat changes. Advances in farming technology since the second world war have resulted in farmland becoming increasingly sterile from a wildlife point of view. Whether in grassland or arable crops it is now the case that it is rare to find more than a very limited number of plant species other than the actual crop whereas decades ago there would have been plenty of ‘weed’ species mixed in. The loss of floral diversity is inevitably followed by a decline in invertebrates and birds. Please note that I am not saying farmers are bad people – they have been simply doing their jobs to the best of their ability and keeping on the right side of the bank manager. Wildlife has been an unintended victim but it has nevertheless been a victim and it makes no sense to avoid this fact. The challenge is to try and find ways – for example via the subsidy system – to ensure farmers can make a satisfactory living at the same time as allowing more space for nature.
I don’t think the RSPB ducks the issue of air pollution out of fear of offending its members. It does after all argue for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases the achievement of which requires us all to use less fossil fuel in our homes and in our cars.
I would hazard a guess that emissions from visitor miles are the biggest proportion of total GHG emissions for every major NGO that receives visitors. We’ll know they are arguing seriously when they start telling people to stay at home.
I know you did not say that I avoid that farming affects insect life but I just want to make clear that I agree modern farming obviously has some affect but there is obviously other factors as well and I am not sure that some conservation organisations care as much about changing things as they would have us believe.
Do you calculate your annual carbon footprint?
If you do, do you offset?
We drove to Scotland 2 weeks ago and yes, the windscreen, front and number plate were covered in insects. We actually hand washed the windscreen because the washers had not kept up.
We came home on Saturday (21st) and very little problem at all!
I like many, felt this was a problem from years ago, but it certainly showed up this year.