The other day, when I was taking a tour of the UMM EcoStation, I learned that they are currently leasing a few acres to a local farmer, but that there were restrictions on what he could plant. No corn! No planting corn in our ecologically conscious field station, because corn fields get soaked in neonicotinoids, a potent pesticide.
Of course, as we returned home, we drove past immense fields of corn everywhere.
Neonicotinoids are great for killing insects — they’re a nerve poison that binds to acetylcholine receptors, found in the central nervous system of insects, triggering excessive activity and killing them with overstimulation. It kills bees and butterflies and fireflies, those charming and charismatic creatures everyone loves, but also flies and spiders, which no one seems to care much about. Well, except maybe me and weirdo entomologists.
It’s been a poor summer for spiders, but then, I’ve noticed them declining in numbers for years. This summer, though, it was particularly obvious — in previous years, my lawn has been dotted with little tents, the webs of grass spiders, that are vividly obvious in the morning dew. This year…I’ve seen a handful, and some mornings, there are none at all.
Orb weavers haven’t been common around here. We’ve looked at the local horticulture garden, and aside from the rare tetragnathid, they’ve been mostly absent. It’s getting a bit creepy. Maybe you’re not as fond of spiders as I am, but you know you’re in trouble when levels of the food chain start dropping out.
It’s not just me. When we spot one or two monarch butterflies now, it’s noteworthy, and my wife will drag me out to the garden to see. Years ago we’d see huge flocks of them coating trees. It’s worldwide; butterfly populations in the UK are down.
Richard Fox, head of science at Butterfly Conservation, said: “The previous lowest average number of butterflies per count was nine in 2022, this latest figure is 22% lower than that, which is very disturbing. Not just that, but a third of the species recorded in the Big Butterfly Count have had their worst year on record, and no species had their best. The results are in line with wider evidence that the summer of 2024 has been very poor for butterflies.
“Butterflies are a key indicator species; when they are in trouble we know that the wider environment is in trouble too. Nature is sounding the alarm call. We must act now if we are to turn the tide on these rapid declines and protect species for future generations.”
Crashes in flying insect populations including beetles and wasps have been widely observed during the summer after a prolonged wet and cold first half of the season.
Weather is part of the reason — we also had a weirdly wet early summer here in Minnesota, and our trees are showing signs of stress. This isn’t the only stressor in our environment, and it’s rare to be able to blame extinctions on a single source. When you get multiple factors harming a population, that’s when you get an extinction vortex.
There is something going on here. You should be afraid. I am.
Word. Have you also noticed the lack of bugs on the car? It used to be that the car was covered in dead bugs every summer, I haven’t seen that in years. It ain’t right.
Yes. My kids have noticed, too. My granddaughter has never seen a car caked with a thick sheet of dead bugs.
I don’t fear it anymore. After years of disappointment and existential torment, I’ve finally accepted that humanity is going to widely fuck itself and everything around it. We just don’t have the collective smarts to overcome ourselves and our tribal greed. Apologies to all the young people, you don’t deserve this.
Yeah. Like I mentioned in a discussion on climate change denial here a few days ago, all the destruction is becoming fucking obvious. Back in the 80s you needed scientists to analyse temperature records and observe population to see the effects of what we are doing, now everyone can see it in their own yard.
But most of us don’t want to see it, just don’t care about it. I get that people are worried about losing their income when environmental policies impact the job market, I share their worries about one’s future in this shitty capitalistic nightmare. But what good is my job and my income when the biosphere I’m part of is dying?
On the other hand, many people seem only interested in their big, fast cars, tons of plastic crap from China to buy cheaply and then junk and love to make fun of or are hostile to those who try to make at least a bit of difference.
I’m just glad I never had children and I’m unlikely to get very old.
I live few hours north of Toronto Ontario and I have to walk slowly around my daughters gardens and house because there are so many Orb Weavers giant webs and my studio has a lot of those gorgeous black velvety jumping spiders and little baby ones.
This cartoon seems apposite