This Bugs Me, and it Should Bug You Too

[Kirkrapine]

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This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

But, why are flying insects dying off?

 

[adrina]

But, why are flying insects dying off?

The report.

In essence climate change. Although I'm sure habitat destruction didn't help. But even in protected habitats, the numbers are still falling. And personally, I think insecticide is a player too. But even when one goes to areas without insecticide use... still dropping numbers.

 

[Kirkrapine]

Yes, that has worked so well in the past and is working so well now that we should continue eating the animals so they can survive.

This isn't big game hunting where there are actual funds that can be used to build up and maintain big game preserves. That's epically stupid even for you.

Actually, being edible might be good for a species' survival:

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6d/land_mammals.png

Title text: Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body.

 

[adrina]

Seriously?

I thought you were smarter than that. Whatevs.

 

[CandiCame]

Actually, being edible might be good for a species' survival:

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6d/land_mammals.png

Title text: Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body.

Out of curiosity, how many squirrels do you think a horse weighs?

 

[HarryHill]

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This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

..
Two years ago I sent an e-mail to the University of Kentucky asking them about the decline in red wasps in our area, a dependable pollinator that was filling in for the dwindling honey bee population, got no answer. In the meantime a few species of bumble bee took over the duties as well as some tiny wasp like insects. This year I did most of the pollination by hand for the tomatoes, still had a lousy crop.

You can post all the statistics you want from some internet source but until you're out there observing you'll never know the truth of what's going on.

 

[CandiCame]

..
Two years ago I sent an e-mail to the University of Kentucky asking them about the decline in red wasps in our area, a dependable pollinator that was filling in for the dwindling honey bee population, got no answer. In the meantime a few species of bumble bee took over the duties as well as some tiny wasp like insects. This year I did most of the pollination by hand for the tomatoes, still had a lousy crop.

You can post all the statistics you want from some internet source but until you're out there observing you'll never know the truth of what's going on.

Don't make me fight FOR those fuckers.

One time one got in my bedroom, and I was too scared to fuck with it, so it landed in my lamp- it was one of those 5-pronged reading lamps, so I put some tin foil over that prong and just trapped it in there.

As far as I know, it has never been freed, but how I fear that day.

 

[Kirkrapine]

Out of curiosity, how many squirrels do you think a horse weighs?

916, I calculate.

 

[CandiCame]

916, I calculate.

Sweet. Asked and answered.

 

[dolf]

Things I notice... Fewer bees and dragonflies. Beetle numbers and varieties are reduced. It's worrying.
My garden is chemical free, with nettle patches and bug houses and all the other shit you're supposed to do, but I haven't seen swarms of butterflies for decades.

I noticed that the local farmer, when cutting back the verge along our drive, waits for most of the flowers to die off first and cuts around tufts of flowers that are blooming late. It's time consuming and inconvenient, so I can only assume he's worried about bug numbers too.

 

[IG_88]

Seriously?

I thought you were smarter than that. Whatevs.

There is nothing about Orfeo that screams smart. He is unaware of some basic shit. Like he's been sheltered most of his life.
That being said, his point is valid. Being edible means we make sure there are plenty. We like beef so you can bet your ass cows aren't gonna ever go extinct if we have anything to say about it. Some cow disease comes along we'll spend billions curing it before our hamburgers become as expensive as a T-Rex steak.
We'd probably let dogs go extinct before cows altho that might be pushing it. We do like our dogs.

 

[IG_88]

916, I calculate.

I have no doubt you looked it up and did the math cuz that's what i did.
Squirrels are assholes and horses are dumb. Not a good mix. A horsesquirrel might possibly be the worst animal ever.
I know that's not what anyone was talking about but it's where my head went.

 

[IG_88]

Things I notice... Fewer bees and dragonflies. Beetle numbers and varieties are reduced. It's worrying.
My garden is chemical free, with nettle patches and bug houses and all the other shit you're supposed to do, but I haven't seen swarms of butterflies for decades.

I noticed that the local farmer, when cutting back the verge along our drive, waits for most of the flowers to die off first and cuts around tufts of flowers that are blooming late. It's time consuming and inconvenient, so I can only assume he's worried about bug numbers too.

Very few bees and wasps this year in my yard. Mosquitoes were awful this year. Hardly any flies but I've heard others complaining about the flies so maybe just me. I made it a point to shower more this year and stop pooping in the living room.
So my point is I have no idea.
Also, I saw exactly one hummingbird this summer. One. I usually have a lot that come to the feeders. I asked a lady down the road who I know has a ton of feeders and she says she's seen a lot so again maybe just me. I make homemade nectar tho. They usually love it.

 

[dolf]

I suspect that the extra mosquitoes might well be due to the reduction in the dragonflies, spiders and other predators.

 

[despete]

I suspect that the extra mosquitoes might well be due to the reduction in the dragonflies, spiders and other predators.

I have the Jergens. Tell us about the predators again.

 

[adrina]

There is nothing about Orfeo that screams smart. He is unaware of some basic shit. Like he's been sheltered most of his life.
That being said, his point is valid. Being edible means we make sure there are plenty. We like beef so you can bet your ass cows aren't gonna ever go extinct if we have anything to say about it. Some cow disease comes along we'll spend billions curing it before our hamburgers become as expensive as a T-Rex steak.
We'd probably let dogs go extinct before cows altho that might be pushing it. We do like our dogs.

What I see when I look at that graphic is that we are prioritizing our food supply and ourselves to the detriment of everything else on the planet.

 

[IG_88]

I suspect that the extra mosquitoes might well be due to the reduction in the dragonflies, spiders and other predators.

Possible altho spiders have been heavy so far but they tend to come out more after the skeeters are dead and gone for the year.
I was thinking maybe it was a predator issue but I don't know what eats what in the insect world. I was kicked out of their clique for having lungs. Racists is what they are.

 

[IG_88]

What I see when I look at that graphic is that we are prioritizing our food supply and ourselves to the detriment of everything else on the planet.

Yes. It's called survival.

 

[dolf]

Possible altho spiders have been heavy so far but they tend to come out more after the skeeters are dead and gone for the year.
I was thinking maybe it was a predator issue but I don't know what eats what in the insect world. I was kicked out of their clique for having lungs. Racists is what they are.

I'd wager bats and swallows top the list. Bats have definitely been dwindling.

Yes. It's called survival.

Only to a point, and then it's the opposite.

 

[adrina]

Yes. It's called survival.

Only to a point, and then it's the opposite.

Exactly.

A very crass, but very apt saying comes to mind.

Don't shit where you eat.

And that is essentially what we are doing.

 

[Kirkrapine]

Exactly.

A very crass, but very apt saying comes to mind.

Don't shit where you eat.

And that is essentially what we are doing.

With our species' population, we pretty much have to shit everywhere.

 

[HarryHill]

Strange as it may seem I think they are probably starving as people keep yards trimmed closely, kill dandelions, spray broad leave poisons that kill many varieties of flowering plants, clovers most of all. I guess aesthetics matter more than a living planet. Its grave will be neat and orderly, plastic flowers placed reverently over its demise.

 

[Tigersman]

This has been going on for some time, and the majority of people don't give a shit, after all, bees sting you.
They'll only start giving a shit when food becomes paste in a tube because real food costs a fortune.

The older generation will only care after they are forced to eat wafers like in the movie "Solent Green" where the wafers were made from the dead.

 

[adrina]

linky

The new research, published in the Nature Communications journal, found that exposing red flour beetles to a five-day heatwave in the laboratory reduced sperm production by three-quarters, while females were unaffected.

Heatwaves halved the amount of offspring males could produce, and a second heatwave almost sterilised males.

Kirs Sales, a co-researcher on the study, said: "Our research shows that heatwaves halve male reproductive fitness, and it was surprising how consistent the effect was."

 

[Kirkrapine]

Every species on Earth had better evolve fast, to adapt to a warming planet.