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We hardly have any bees, but mosquitoes are doing well. I've seen a drop in ladybugs in the fall but an increase in stink bugs. It's rare to see a June bug now too.
The only people who think MotherNature is in trouble are those who never get out of the city.
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* Records show that only the polar areas (ie- N or S of 30* latitude) are warming day & nite temps.
Neither of these statements are true. Back to the topic:
All reputable studies clearly show that flying insect populations (especially night-time flying insects) are way down from years ago. If some people haven't noticed the changes, perhaps they're too young to have witnessed these historic changes...or maybe they just haven't been aware of them.
Human overpopulation--and the resultant loss of natural habitat--has been having a tremendous negative affect on the biological diversity of this planet. Migrating bird species, in particular, have seen dramatic population declines over the past few decades. Many species are down 70 - 90%. Far too many animals are facing extinction due to too many humans. We have yet to learn how to live on this planet without destroying life for its other inhabitants.
I haven't seen one bee this year in Tucson, and I plant plants that actually attract them, like Red Fairy Dusters. They say we're going through what they're calling an insectadom!
Mud wasp populations here in Texas are also certainly not down this year. They fill everything with their mud nests including water hoses, walls, tools, RVs, automobile fender wells, . . . I just killed one in the bedroom with an electronic flyswatter.
I haven't seen a bat for awhile, although they weren't usually common.
Bees are getting few and far between. Several years ago, I had to hand pollinate if I wanted melons so more bee forage has been planted around. That has helped the pollination rates. At some point, I'd like a top bar beehive up in the backyard. Other than getting honey, it would increase the fruits in the garden.
A bridge next to one of our rental houses has been out for about six months now and the road next to it has been barricaded for that long. Last week, I saw a huge cloud of gnats over the closed roadway. Haven't seen a flying cloud of anything in a long time, so perhaps if the roads were used less (or in this case, not at all) then we would see the insects again?
NW Lower Mich: Absolutely the worst year ever for gnats. Spiders here are everywhere, and breeding like rabbits. Got my first mosquito bite in 10 years (I never see 'skeeters in my yard). I think it was the wet May - June (mushrooms are everywhere).
The only insect missing this year is my favorite, lightning bugs. I have not seen one. I'm seeing a slight increase in all the others. I'm seeing new and different dragon flies, some are really beautiful.
Here in Charlotte (inside the loop), I've noticed an uptick in all kinds of wildlife in the past few years. In the past couple of days I've seen a baldfaced hornets nest, mud wasps, paper wasps, several kinds of praying mantis and honey bees galore. The common bugs like wood roaches, crickets, gnats, mosquito, grasshoppers, leaf miners, lady bugs ext. are every bit as common as ever.
As far as other wildlife, I can catch a raccoon or possum any night the trap is set, its hard to get home without seeing someone nearly hit a deer, bats swoop around every dusk, tree frogs and box turtles visit my pond daily, and owls make their presence known at night. Its odd but I see much more diversity of wildlife in the city than I do when I visit parks in the mountains or countryside. Maybe city wildlife has just lost its fear of people so its easier to spot.
"All reputable studies clearly show …" There's the rub. Most studies aren't done well. That famous recent German study is a case in point: poorly defined control, methods and no mention of land use changes surrounding the study area.
"Human overpopulation--and the resultant loss of natural habitat--has been having a tremendous negative affect … " At least that part's right. There's a difference between extirpation- local loss of population vs extinction-- complete loss of a taxon. Don't confuse the two.
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