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posted by mrpg on Friday August 10 2018, @02:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-in-Japan dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

[...] Because the crooning of the crickets has quietened in recent years and may be becoming a thing of the past. There is strong evidence that large numbers of crickets and grasshoppers (known, along with mantises, earwigs and cockroaches as the "Orthoptera") are declining across Europe. A 2017 review of European species showed that over 30% of the 1,000 European species were in decline while only 3% were increasing. As with many insects, we simply don't know what is happening to most of the rest.

The problem is that recent work has suggested that all insect species, including Orthoptera, are declining – the so-called "insect Armageddon."

A 2017 study found that the abundance of flying insects has plunged by 75% over the past 25 years. One member of the study team, Professor Dave Goulson of Sussex University, said at the time: "Insects make up about two-thirds of all life on Earth [but] there has been some kind of horrific decline."


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by acid andy on Friday August 10 2018, @06:50PM (1 child)

    by acid andy (1683) on Friday August 10 2018, @06:50PM (#720022) Homepage Journal

    if a lack of insects is a problem

    Let me help you out here. It is a problem. I think you're right about the insecticides. Neonicotinoids have been found to cause problems for bee populations.

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @04:44AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @04:44AM (#720219)

    The paper lists a multiplicity of possible causes.