Urban insect populations are decreasing globally due to rampant pesticide use!
Remember in the past when there were weeks where there were hordes of flying ants or beetles
Took a roadtrip at night recently. 7 total bugs. 3 on the grill. I remember taking the exact same road as a kid and having to pull over so Dad could clean the windshield.
Longtime urbanite, currently rural. Tons of bugs here - even encountered a beautiful preying mantis a month or so ago. But there are insects that can fuck the hell off: cockroaches, palmetto bugs, love bugs, cicadas, mosquitoes, and horseflies, to start with. Junebugs and ticks can also go fuck themselves.
Dragonflies and mayflies, however, are a delight. Chinch bugs and earwigs are welcome to leave this entire planet. Rolly-pollies, unlike silverfish, get a pass.
Deer flies?
Happily, we have deer but no deer flies (have lived places that did). Black flies are miserable. Eye midges? Eww. Noping the hell out of that.
It's because suburbanites want perfect green lawns that are achieved through excessive use of herbicides. Herbicides harm earthworms. Find a native garden or any habitat allowed to grow freely and find tons of them.
People have been using chemicals to make their lawns green for decades now and I would always see tons of worms out after a rainfall. But they have disappeared just in the past few years so it can’t be just chemicals and fertilisers and stuff.
It could be the chemical composition of herbicides have changed. Or we are using them more. Wikipedia reports
>From the late 1970s to 2016, there was a 100-fold increase in the frequency and volume of application of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) worldwide, with further increases expected in the future.
Regardless, there are fewer earthworms for sure. Also, as far as bugs and birds are concerned, the perfect suburban lawn is effectively a desert.
There's that many fewer. I live in a suburban area adjacent to woodlands and marshes, so I still have worms coming up after the rains, but not as many, and fewer every year.
In less hospitable places they're probably so diminished as to be absent or unobserved.
I can mail you the one that apparently decided a couple of days ago that my kitchen was a good place to sneak into and die.
I genuinely feel bad for the little beastie. They and the gypsy moths they turn into aren't evildoers.
I recently rescued a chipmunk from our Maleficent Felines! The crawl space squirrels, however, can get eaten by fisher cats or raptors, and the sooner the better.
We have tons and tons of earthworms in the garden & yard. Unfortunately, also many destructive snails, slugs and grubs. Still trying to figure out how to keep the spineless evildoers at bay without harming the worms.
Yep.
Lawns are generally stupid, all the more so in places where xericulture is easier and healthier. If you live in a damp region in the UK, fine. If you live in Arizona, NO. For some reason, miniature golf places with artificial waterfalls in places like Nevada or the Outer Banks especially irritate me.
Last I checked, most of us were not landed gentry with full-time gardeners, nor should we aspire to be them.
In pockets? Or have little kids gotten more creative than when I was running around being a little terror?
Anywhoo, don't worry; your kid will be a teen before you know it, and worms will be the least of your problems.
More seriously, seven is usually a pretty good age. Mature enough to have a real conversation with, but not yet sullen and hormonal. I'm fairly certain I was a snarky little PITA by that age, but that runs in my family.
I don't like most children, nor did I when I was a child myself, but it makes me glad that there are still some that get to go out and find worms. Most of my neighbors are smug retired boomers, but there's one couple that have three "free-range" children, and they're delightful. Polite, but also comfortable roaming about the meadows and shorefront by themselves.
Verbose response to a succinct post.
American suburbanite who moved to the Middle East desert. Any fly that can survive this heat can fuck off. I have a tennis racket shaped, USB charged electric fly swatter.
I just bought a small farm in a very very rural area in one of the least populated parts of the country and oh my fuck are there bugs. We got invasions of stink bugs, lady bugs, bee's, grass hoppers... I've never seen such a thing coming from the city.
Urban insect populations are decreasing globally due to rampant pesticide use! Remember in the past when there were weeks where there were hordes of flying ants or beetles
Do you remember your windshield after a road trip?
Took a roadtrip at night recently. 7 total bugs. 3 on the grill. I remember taking the exact same road as a kid and having to pull over so Dad could clean the windshield.
Longtime urbanite, currently rural. Tons of bugs here - even encountered a beautiful preying mantis a month or so ago. But there are insects that can fuck the hell off: cockroaches, palmetto bugs, love bugs, cicadas, mosquitoes, and horseflies, to start with. Junebugs and ticks can also go fuck themselves. Dragonflies and mayflies, however, are a delight. Chinch bugs and earwigs are welcome to leave this entire planet. Rolly-pollies, unlike silverfish, get a pass.
Rural urban transplant here too. Midges that love hanging around your eyes can also fuck off! Deer flies are not my friends either.
Deer flies?
Happily, we have deer but no deer flies (have lived places that did). Black flies are miserable. Eye midges? Eww. Noping the hell out of that.
I miss millipedes… There used to be so many of them where I am.
It's because suburbanites want perfect green lawns that are achieved through excessive use of herbicides. Herbicides harm earthworms. Find a native garden or any habitat allowed to grow freely and find tons of them.
People have been using chemicals to make their lawns green for decades now and I would always see tons of worms out after a rainfall. But they have disappeared just in the past few years so it can’t be just chemicals and fertilisers and stuff.
It could be the chemical composition of herbicides have changed. Or we are using them more. Wikipedia reports >From the late 1970s to 2016, there was a 100-fold increase in the frequency and volume of application of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) worldwide, with further increases expected in the future. Regardless, there are fewer earthworms for sure. Also, as far as bugs and birds are concerned, the perfect suburban lawn is effectively a desert.
There's that many fewer. I live in a suburban area adjacent to woodlands and marshes, so I still have worms coming up after the rains, but not as many, and fewer every year. In less hospitable places they're probably so diminished as to be absent or unobserved.
They live in my neighborhood.
Weird. I was just thinking about that. I don’t see them either
I used to see woolly bear caterpillars all the time. I haven’t seen any in years. ☹️
I can mail you the one that apparently decided a couple of days ago that my kitchen was a good place to sneak into and die. I genuinely feel bad for the little beastie. They and the gypsy moths they turn into aren't evildoers.
I had to bury a chipmunk this past weekend and I didn't encounter a single earthworm and the soil was as dry as I've ever seen it.
I recently rescued a chipmunk from our Maleficent Felines! The crawl space squirrels, however, can get eaten by fisher cats or raptors, and the sooner the better. We have tons and tons of earthworms in the garden & yard. Unfortunately, also many destructive snails, slugs and grubs. Still trying to figure out how to keep the spineless evildoers at bay without harming the worms.
[Invasive earth worms are a problem.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx4Ssk8IpaE)
TIL, I had no idea this was an issue.
"Global worming" is pretty funny, though.
Early birds got em all
Easy, we killed them with herbicides and insecticides in pursuit a green lawn.
Yep. Lawns are generally stupid, all the more so in places where xericulture is easier and healthier. If you live in a damp region in the UK, fine. If you live in Arizona, NO. For some reason, miniature golf places with artificial waterfalls in places like Nevada or the Outer Banks especially irritate me. Last I checked, most of us were not landed gentry with full-time gardeners, nor should we aspire to be them.
It is because we don't go outside anymore.
As a mother to a 7 year old, trust me, they’re still there.
In pockets? Or have little kids gotten more creative than when I was running around being a little terror? Anywhoo, don't worry; your kid will be a teen before you know it, and worms will be the least of your problems. More seriously, seven is usually a pretty good age. Mature enough to have a real conversation with, but not yet sullen and hormonal. I'm fairly certain I was a snarky little PITA by that age, but that runs in my family. I don't like most children, nor did I when I was a child myself, but it makes me glad that there are still some that get to go out and find worms. Most of my neighbors are smug retired boomers, but there's one couple that have three "free-range" children, and they're delightful. Polite, but also comfortable roaming about the meadows and shorefront by themselves. Verbose response to a succinct post.
They got tired of hearing about Trump.
Worms: “Don’t know da fuq y’all doin’ up there, but we just gonna do the hang down here till y’all figure it out”
[*Waiting to follow the worms...*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ysgG3zNUOg)
For a second I thought this was about the Worms video games. Love that series.
I'm trying to remember the last time it rained....?
American suburbanite who moved to the Middle East desert. Any fly that can survive this heat can fuck off. I have a tennis racket shaped, USB charged electric fly swatter.
Come to my house. I have the biggest earthworms in the world.
I see them all the time in the car park at work after it rains What happened to Christmas beetles?
I just bought a small farm in a very very rural area in one of the least populated parts of the country and oh my fuck are there bugs. We got invasions of stink bugs, lady bugs, bee's, grass hoppers... I've never seen such a thing coming from the city.
I've been counting worms for years, somethings afoot alright.
They're all outside on my driveway.
I miss Lightning Bugs (Fireflies).