If you’re old like I am (63) then you probably remember going for a drive on a highway and having to clean your car’s windshield every time you stopped for gas because your windshield would be splattered with the carcasses of squashed bugs. Remember that?…Now think about when the last time was when that happened to you.
Well, according to recent scientific studies conducted around the globe, not just here in once buggy New Jersey, flying insects are disappearing! In these studies researchers have evaluated 27 years of insect collection data and have found that the biomass of flying insects has fallen by a seasonal average of 76%. That’s a lot of bugs! 3 out of every 4 bugs aren’t around any more.
This is good news, right? Who needs bugs? But, unfortunately they are a very important part of the Earth’s ecosystem, providing food for animals, birds, (their numbers are declining too)… and bugs are also a very important part of agriculture!
Seen any bees lately either? And Remember fireflies? We used to chase those guys around all summer long and fill jars full just for fun. I saw a firefly last summer and remember thinking, “Fireflies! Whatever happened to them???”
Scientists say that Climate change seems an unlikely culprit for the decline in bug populations since the increase in temperatures should have helped bugs to thrive rather than have harmed the insect population, so what’s bugging the bugs?
Could it be something that humans are doing besides warming the planet? Like making it more toxic? Or radioactive? Or plastic and polluted? If only the bugs could tell us! But seriously… what would the world be like without any bugs at all?… Will we even notice when they are gone?… Or will it be impossible to not?
ipledgeafallegiance 
My experience confirms this alarming new finding. For ten years I have driven from Alberta to California in November or December and returned in April. In that time I have noticed a big difference. I used to have to scrape bugs off the windshield and lights every time I stopped for gas. Not any more.
..and frogs. I remember every rain hearing the chorus of frogs singing. Don’t hear that anymore. What does this say about our water quality?
I’m “old” like you…or nearly. And I remember what they’re now calling “the windshield test.” Here, in Michigan, we still have plenty of bugs, a couple of years ago, even had the windshield problem on a Spring drive. But, after the first flush of Spring, things thin out considerably. Walking in our woods is comfortable, without chemical repellents. (We now use essential oils and vanilla.) It’s more than a little scary that something we are doing has kicked out the bottom of the food chain. Not just here–the windshield test actually comes out of European research, and I read just recently that Puerto Rico has lost over 95 percent of its flying insects.