Where have all the bugs gone.......

[ToeKnee]

Cleaned the SL earlier after a 900 mile round trip up to Scotland via Newcastle and the North East coast and back down the motorway and there were hardly any bugs on the car at all! I remember the days when my screen would be splattered after even a short drive so where have they all gone? Have others noticed this?

 

[MrGreedy]

We've killed them all with pesticides. If this continues much more, big trouble I heard.

 

[tode]

It's the same over here

 

[GeeJayW]

Yes, huge decline in bugs which has a number of knock-on effects, crop pollination being one of them.

 

[MrGreedy]

I've barely choked on any flies whilst out on the push bike this past 10 years, nor had any hardly any get inside my helmet. Used to be a constant hazard/delight.

 

[190]

Riding a motorcycle with an open face helmet makes for a particularly sensitive bug detector and now you mention it, I don't recall getting splat so far this year.

Vastly fewer butterflies around which we readily notice but the real bad news is the impact on pollination which affects food supplies.

 

[Mactech]

On Sunday afternoon they were all committing suicide on the front of my car! More than I have seen in a long time.
Different climates have certainly have different bug levels. In California they can be relatively scarce. In Florida and Alabama you sometimes can't see through the screen after half an hour.
I was greeted early one morning at the Talladega Speedway by an old boy on the gate with "How yu' going' today? You bug or screen"
A graphic reminder of what the drivers in those parts encounter on a daily basis.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Quite a few on my screen after about 200 miles I did yesterday.

 

[23 Romeo Tango]

Cleaned the SL earlier after a 900 mile round trip up to Scotland via Newcastle and the North East coast and back down the motorway and there were hardly any bugs on the car at all! I remember the days when my screen would be splattered after even a short drive so where have they all gone? Have others noticed this?

Something I, and others noticed for the whole week we were driving in Europe (mostly Switzerland) was the lack of bugs on the front of our cars. Four days in we washed the cars and I counted only 6 bugs on the front of my car. Fast forward 2 weeks and back in the UK, North Yorkshire’s moors to be more precise and after a 1 hour blast, I must have had what seemed like 200 bugs on the front of my car.
That was two weeks ago though, maybe something has changed since then.

 

[SpikyMikey]

I've barely choked on any flies whilst out on the push bike this past 10 years, nor had any hardly any get inside my helmet. Used to be a constant hazard/delight.

Ah yes, that highlight of an evening out on the bicycle...a mouth full of midges

On Sunday afternoon they were all committing suicide on the front of my car! More than I have seen in a long time.
Different climates have certainly have different bug levels. In California they can be relatively scarce. In Florida and Alabama you sometimes can't see through the screen after half an hour.
I was greeted early one morning at the Talladega Speedway by an old boy on the gate with "How yu' going' today? You bug or screen"
A graphic reminder of what the drivers in those parts encounter on a daily basis.

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[W1ghty]

Cleaned the SL earlier after a 900 mile round trip up to Scotland via Newcastle and the North East coast and back down the motorway and there were hardly any bugs on the car at all! I remember the days when my screen would be splattered after even a short drive so where have they all gone? Have others noticed this?

Just come back from a gite holiday in the Dordogne region . The guy that runs it said there are no wasps , bees or butterflies this year . He’s right , there wasn’t .
It’s very worrying .

 

[tode]

Was watching an interesting programme last night on dragonflies (slightly OT ) which I find fascinating.
Anyway, it seems they've been around for 300 million years, and yet several species are becoming extinct in France - poisoned by chemicals, or simply loss of habitat. Be a shame to lose such exquisite creatures.
End of OT

 

[pioneercollector]

They are all on my motorcycle leathers, helmet and bike ! It was like a mini meteor shower as i left Hampshire last weekend, but oddly enough not one on the windscreen of my works van ...... Odd

 

[Swotty]

Just come back from a gite holiday in the Dordogne region . The guy that runs it said there are no wasps , bees or butterflies this year . He’s right , there wasn’t .
It’s very worrying .

We're just below him in the Lot et Garonne. There are fewer butterflies and bees, but plenty of wasps, hornets and mozzies.

 

[StMarks]

I don't recall which thread, however very recently someone on here posted up a poignant image with incorporated quote by a Native American.
It stated something along the lines of..:

Without the hoofed creatures the whole world is in trouble.
Without the fish, the whole world is in trouble.
Without the flying creatures, the whole world is in trouble.
Without humans, the world will be just fine.

( iirc the original was far better than ^ that memory attempt of mine, sorry).

 

[fourwheels]

We have had just short of 100 Hidcote Lavender plants in our front garden since around 2009 ( they’ve been replaced once). This time of the year they are usually smothered in bees in the late afternoon, not this year though. You are lucky to see a dozen or so.
Likewise that annoying creature the wasp. Outside dinning usually attracts a table full, or even just one very persistent one. Not been bothered at all this year, although there is still time left in August.

 

[SpikyMikey]

We have had just short of 100 Hidcote Lavender plants in our front garden since around 2009 ( they’ve been replaced once). This time of the year they are usually smothered in bees in the late afternoon, not this year though. You are lucky to see a dozen or so.
Likewise that annoying creature the wasp. Outside dinning usually attracts a table full, or even just one very persistent one. Not been bothered at all this year, although there is still time left in August.

Very few Bees on our Hibiscus this year too - normally it's Bee City.
It's a worry.

 

[Wolfie1]

It couldnt be cause cars are made with fuel efficiency and aerodynamics in mind and because of this they get blown over the car as opposed to getting splatted?

 

[pioneercollector]

Alas my motorcycle visor is usually a giant bug swat ..... lately, and after a 5 hour ride, i had one bug ( Granted it was a massive one that covered a large part of my view!)

 

[fourwheels]

It couldnt be cause cars are made with fuel efficiency and aerodynamics in mind and because of this they get blown over the car as opposed to getting splatted?

Possibly for modern cars but the lavender and possibly the hibiscus are hardly aerodynamic