UK Nature and Environment

595 readers

60 users here now

General Instance Rules:

No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or xenophobia.
No incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies.
No harassment, dogpiling or doxxing of other users.
Do not share intentionally false or misleading information.
Do not spam or abuse network features.

Community Specific Rules:

Keep posts UK-specific. There are other places on Lemmy to post articles which relate to global environmental issues (e.g. slrpnk.net).
Keep comments in English so that they can be appropriately moderated.

Note: Our temporary logo is from The Wildlife Trusts. We are not officially associated with them.

Our spring banner is a shot of Walberswick marshes, Suffolk by GreyShuck.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

102

‘Alarming’ bug splat decline on UK cars raises fears for flying insect numbers (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The long-term decline in the number of flying insects being splattered on cars after a journey is well recognised by older drivers. But the latest survey has revealed that the number of insects found on vehicle number plates has plummeted by 63% since 2021.

An analysis of records from more than 25,000 journeys across Britain since 2021 reveals an alarming apparent drop in flying insect abundance, although the rate of decrease slowed in 2024.

Bug splats on the numberplates of citizen scientists using the Bugs Matter app for the Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife survey declined 8% from 2023 to 2024, after sharper drops of 44% in 2023 and 28% in 2022.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago

I was actually surprised by how many bug splats I had on my car during this week's heat wave. Seems like they've come out in force this season, or at least this initial wave.