In recent years, many of us have come to appreciate the huge importance of insects to our natural ecosystems – from the life-enhancing beauty of butterflies to the vital role that pollinating insects play in our food supply. So it’s hardly surprising there is huge concern over the so-called “insectageddon”.
A recent study adds to an emerging narrative of severe decline and builds on the perception that there were more insects in nature in years gone by – and that things were better in the past. One often-cited memory is that car windshields used to be splattered with insects, and this latest study uses a “splat rate” to conclude that numbers of flying insects have plunged by almost 60% in Britain between 2004 and 2021. But how reliable is this conclusion, and how worried should we be?
