Flying insect populations have declined by nearly 60% in under 20 years, say researchers who conducted a citizen science project asking people to count the number of squashed bugs on their car number plates.
The “windscreen phenomenon” is anecdotal evidence from drivers that they collect fewer moths, flies, aphids, bees and flying beetles on their windscreens than they did in the past. Now a survey led by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife has attempted to quantify that and gather more data on what is happening to bugs in the UK, against a backdrop of global falls in the number of insects.
Bugs are crucial to a healthy functioning environment, pollinating most of the world’s crops, performing natural pest control, breaking down organic matter and returning nutrients into the soil, conservationists said. Counting insects estimates how they are faring in our towns and countryside but also shows how the wider natural world is doing.
