by Roland D. Hallee

Some creep, crawl, fly and even sting, but research and anecdotal evidence concur, the population and diversity of insects on the earth has been rapidly declining in the past decade, and many are on the brink of extinction. And without a diverse population of insects, scientists agree the ecosystem will likely collapse.

Although scientists are unable to pinpoint the cause, they believe the extent of the damage is likely the result of a variety of reasons, including insecticide use, light pollution, habitat fragmentation and climate changes.

If you talk to people, many will remember when insects used to smash on windshields. Today, drivers spend less time scraping and scrubbing. According to Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, in Portland, Oregon, “It is a visceral reaction when you realize you don’t see that mess anymore.”

Some people will argue that cars today are more aerodynamic and therefore less deadly to insects. But Black says his pride and joy as a teenager in Nebraska was his 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 – with some pretty sleek lines. “I used to have to wash my car all the time. It was always covered with insects.”

However, Martin Sorg, an entomologist there, has seen the opposite: “I drive a Land Rover, with the aerodynamics of a refrigerator, and these days it stays clean.”

I remember the days when I used to constantly have to scrub the grill of my cars with an SOS pad to release the insects. Not any more. I can’t remember the last time I had to do that.

Though observations about splattered bugs are not scientific, few reliable data exist on the fate of important insect species. Scientists have tracked alarming declines in domesticated honey bees, monarch butterflies and lightning bugs, as we have discussed in this column in the past. But few have paid attention to the moths, hover flies, beetles and countless other insects that buzz and flitter through the warm summer months.

Hover flies, often mistaken for bees or wasps, are important pollinators. Their numbers have plummeted in nature reserves.

Over time, the Krefeld Entomological Society has seen the yearly insect catches fluctuate, as expected. But in 2013, they spotted something alarming. When they returned to one of their earliest trapping sites from 1989, the total mass of their catch had fallen nearly 80 percent. Perhaps it was a particularly bad year, they thought, so they set up the traps again in 2014. The numbers were just as low. Through more direct comparisons, the group found dramatic declines across more than a dozen other sites.

While it may be difficult to get excited about combating the loss of insects, this ecological disaster may ultimately affect your food prices at the grocery store. Insects not only pollinate crops, but also contribute to pest control, and are crucial to waste management and biodiversity. In fact, most waste in urban areas is eliminated by ants and cockroaches. Species that rely on insects as their food source, including predators that rely on these animals further up the food chain, are likely to suffer from the declining number of insects in the ecosystem.

We may be underestimating the importance of insects, which make up approximately 70 percent of all animal species.

For instance, the spotted flycatcher, a specialist predator of aerial insects, has declined in number by more than 95 percent. The link between insects and the number of bird species was again confirmed in a study by the University of Aberdeen.

A study by Canadian biologists suggests bird species that depend on aerial insects have suffered a greater decline in recent years than birds feeding primarily on seeds.

Paying attention to what E. O. Wilson calls “the little things that run the world,” is worthwhile, Sorg says. “We won’t exterminate all insects. That’s nonsense. Vertebrates would die out first. But we can cause massive damage to biodiversity – damage that harms us.”

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Name the three NFL teams to win a Super Bowl in their only appearance in the game…

Answer can be found here.

by Roland D. Hallee

My wife and I had a dear friend visit with us last week, and following many different conversations, she asked the question, “Why are Canada geese flying north in December?”

Interesting question.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, there are several possibilities, but in fall it’s likely these are family groups moving around, now that the yearlings can fly, in search of feeding grounds. Canada geese raise their young near water, where the goslings can feed and, if necessary, dive or swim away to escape predators. In late summer the adults temporarily become flightless as they molt their wing feathers. This usually takes about six weeks, during which the geese remain grounded. Once the young have learned to fly, and the parents have regained their flight, the whole family will take off from their nesting grounds to find more productive feeding areas – and this movement could be in any direction. This happens in the late summer before the massive southward migration as temperatures drop across the continent.

First and second year geese (not old enough to breed), along with those that lost nests early in the breeding season also undertake a molt migration. Individuals may move several to hundreds of miles during the late spring and summer to large bodies of water where they will be safer as they molt their wing feathers. In September and October many of these individuals will be returning from this seasonal journey, and again may be seen flying in almost any direction.

Also, bear in mind that there are increasingly large numbers of resident Canada geese across North America. These birds do not migrate at all, and so you may see them at any time of year flying in any direction. Their numbers have been growing exponentially since the mid-20th century and they have begun to be seen as nuisances in some communities.

Our friend noted that these geese were in their flight V formation, and there were three separate groups.

Johnnie St. Vrain, of Times-Call, states that what she may be seeing are geese that decided this is as far south as they needed to go. They probably came from further north in Canada. They’ll spend the night on a relatively large reservoir or lake where they feel safe. In the morning, they’ll fly out to whatever feeding grounds they have. They might be flying to a local park or to a nearby cornfield.

If their feeding ground is north of their roosting area, you’ll see them flying north in the morning, but you might miss them heading back south that evening.

Some of these winter geese fly in from neighboring states. Others fly down from the mountains to spend the season in front range cities.

Geese are pretty well adapted. They will fly only as far south as they need to make a living.

Historically, most Canada geese would migrate through this area, with very few sticking around. But agriculture, specifically the grain left in farmers’ fields, has caused geese to spend winters here.

The geese that fly north-to-south in fall are less noticeable. They fly a couple thousand feet high.

But locally, large numbers of geese will sit out on a lake. Their warmth will keep the water open. The geese might move when we’ve had really cold weather and a lot of the lakes around here ice up and become unavailable. But we have enough warm days, that if there’s enough geese hanging out, it will create holes they can stay in. Or they’ll stay on the river, but they don’t like that as much.

Our friend lives on the river in Fairfield, probably why she sees these flocks of Canada geese flying north. There are many cornfields north of Fairfield.

It may be worth paying a little more attention to see if they return at night.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

The New England Patriots have appeared in 10 Super Bowls, the most in NFL history. Name the three teams that are next with eight appearances each.

Answer can be found here.