> Same here in Michigan ( lower peninsula).=C2=A0 Nearly dead silent both n=
ight and day.=C2=A0=C2=A0 Not even field crickets....and even visually few =
insects.=C2=A0=C2=A0 I can walk green fields an barely kick up a grasshoppe=
r...light at night have very few Insects around them.=C2=A0=C2=A0 frighteni=
ng.
>
Going back to my original post on this thread, I quoted the environmentalis=
t
George Monbiot in my newspaper who was discussing the recent widespread use=
of nicotinoid pesticides which were also reducing some populations of benig=
n
insects, including the use of the pesticides in the original seed which the=
n
stayed in the plant.
There have been reports from both Europe and America that bees may have bee=
n
badly affected by these persistent pesticides. In particular oilseed rape
may be killing young bees early in the season when they feed on the yellow=
flowers. Nicotinoids do not discriminate between good and bad insect
species. Insectiverous birds are losing their food supply in the nesting
season.
It would be interesting to see if the insect population reductions correlat=
e
with the use of these pesticides. Possibly whole areas, or certain crops
were not using nicotinoids and so escape the problem.
David Brinicombe
|