{"id":15542,"date":"2019-02-22T17:38:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T17:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honeybeehaven.org\/?p=15542"},"modified":"2019-08-08T17:39:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T17:39:41","slug":"the-decline-of-insects-and-what-it-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honeybeehaven.org\/the-decline-of-insects-and-what-it-means\/","title":{"rendered":"The decline of insects and what it means"},"content":{"rendered":"
The news over the past few weeks has been riddled with headlines like \u201cPlummeting insect numbers \u2018threaten collapse of nature\u2019,\u201d \u201cMonarch butterflies are going extinct,\u201d and \u201cThe insect apocalypse is here.\u201d If it sounds bad, that\u2019s because it is.<\/span><\/p> You probably know that bees and other pollinators are in trouble for several reasons <\/span>\u2014 including increased overall pathogen loads, poor nutrition, habitat loss and pesticide exposure.<\/p> But these alarm bells over the broader state of emergency that insects are facing underscore the fact that yes, bees and other pollinators are in trouble. But they aren\u2019t the only insects<\/span> crucial to keeping an ecological balance, nor are they the only insects at risk.<\/p> While honey bees are the most commonly discussed pollinator endangered by pesticide exposure, there is a very <\/span>wide range of pollinators<\/a> beyond honey bees \u2014 including about 4,000 types of bees, butterflies, bats and birds \u2014 that can be impacted by agricultural chemicals.<\/p> This year, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation <\/span>reported<\/a> that California\u2019s monarch butterfly numbers are at an all-time low, declining more than 85 percent from 2017. And this massive drop comes after years of decline; 97 percent of monarch butterflies have already disappeared since the 1980s.<\/p> Scientists say the monarchs are threatened by pesticides, herbicides, and the destruction of butterflies\u2019 milkweed habitat along their migratory route. Climate change is also a factor, with carbon dioxide from car and factory exhaust reducing a natural toxin in milkweed that feeding caterpillars use to fight parasites.<\/span><\/p>The decline of the monarch<\/span><\/h3>
Where are the bugs?<\/span><\/h3>