Michael Atkinson, more commonly known as Outback Mike, noticed a decline in insects and bugs, highlighting a troublesome new trend.
Thinking back to our childhood, we likely have distinct memories of what it was like to be outdoors. And for Aussie adventurer Michael Atkinson, more commonly known as Outback Mike, that involved a windscreen full of bugs while enjoying long car trips on the road.
“When I was a kid, if you went for a couple of hours drive, it would be common to have bugs splattered all over the car and you’d have to wash them off — the windscreen, the bumper bar — and fairly quick otherwise they’d dry on like glue,” he said in a recent TikTok video.
But after a full day of driving recently, he couldn’t help but notice that was no longer the case. “Where have all the bugs gone?” he questioned.
“I’ve been driving all day and there’s a couple of bugs on the windscreen, but really, there’s not many,” he said. Mike said he “hasn’t seen it in decades” suggesting there are far fewer bugs around than previously — and it’s something others have noted too.
He said it’s an example of “shifting baselines” — a term that refers to gradual change in our accepted norms and expectations for the environment across generations. So are we really seeing a decline in bugs and insects?
Are insect numbers really dwindling?
Dr Roger Farrow, an Insect and plant ecologist, told Yahoo News last year that it’s “very difficult to say” in Australia. But there’s far more evidence that suggests it’s likely true in other countries, including Europe “where conditions are very different due to extensive loss of natural habitat and intensive farming practices,” he said.
As a whole though, the global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to two per year, according to Reuters. Deforestation, pesticide use, artificial light pollution and climate change are said to be contributing factors.
Entomologist Tanya Latty told Yahoo that it’s likely the case but hard to know for sure if insect numbers are dwindling in Australia, “because we don’t have long-term population records”.
“The Christmas beetles are a great example of that,” she said. “Everyone remembers there being lots of Christmas beetles when they were young, and now we just don’t see those kinds of swarms and those huge numbers.
“But when we look at the data it’s very difficult to say yes, they’re in decline,” she added.
Habitat loss and pesticide use likely contributing to insect decline
Addressing the reasons behind the suspected decline, the Sydney University professor said “habitat loss is undoubtedly a problem for lots of different species”.
“If you cut down forests and bushlands to make way for cities and agriculture, you’re going to lose the species that depend on that bushland,” Latty explained.
“But we also have all the extreme weather we’re getting with climate change. And then there’s insecticides and pesticides which are designed to kill the insects, so with overuse there’s going to be repercussions” —something Outback Mike also suggested.
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Referencing the “windscreen effect” detailed by Mike in his video, Latty says she too remembers it happening often — seeing a windscreen filled with bugs and insects. But she says “it’s really tricky” because often “memories are all over the shop”. By that she means they aren’t necessarily an accurate representation of how things were.
What we do know though is that there are “a thousand invertebrates altogether that are listed as threatened species” due to population decline, but for most “we haven’t a clue”.
“We’re working on it,” she said.
“It takes time and it takes public awareness. The more people are aware, and the more people that care about preserving insect biodiversity, the better off will be in the long run.”
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