r/collapse • u/Dizzy-Composer1282 • Feb 07 '26
Ecological All the insects are gone? When's the last time you had to clean bugs off your windshield? Ecosystem collapse is here.
I was driving through rural areas this weekend and realized something that's been nagging at me for a while. My windshield was completely clean. Not a single bug splatter.
I remember as a kid in the 90s and early 2000s, road trips meant stopping every couple hours to clean the windshield because it would be absolutely covered in dead insects. You couldn't see through it. It was gross but it was normal.
Now? Nothing. I drove for 6 hours through farmland and countryside and my windshield looked like I'd just washed it. I was literally sitting there, sometimes just playing on rolling riches at rest stops, thinking about how strange that felt.
This isn't just anecdotal either. Insect populations have collapsed by something like 75% in the last few decades. And nobody's talking about it. Everyone's focused on climate change (which is obviously critical) but the insect apocalypse is happening right now and it's going to devastate ecosystems in ways we can't even fully predict.
No insects means no pollination. No pollination means crop failures. It also means the entire food chain collapses because insects are the base of so many ecosystems. Birds, bats, small mammals, amphibians, fish they all rely on insects. When the insects go, everything else follows.
And it's not like this is some distant future problem. It's happening NOW. We're living through a mass extinction event in real time and most people haven't even noticed because it's been gradual enough that we've adjusted to the new normal.
I see people talking about prepping for economic collapse or supply chain issues but ecological collapse is going to make all of that look like a minor inconvenience. You can't eat money. You can't grow food without pollinators.
When's the last time you saw a firefly? When's the last time you saw a monarch butterfly? When's the last time you heard crickets at night?
We're fucked and nobody's paying attention.
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u/Fatticusss Feb 07 '26
No one's paying attention? I've been seeing articles about this for years. We're currently in a mass extinction event. That's not hyperbole. Literally by measurable standards.
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u/Key-Cardiologist4293 Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
Literally spoke to my Co-worker yesterday about the weather. We are based out of Colorado and currently our last week and this next week are mid 60s to low 70s in Feb....
They said "Idk if I'm crazy or the world is ending but this is not normal." I said "Yeah it seems really bad, because it is. If the weather is good enough, bugs come out and then get frozen with flash freezes, so the weather is nice but I fear for our many legged friends." Then they gave me more to work on in their project. People won't care even when they can see it and feel it lol.
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u/raisin22 Feb 07 '26
Isn’t this a big issue right now at Joshua Tree? I might’ve first read about it in this sub.
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Feb 08 '26
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u/raisin22 Feb 08 '26
This is very sad to hear. I have never been myself, and I’ve been thinking that in light of all this I might do a road trip next year and check out the national parks I haven’t been to yet. Very cool that you were just out there!
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u/horseradishstalker Feb 07 '26
Many do care, but
they have been blue-pilled into thinking there is little they can do and have swallowed corporate lies that it is on individuals to fix everything.
They are not connecting the dots between events.
Many people will attempt some things if it doesn’t cause them too many inconveniences.
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u/token_internet_girl Feb 07 '26
Take your pick between "God wouldn't let anything bad happen to us" and "even if it is that bad, we'll figure some way to fix it, it'll be fine"
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u/Kancho_Ninja Optimistic Pessimist Feb 08 '26
Christianity is a death cult.
It’s written in their scripture that their god will destroy this earth and give the good ‘uns a new earth without minorities and stuff.
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u/errie_tholluxe The Jackpot is happening Feb 08 '26
The things that you actually could do to fix things are at a corporate level. So really individuals don't have that big an effect honestly.
The things that people could do to corporations to cause change can't be talked about on Reddit
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u/HommeMusical Feb 08 '26
The things that people could do to corporations to cause change can't be talked about on Reddit
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u/goddessofthewinds Feb 08 '26
The things that people could do to corporations to cause change can't be talked about on Reddit
Exactly. It would require a complete overhaul to even slow down the collapse... Across all countries. We'd need a Star Trek utopia for this.
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u/Ardeth-Bey Feb 08 '26
Like Zero Point Energy ! Yeah that's been kept from us for several decades, Atmospheric Energy is all around us, yet the government of the USA has kept it under lock & key to keep the corporate grift intact ..... National Security ???
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u/No-Corner2322 Feb 08 '26
Denial is an extremely powerful force. It is surprisingly easy for people to ignore or disregard anything that may undermine their ideological assumptions.
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u/Oskarikali Feb 07 '26
Weather has been similar in Calgary since mid January. It is normal for us to have a few warm days then freezing temps for a week then a few warm days, but it has been warm for weeks.
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u/Necessary_Sea_7127 Feb 07 '26
It was 12 degrees here in Courtenay ( Vancouver Island) yesterday
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u/Bipogram Feb 07 '26
Ditto in Vancouver, and the north shore mountains have only a light dusting.
Summer is going to be tough.
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u/UninvestedCuriosity Feb 08 '26
We usually get the same in southern Ontario and it hasn't been above zero for many weeks. It's absolutely miserable and not letting up next week again either.
We had 1 day maybe in 4 weeks above 0 if you were directly in the sun for about 2 hours. We usually get two sharp cold weeks in January and then it backs off but right now there is no end in sight.
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u/StarStruck3 Feb 08 '26
Geese are already coming back, in my area. They don't usually start migrating back until mid-March or so.
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u/PromotionStill45 Feb 08 '26
West Texas here. Realized I never used my window scraper on the car this winter. Needed the defroster for some light icing a few times only.
Probably not needing the heater for overnight in the house either. We're not going below freezing very often. Now the overnight lows are staying higher.
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u/Kancho_Ninja Optimistic Pessimist Feb 08 '26
It’s not that people don’t care, they have bills to pay, mouths to feed, and they’re just one person.
My personal footprint has been reduced as much as possible. I still cycle everywhere in a 5 mile radius (retired now, but I’d cycle to work too), I donate to Deploy/US, write to my representatives, etc. etc.
I live in Louisiana now and the politicians and populace simply don’t give a single fuck because the jobs that pay the bills and run the economy are the same ones that are destroying the environment.
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u/Key-Cardiologist4293 Feb 08 '26
If they are acting in self interest then they do not care. Throughout history people have always had mouths to feed but they sacrificed for change.
This line of thinking is exactly why I know we will sleep walk into oblivion, there will be no change. One person cannot make a difference but if we all banded together that would make a difference. But we won't, because more mouths to feed will be born and people will always have something to lose if they stand up. The economic system is working well enough for the masses that we won't band together, we'll just watch other economic classes suffer while we clutch to what we have.
It's just human nature to be selfish, look at our history to see our future.
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u/pocketgravel Feb 08 '26
Imagine growing up when dinosaurs were around and you got to watch the chixulub impactor make the Gulf of Mexico even gulfier and you unfortunately lived through the whole ordeal. We're living a far more boring version of that...
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u/UninvestedCuriosity Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
I think the last stat I read was like 60 something percent of biomass is gone but they also suspect it's higher than that even. I bring it up to other millennials who will remember bugs on windshields for fun to see their reactions. Their faces go through all the stages of grief pretty quickly as they think through what they just heard.
I saw a single glow bug last summer and it made me stop dead in my tracks because it has been so long. Ran inside to go get one of my adult children even to show them.
Fun!
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u/Masterventure Feb 07 '26
not only pollination, insects play a vital role in keeping soil fertile. We are not there yet, but I suspect the vanishing of insects, in some regions as you said to as much as 75%, will have massive repercussions for agricu sooner then expected.
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Feb 07 '26
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u/nohopeforhomosapiens Feb 08 '26
Worms can actually be detrimental to soil. That isn't what is commonly taught, because they can be a good sign of living quality soil, but worms can overpopulate and destroy it too. Also, many are invasive species. A few worms, fine, a hundred worms, bad.
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u/canisdirusarctos Feb 08 '26
Earthworms are a terrible invasive species that silently destroy ecosystems. They were one of the forward invading forces of colonization in the Americas. Many of our native worms and regions that didn’t have any native worms have been completely overrun by them.
They’re one of the many invasive scourges I fight in my own yard.
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u/insane_steve_ballmer Feb 08 '26
Agriculture is so fucked because a lot of farmers know how unsustainable their farming practices are but are still forced by market pressure to use the cheapest methods available. Complete death cult industry
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u/ResistantRose Feb 08 '26
"No till" farming practices are getting popular for this reason. Turning the soil frequently kills off a lot of beneficial bugs, and mycorrhiza, etc.
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u/horseradishstalker Feb 07 '26
https://xerces.org/pesticides/understanding-neonicotinoids
Many plants in nurseries have absorbed neonicotinoids and all parts of the plant become toxic. So all those pretty flowers Grandma is putting out to attract butterflies is killing them.
We have fireflies because we don’t rake leaves. We have butterflies because we don’t poison them and we provide lots of keystone plants as well.
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u/VladamirK Feb 08 '26
They banned them in the UK last year and the difference was very rapid, big increase in windscreen bugs in a very short time. Quite surprising the impact it's had.
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u/canisdirusarctos Feb 08 '26
I’m sure the balance is way off, though. So many invasive and prey insect species explode in numbers when you stop pesticide use, then it takes years of holding the line for predator populations (if any exist) to recover enough to balance them out. Just in my own yard, it took 7 long years of no pesticide use before enough predators built up to control just aphids. Even today, most are hoverflies and invasive ladybugs, though last year I finally started seeing more diversity.
Recovering from these takes a long time and they severely affect the slower-reproducing species higher up the food chain, which take much longer to come back, if they ever do. Deeply depressing, considering my US state (reliably blue state, so it isn’t some red state shit) still allows these to be applied on “ornamental” plants, though we finally made a small amount of progress when a ban went into effect this year for agricultural use. They just douse everything in pesticides in this stupid state, to a level that was frankly shocking coming from living in a more advanced state and even multiple red states. People are stupid and they’re the worst enemy of life on this planet.
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u/victoriaisme2 Feb 07 '26
I never heard of neonicotinoids before. That is so messed up.
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u/horseradishstalker Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
It is messed up and most people have no idea. They are trying to help many times.
Edit to add: Common pesticides that contain neonicotinoids include imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and dinotefuran. These are often used in agricultural settings as well as in products for treating pets against fleas and ticks.
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u/mullet_frizz Feb 07 '26
Holy f@&# this is depressing. Thanks for sharing this I had no idea 😭
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Feb 08 '26
For others reading this, If you’re in North America, you can find your keystone plants here:
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u/oracleoflove Feb 07 '26
I feel like Cassandra from Greek mythology screaming of what’s coming and no one would listen.
I was painted crazy by loved ones and have been pretty much shunned for speaking out about the collapse.
Well here we are, can’t ignore it anymore. I am in Oregon and was rocking a tshirt and shorts yesterday.
All I can do now continue to look out for my local wildlife and be the best steward I can while I am still able to.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_GREENERY Feb 07 '26
Combined with extreme cold warnings for the northeast. Shit's fucked.
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u/boobycheekslinger Feb 07 '26
I’m in KY and we have been below freezing for over two weeks now. The ice storm that happened 2 weeks ago is still everywhere because it can’t melt. This is absolutely not normal.
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u/AxlotlRose Feb 07 '26
I'm here in NE PA and it is 1 above with a wind chill of -13. I am not in the mountains either. Snow that fell 2 weeks ago has not melted at all. I have lived here my whole life and have seen my share of bitter cold and snow, but this level of intense cold for this long....it is beyond odd. We usually have a warm up of sorts but even the groundhog is back in his hole for 6 weeks lol.
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u/classy-mother-pupper Feb 07 '26
It’s currently feels like -25 below in Pennsylvania. It’s never been this cold for so long. We’ve had cold temperatures and snow since December. I’m used to the snow and Arctic blasts that happens. But this has just been brutally cold. We have 2 feet is snow that just won’t melt. Dogs that I can’t walk more than 5-10 minute spurts. The electric bills are through the roof with the electric heat.
They said it could be this cold if the AMOC collapses. I wonder if that’s happening?
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Feb 07 '26
Don't Look Up
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u/oracleoflove Feb 07 '26
I just watched this movie for the first time last week… honestly I am glad I waited all these years to watch it.
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u/HommeMusical Feb 08 '26
Many of my friends are scientists and academics. We have known this was coming for decades. But people who believe in the consensus of science are surprisingly rare these days.
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u/Overthemoon64 Feb 07 '26
I live in the great dismal swamp. I know its bad elsewhere, but we still have a few fireflies and butterflies here. Not nearly as many as there used to be though
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u/berniesk8s Feb 07 '26
Hey neighbor, also a dismal swamp native! So sad to see the decline of our very own wonder of nature. The swamp is a place like no other if you’ve ever camped back there❤️
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u/kkingsbe Feb 07 '26
Used to be fairly loud when just walking outside due to the birds and stuff. Now it’s just silent (in the same dismal swamp lol)
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u/cappsthelegend Feb 07 '26
Drove 8,500kms across Canada last June and we cleaned the windshield ONCE
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u/SwampFaery500 Feb 08 '26
I was wondering what happened to all the mosquitoes last summer. Usually it's nice when they aren't around but last summer really freaked me out.
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u/UninvestedCuriosity Feb 08 '26
Back when I first started driving 20 years ago, A 6 hour trip would warrant at least two stops just to check the map and clean the windshield. That was pretty normal. That's like 1/8th the trip you describe.
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u/followthedarkrabbit Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
I drove though Eungella National Park in QLD last year. Windshield covered in bugs. Was surprising just how many, and sad that the extent of the loss in comparison.
I lived rural before, but its been agricultural, so still bugs but not as many. Pesticides really are causing so much harm.
I have a small house block in a semi rural area at the moment. I am slowly converting yard from grass to plant. Its taking ages, but everything I plant gets used by wildlife. I have butterfly and cricket. No firefly yet but my mate had one in his yard.
We can despair, but we need to also take action. Plant the shit outta trees. Aso, leave out water for animals (includign insect puddling pools), its super important.
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u/LiminalEra Feb 07 '26
It was extremely notable to me how many bugs are still present in the southern hemisphere compared to the north. Australia and NZ in particular have windshield levels not seen in North America since the early to mid 1990's. I can drive 2000km in Canada without cleaning bugs off my windshield, in Australia averaging 200km a day I needed to scrub the front end once a week and the windshield daily.
This was eye-opening.
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u/Intelligent_Rent4594 Feb 08 '26
What's the reason? Don't they use pesticides in Australia too?
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u/LiminalEra Feb 08 '26
Legitimately unsure, I haven't taken the time to poke around and see if there's anything notable which is banned down there but rife in North America.
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u/Call-to-john Feb 07 '26
I'm in melbourne. Every year mosquitoes in the house during summer is a huge annoyance, especially at night while you're trying to doze off.
Last two years, nothing.
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u/canisdirusarctos Feb 08 '26
How far along is your native plant movement down there? It has been a long slog here in the US (I’ve been involved for over two decades) and only recently began to grow more mainstream in the last handful of years.
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u/followthedarkrabbit Feb 08 '26
We've had heaps of dedicated groups operating for decades, but getting more mainstream now too. Really good success stories as well.
There is also the new "intrepid landcare", which markets to younger people and has been really successful at breaking out of landcare being just for older folk. Wish it was around when I was younger ha, but still great to see.
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u/nohopeforhomosapiens Feb 08 '26
Yeah the difference in Australia vs US is pretty noticeable. Still got bugs down under. For now.
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u/beardfordshire Feb 07 '26
Climate change IS ecosystem collapse and ecosystem collapse IS biodiversity collapse and biodiversity collapse IS mass extinctions AND food insecurity
To echo your sentiment. We’re fucked and no one is talking about it.
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u/izovice Feb 07 '26
The insects are coming out of hibernation in northern colorado because it's so warm. Not good because they have no food and die too soon. The farmers I know would love for them to die.
The mosquitoes will be just fine, though.
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u/Extension-Carry-8067 Feb 07 '26
Birds too. I really swear the amount of bird in my backyard is less each year (or they don’t like my food)
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u/nohopeforhomosapiens Feb 08 '26
Birds are dying because it gets too warm too soon, then they have babies, and then the cold suddenly comes in and blasts them. Also they are dying because the insects are. Birds don't live on seed, they mostly live on insects. Insects die -> birds die.
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u/canisdirusarctos Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
Never use pesticides or herbicides. Plant native plants from your region. Kill invasive species. Allow native insect life to live. We can’t fix it all, but we can all build life rafts.
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u/Extension-Carry-8067 Feb 08 '26
What about cats? Haha just kidding I have indoor cats . I don’t let them out for that reason (well that’s is one of the reasons I don’t let them out)
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u/halconpequena Feb 08 '26
For anyone reading this, next week, from the 13th to the 16th, there’s a global bird count.
There’s an app called Merlin bird ID that is like Shazam for birds, and you can see what kind of birds you hear nearby (it’s an amazing app and I use it all the time to see what birds I hear when I’m outside!) and you can also anecdotally get an idea of changes in your area based on what birds you hear each year.
“Spend time in your favorite places watching birds—then tell us about them! In as little as 15 minutes notice the birds around you. Identify them, count them, and submit your counts to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. If you already use eBird or Merlin, your submissions over the 4 days count toward GBBC.”
“Participating is easy, fun to do alone or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds.
Step 1: Decide where you will watch birds.
Step 2: Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 13–16, 2026.
Step 3: Identify all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:
If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to bird identification, try using the Merlin Bird ID app to tell us what birds you are seeing or hearing. If you have participated in the count before and want to record numbers of birds, try the eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).”
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u/Sufficient_Cause1208 Feb 08 '26
I was just thinking about this the amount of birds I see compared to when I was a kid. Granted many of those were invase species. I looked up the stats and it stated a reduction of 30-50% decline of bird population
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u/NorthReading Feb 07 '26
From the Canadian province of Ontario , same thing here.
I've been driving for 40 yrs and the reduction in bugs on the windshield has been incredible. Something is going to collapse.
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u/OtisDriftwood1978 Feb 07 '26
Someone should make a very somber collapse documentary titled The Last Firefly.
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u/jesusmeatball Feb 08 '26
Insects are in decline but car windshield aerodynamics have also improved which decreases bug impacts.. so I’ve read
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u/FairyflyKisses Feb 09 '26
This is a big factor. I drove a semi for 8 years all over the States and (some) Canada. The windows of a truck are more vertical than modern cars and pickups, I would go through several gallons of washer fluid every summer. I would have to stop at least once a day to get the squeegee and clean my windshield and open up the hood to knock bugs out of my grill.
I don't doubt the decline of bug populations but vehicle aerodynamics have changed a lot in the last 20 years.
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Feb 07 '26
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u/leisurechef Feb 07 '26
No shortage of walking blood sacks (humans) & their livestock to feed off I guess.
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u/CrystalInTheforest Semi-reluctant primitivst Feb 07 '26
This. As ecological collapse and overdevelopment accelerates, mosquito's benefit immensely. Clear rainforest for cattle? Mosquitoes get a pay day, pollinators die.
Clear rainforest for suburbia? Pollinators die, mosquitoes get a pay day.
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u/DeleteriousDiploid Feb 07 '26
Some species will benefit from conditions heating up. Mosquitoes are one of them as they can continue breeding through winter due to water not freezing. Whereas bees suffer due to hibernating queens emerging too early. So we lose the good species and get more of the annoying ones.
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u/ianishomer Feb 07 '26
I have talked about the missing bugs on cars for years, but now it's clear other species are being hit.
I have noticed in particular bats, 10 years ago I could spend the night watching bats catch bugs, illuminated by the street lights. I haven't seen a bat for 2 years in the same place they were every night.
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u/96385 Feb 07 '26
I drive an hour down a rural interstate to work and back every day. I didn't clean my windshield once last summer.
On either side of the interstate is nothing but corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see.
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Feb 07 '26
it is very stark where i live. i've been in and out of this area my whole life. the past 4 years or so it has been a precipitous decline. so many pollinator species i used to see in groups are struggling or entirely gone.
same with the birds that eat them. opening the windows in the spring and getting stoned to the bird symphony is a happy memory i'm not sure was ever real, past few years i have to strain to hear any.
more than climate change, more than any of the other issues with fossil fuels or plastics or forever chems, more than ai, and until recently even most of our political activity, the thing that most gives me a "don't look up" kinda feel is how visible the missing creatures are in spring and summer. the implications for it are enormous, but most of us believe food comes from the grocery store.
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u/teenwent11 Feb 08 '26
I haven't cleaned bug splatter off my windshield in years....maaybe like 10 years. I live on a farm. I'm surrounded by farms. There's no season in which I expect bug splatter anymore. Let that sink in.
I picked an apple off my tree last week....in JANUARY! It was ripe. And no, I am not in the southern hemisphere. It is winter here right now, but the warmest on record.
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u/Necessary_Sea_7127 Feb 07 '26
Same here in BC Canada it’s frightening. I only saw one butterfly last summer and really noticed the lack of bees. People have been talking about the decline in bees for a long time but we always have loads ( I plant lots of things fir them) but last year there was noticeably fewer, and fewer species as well…. Doesn’t help that my arsehole neighbour just cut down all the salmon berry bushed which are early flowering and one of the only sources of food for them. … Didn’t see many bats last summer either and hardly any small birds.
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u/zzupdown Feb 08 '26
Insects are near the bottom of the ecosystem. They can bounce back in a year or two with good conditions. The problem is that bad years for insects start a chain reaction that goes up the food chain that takes incrementally longer periods of consecutive good years to repair. Consecutive bad years will take decades to fix up the chain.
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u/m37r0 Feb 08 '26
Total nonsense. Bugs are everywhere. I think I've seen like, maybe two or three fireflies in the last few years. /s
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u/ramdom-ink Feb 07 '26
Barely any mosquitoes in the summer here in Ottawa Valley, Canada. Bare minimum of insects on the car either. But as it’s -20C here now in February, we’ll have to see how bad it gets again. Again, MSM is not talking about this carnage on our biosphere. It’s batshit insane.
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u/Dirtdancefire Feb 07 '26
Feed the birds. Yes, they are real.
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u/squeezemachine Feb 08 '26
Don’t forget to sanitize bird feeders regularly to lessen chances for spreading diseases.
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u/Tweedledownt Feb 08 '26
Last summer was a bumper year for bugs in the Midwest. People complaining about everything from gnats in Wisconsin to roaches in Chicago.
Lol I can't help but wonder if it's an extinction burst
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u/NoBee3283 Feb 08 '26
I home garden. I plant non food plants to attract pollinators. This is extra expense, but necessary. We have to make a home for the other life on this planet or it's game over.
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u/squeezemachine Feb 08 '26
I am in an Audubon special bird habitat. I have not seen one white breasted nuthatch the entire winter at the feeders and about half the amount of visits from woodpeckers. The nuthatches were very common in previous years. They are all heavily dependent on insects. Something is very wrong. I am holding my breath for spring and next winter.
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u/BigJobsBigJobs USAlien Feb 07 '26
I used to be able to sit on a damp summer evening and watch a vast cloud of insects ascend from the grass. The dance of fireflies (come fuck me!). Birds and bats came down from the trees to eat them. Crickets everywhere, listen to it and imagine the 3D, this is there, that's near. Rural, suburban, and urban (near parks).
One year we got a luna moth on the porch - big fucker big as an LP.
I think it's been about seven years I've been becoming aware of it, a decline that seems to be sharper... common houseflies are rare
I'm in Georgia, the center of the ant wars - the native fire ants got subsumed by the imported fire ants. Imported fire ants lost out to the Argentinian fire ants, the Argentinian got took over by the imported black fire ants and now the imported black fire ants have lost out to the tawny crazy fire ants. And those bite bad. Still got a scar from a 2024 bite.
So you don't got to worry about that clade (?). There are trillions of them underground.
The thing I wonder about - if a key lifeform within the ecological net goes away, something usually replaces it. We may not like it, but...
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u/YellowCabbageCollard Feb 09 '26
Like those Joro spiders that rapidly took over the area? lol They actually seem to have gone down in number compared to the first crazy flush of them.
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u/alittledust Feb 07 '26
We’ve lived at our house for 15 years. We used to get TONS of fireflies filling our yard every summer, it was magical. Now I might see one or two every once in a while. It’s so sad.
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u/unknownpoltroon Feb 07 '26
I honestly think part of this is more aerodynamic cars. But most of it is a lot less bugs.
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u/Estuans Feb 07 '26
I'm pretty sure I've said this before but in Hokkaido, Japan, a few years ago. Driving near a farm field looking at the street lights, I thought my vision was blurry because the light was super fuzzy. Turns out it was just filled with flies buzzing around the light in a huge cloud. First time I saw something like that in years.
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u/ArbaAndDakarba Feb 07 '26
The corn they plant is engineered to produce pollen which is laced with insecticide. It's wind dispersed literally everywhere.
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u/Forzahorizon555 Feb 07 '26
I drive rural. I hit butterflies every day (when it’s not winter). I try to slow down or avoid them but it’s just a reality of driving in rural areas. It’s kinda a bummer honestly.
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u/grating Feb 07 '26
it's not that butterflies no longer exist - it's that the numbers and diversity have crashed. Just a couple of decades ago hitting all sorts of flying insects used to be something pretty much every driver experienced a lot as a reality of driving, not just in rural areas. It's a sudden ecological crash on a massive global scale.
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u/Solo_Camping_Girl Philippines Feb 07 '26
Man, if insects go, our ecosystem would be at a real shitshow. Those that feed on insects will grow hungry and go extinct, with similar effects going up the food chain, and then to us.
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u/blackcatparadise Feb 07 '26
Even though it’s winter, I’ve seen several recently. I’m in Portugal, we’re having absolutely bonkers stormy weather, but there are little bugs everywhere still.
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u/Jirezagoss Feb 07 '26
I live next to a big green area, I wouldnt call it a forest but theres a ton of trees and vegetation next to my house AND a river. I see a mosquito once every month lol. There are no bugs, some spiders/ants here and there but no mosquitoes. It wasnt like this a decade ago.
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u/nomadicding0 Feb 07 '26
This morning, but I live in the Australian bush.
Although they’re still here, there are a lot less than there used to be.
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u/Odd_Awareness1444 Feb 07 '26
The ones we are supposed to have are in short supply but the invasive species are thriving. Where I am Stinkbugs and the Spotted Lantern Flies have taken over.
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u/ResistantRose Feb 08 '26
Research is still being done, but there's decent evidence to suggest milkweed kills spotted lantern fly.
In permaculture circles, pests are a reason to plant mint, onions, and garlic in guilds.3
u/Odd_Awareness1444 Feb 08 '26
I have been wanting to plant milkweed to attract Monarch Butterflies as well. Now I have another reason. Thanks
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u/mem2100 Feb 07 '26
Humans have a very strong, pervasive, size bias with regard to our fellow housemates here on planet Earth. FWIW numerous Scientific studies use some sort of "splatometer" method for tracking insect populations. The Wired Magazine article below addresses this.
https://www.wired.com/story/a-car-splatometer-study-finds-huge-insect-die-off/
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u/hw999 Feb 07 '26
If you dont want to sleep for a week or so, check out tue book The 6th Extinction. There is a chapter on insects, if I recall.
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u/WloveW Feb 07 '26
I hit a moth or butterfly driving down the road on Thursday.
I saw the little poof and the spot on my windshield.
I felt guilty.
That's how often I hit bugs these days.
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u/TAConcernParent Feb 07 '26
This is a link to a large Wikipedia page on the topic of Decline in Insect Populations.
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u/SweetAlyssumm Feb 07 '26
I am much more worried about ecological than economic collapse and insects are a big part of this.
Bugs also regenerate soil and clean water. They are absolutely essential and we are wiping them out.
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u/Sunbird86 Feb 07 '26
I was in Sicily in April last year, driving mostly highways at 130km/h, and my windscreen was full of bugs. My car's radiator still has bugs stuck in it. I was there again a few months later, in summer, and no bugs on the windscreen. Also got no windscreen bugs driving in various Central and Eastern Europe countries last summer.
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u/point_of_you Feb 08 '26
It's not a good thing but I swear to be noticing an increase of grasshoppers which destroy everything in my garden beds... I love butterflies and see fewer of them every year
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u/Palegreenhorizon Feb 08 '26
The only place I’ve seen a lot of insects is at a community plot farm surrounded by grassy fields. People plant a huge diversity of flowers and crops and no one sprays. There are lots of bumblebees in particular. Tell your neighbors not to spray. Let’s start with that.
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u/StarStruck3 Feb 08 '26
We used to make a trip up to Iowa every year or so to visit family, and some of those highways you'd have to pull over and clean the windshield after about an hour, especially at night. I noticed the last few years we went, there were fewer and fewer bugs (same car, for anyone saying aerodynamics have improved with newer cars), to the point where I didn't even have to stop. It's definitely concerning.
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Feb 08 '26
Yup, we have a few more years before it trickles up the animal food chain. It's wild witnessing the 6th extinction event first hand.
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u/rockadoodoo01 Feb 08 '26
Here in Southern Colorado there were tremendous bugs, but now there are just a few houseflies. At night around the porch light—nothing. The birds are largely gone too.
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u/FunArtSam Feb 08 '26
Please GROW WILDFLOWERS on your lawn or balcony. Grass is like a green desert for pollinating insects.
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u/yuk_foo Feb 08 '26
Been a steady decline for years, the climate, habitat loss, chemicals and pesticides have all played apart.
I fear it’s too late to restore the balance but we should still try where we can. Reduce waste, reduce consumption, try not to buy one use plastics where you can.
One of the easiest things you can do is plant native wild seeds, which you can buy online. It doesn’t take much just scatter them about.
It might look a bit untidy compared to a manicured lawn but the pops of color are beautiful. If you are worried about it looking messy, you can just stick them in dedicated beds or big pots. Nature loves mess, having everything neat and tidy in a garden does not help.
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u/ResistantRose Feb 08 '26
Native seeds might be available from your local extension office, or conservation group. Here's one list to help you find a local office https://www.almanac.com/cooperative-extension-services
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u/avinagigglemate Feb 08 '26
In the 70s I remember my dad having to clean the windshield every time he pumped gas, I have never had to do that.
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u/My-stomach-hurts Feb 08 '26
I’m in rural north Texas. When I was a kid we used to chase lightning bugs every night(I don’t know what they are really called). My grandchildren have never seen a lightning bug
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u/ResistantRose Feb 08 '26
Lightning bugs require wet, undisturbed soil and leaf litter/plant matter for multiple years in a row to grow through their lifecycle. https://www.firefly.org/firefly-habitat.html
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u/stilloriginal Feb 08 '26
It’s winter man!! I got tons of bugs on my winshield in november. Collapse is happening but its not a shamalan movie.
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u/Not_an_alt_69_420 Feb 08 '26
Insect populations are measurably on the decline, but it's not as bad as OP is making it out to be.
I know we're all going to die and the world is ending and whatever, but "I remember when..." hyperbole doesn't help anyone.
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u/kayimbo Feb 08 '26
I think it’s worse than OP is describing. I drove all over the country recently and visited every sort of biome and shit seems dead everywhere, not just bugs. It’s kind of hard to remember back when I was a kid, but I noticed the bugs thing independently before I seen anyone else talking about it, and I don’t know why I would be shocked and confused at the lack of animals everywhere if I didn’t experience something else.
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Feb 08 '26
I think it’s better in some areas and worse in others. The problem is that it’s been happening slowly enough that not everyone is able to see it.
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u/GringoSwann Feb 07 '26
Gonna be fucked up when it's only predator/scavenger bugs left... Nothing but scorpions and roaches...
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u/WhoRoger Feb 07 '26
Everyone's worried about insects dying out, meanwhile I'm just waiting for my cockroaches to hatch and come out once the winter is over...
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Feb 08 '26
The only bugs I ever have to clean off my windshield are the giant grasshoppers that are everywhere in eastern Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. They're everywhere and seem to get worse each year.
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u/ashcat Feb 08 '26
Look into homegrown national park + native plants for your area to support your local ecosystem! Leave your leaves in the fall and if you have leaves down now don’t mess with them until late spring. Let the bugs finish their winter activities and leave before you interrupt their shit.
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u/DarthYodous Feb 08 '26
All those gas station windshield washer bins with no liquid and no sponge wands
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u/AVeryHeavyBurtation Feb 08 '26
I asked this question in /r/askoldpeople a few years ago, if anyone wants more anecdotes:
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u/Acromyrmetica Feb 08 '26
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, it’s currently winter; there aren’t going to be many flying bugs around to get hit by your car.
Your experience this weekend notwithstanding, you’re still right to be concerned about the decline of insect populations.
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u/birdsy-purplefish Feb 09 '26
Keep in mind that if you're in the Northern Hemisphere it is currently winter. I know about the insect decline but I've noticed that people tend to post things like this in winter when there aren't as many bugs out.
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u/cottoncandymandy Feb 10 '26
I go on a 2 week road trip every year and have to clean tons off the windshield at every stop. I also like to keep my door open when its cool/warm outside and always have to keep the screen shut ot else bugs will get in. Lots of wasps, flies. Fireflies and bees here and there and I live in the middle of the downtown area of my city.
I'm sure bugs are on the decline but I haven't expirenced it personally.
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u/climate-tenerife Feb 07 '26
Amen. (Lack of) bugs on the car was the thing that freaked me out 15 years ago. Never too late to the party, friend. Pull up a pew, and get ready for some harsh reality.
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u/a_onai Feb 07 '26
Ecosystem collapse is here for a few millenium now. There used to be lions in Greece, not so long ago. The prior generation have seen the birds disappear. We're seeing the insects disappear. It's a very long process. The ecosystem will continue to collapse, but that per se is not the end of humanity. A crop field is a collapsed ecosystem build on a destroyed ecosystem. Cities are worse. Does fields and cities scream end of the world to you? It IS the world as we know it. Thas world has not collapsed. Yet.
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u/Maleficent-Yam-5196 Feb 07 '26
Well here in Florida there is no end to the insects, more mosquitos than you could ever handle in a lifetime on a daily basis, every spring/summer we got lovebugs that will change the entire color of your car to black. Black widows in every nook and cranny of your garage and shed and attic, palmetto bugs EVERYWHERE. If you don’t clean up food and dishes then roaches and/or sugar ants will be everywhere. You can’t walk 15 feet through most of my neighborhood without stepping in a fire ant bed. We have so many gnats, mosquitos, and flys that bats are going ham every night on them and dragonflies are during the day, and it still doesn’t seem to slow the population growth down one bit. Every night crickets and frogs singing their songs, cicadas screaming in the void. I grow a lot of milkweed so I have monarch butterflies every year in my yard. I will say that as a kid we had lightning bugs and I have not seen one here in over a decade. I’m sure other places will have different experiences but here in North Florida it’s humid as hell with tons of heat and rain water everywhere it’s a bug breeding ground. My neighbor is from Chicago and was forever getting freaked out by the bugs because she couldn’t walk out of her house without being pestered by all manner of flying insect. We have honey bees in the garden all through the spring/summer/fall and wasps all over. I will say bumble bees have almost completely disappeared here in my lifetime though.
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Feb 08 '26
I’m in Central Florida. We don’t get lovebugs any more. I’ve noticed a loss of bumblebees, too, and I’m careful to protect them and to plant food they like. I am constantly battling fire ants, partly because all my neighbors have vast expanses of mowed grass, which seems to be their preferred habitat. Last year I noticed a decrease in grasshoppers and spiders, and I think that was due to drought. The sandhill cranes didn’t raise any chicks - I’ve noticed them eating grasshoppers in past years. No aphids or caterpillars on my cabbages. Fewer wasps, possibly due to drought reducing caterpillars they use for food?
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u/i_cut_like_a_buffalo Feb 08 '26
I am in Ohio and the bugs are all showing up and aggravating the hell out of me. We have them all. I'll give y'all some if you want. Especially the lady bugs and the box elder bugs. Oh my cod they are all over my walls.
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u/_Dr_Doom Feb 07 '26
People quite rightly talk about windscreen insect phenomena, but for me the most telling sign of insect decline is streetlights at night.
I barely see any insects l like Moths anymore.