[NatureNS] Scarcity of Insects

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Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 21:20:05 -0300
From: nancy dowd <nancypdowd@gmail.com>
To: naturens <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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One thing I have noticed is far fewer Odonates on the shores of L
Torment, Kings Co. I have been going there over 40 years and when I
was a kid I used to search along the rocks and gather all of the shed
nymphal skins I could find. And I found a lot. I still come across
remnants of my collection tucked into a drawer or matchbox to this
day.

Now I rarely find any shed skins on the rocks.

Others may have also noted changes in the always-popular and obvious
Dragonflies and Damselflies.

Nancy

On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 8:02 PM, Angus MacLean <cold_mac@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Steve's "rant" & other comments center on the weather we have experienced
> this spring & fall. However:
>
> I have been photographing insects since 2005. I recall thinking during the
> first two years that this was a great hobby, insects wherever one looked so
> that some days I took 300-400 photos. Then numbers started declining.... so
> much so that in the past few years I consider it a good day to get 5-10
> useful photos (excluding honey bees which are numerous here in the Valley).
>
> I am certain that some people still find high insect populations in their
> area. For instance I have found that in northern Cape Breton, there are more
> insects & in particular, populations of Bumble Bees.
>
> We do have good comparative data re birds & the Butterfly Atlas will collect
> much useful data too, albeit somewhat late. There may be similar studies of
> other groups although the only specific study that comes to mind is that of
> Bumble Bees where data has been collected over a number of years (followed
> by disturbing analysis!). Are there others?
>
> As birders we sometimes thought how exciting it must have been to be birding
> in the forties through early fifties when populations were said to be
> abundant. I wish now I had started my "new" hobby a few years or perhaps
> decades earlier!
>
> Likely in 20 years from now, people will look at insect photos on the Net &
> think (similar to the Eskimo Curlew).."Gee, I wish I had seen that".
>
> Angus

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