PLANET IN PERIL

Science Magazine  Butterflies such as the great purple hairstreak, Atlides halesus, are in decline in the warming American West according to community surveys. PHOTO: JEFFREY GLASSBERG/NORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLY ASSOCIATION Details here.

truthout A PinP photo. In a new report, scientists warn of a precipitous drop in the world’s insect population. We need to pay close attention, as over time, this could be just as catastrophic to humans as it is to insects. Special attention must be paid to the principal drivers of this insect decline, because while climate change is adding to the problem, food production is a much larger contributor. Story here.

The Western Producer They come every summer without fail, but flies are more than an aesthetic problem. Story here. Sarcophaga (Flesh Fly). Family.... Sarcohagidae. Larvae  feed  on dead animal flesh.   A Wickimedia photo by "Prog"

The Xerces Society Effects of "neonic" insecticides on agriculturally important beneficial insects. Details here. Unidentified pollinator. PLT photo. 

The Xerces Society Everybody has his or her own treasured experience of insects -- a nighttime lit by  fireflies,  the sight of monarchs clustered for the winter… full story here. PLT: below - Definitely not cicadas, but an unidentified swarm of rather hard-backed,  flying insects which  gathered  on a vehicle in my yard on a warm day in April, then died.  Recognize them? Let me know if you know  what they are! Thanks! Below is a response I got when I posted the last photo on an online bug i.d. website. ==== "I do believe these are Water Boatmen.  As adults these occasionally come flying out of the ponds in which they've spent all their juvenile lives in search of new ponds to colonize. If your vehicle has a smooth reflection to it (or better yet--is some shade of blue or black or green) they could easily have mistaken the sheen of your vehicle for that of a pond. These poor guys probably then proceeded to bake to death very quickl