The UK is suffering from a catastrophic decline in insect numbers and it is believed that this is due to farming and climate change. Research has been conducted by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. The researchers found that from 1970 to the end of …
I’ve just read an article in The Times newspaper. It is the kind of article which makes you completely review your personal thoughts and concepts about ants and indeed other insects. Yesterday I was sweeping my patio and while I was doing so, I swept …
In a fascinating report today, The Times tells us that bees have a kind of “insect culture” in which they teach each other how to solve puzzles. The humble bumblebee can learn complex tasks from each other. Professor Lars Chittka, of Queen Mary University of …
Most people hate wasps but they are ‘good guys’. Initially, I’m going to rely upon Jeremy Clarkson for some information about wasps and new, recently discovered species. You wouldn’t normally think of Clarkson as the provider of that kind of information but he’s quite switched …
A recent study (see base of article) has once again highlighted the plight of invertebrates (our insects) which are so important in the ecosystem because birds tend to eat the most abundant insects and the most abundant insects provide important “ecosystem services” from pollination to …
A study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B has come to the conclusion that some bee species thrive in the urban environment and develop bigger brains to adapt to it. The urban environment can offer unique ecological opportunities with, for example, …
A research project, conducted in France, has concluded that kids who live close to dense vineyards have a higher risk of contracting leukaemia because of the chemicals in the agricultural herbicides sprayed onto the vines. French campaigners who want a 150 metre no-spray buffer zone …
Therese Coffey said that glyphosate-based herbicides are perfectly fine. The commercially available herbicide called Roundup contains a glyphosate-based herbicide and the product is known to be dangerous to wildlife. It seems to me that Therese Coffey has decided that intensive farmers should be supported over …
As is so often seen on social media and particularly TikTok there is a current fun trend of killing wasps in small nests attached to buildings by placing a container (perhaps a large plastic cup) one third full of gasoline under the nest. The fumes …
