Natural History Wanderings

The Guardian reports

The rate of insect extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles.

The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.

More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.

Read story at  Plummeting insect numbers ‘threaten collapse of nature’ | Environment | The Guardian