this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2024
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I'd like like a graph of the bug population decline overlayed onto Roundup adoption. Just a theory.
Roundup is an herbicide, fyi. But there are plenty insecticides being widely used, even moreso than Roundup in urban and suburban settings. Whenever mosquitoes start to come out, someone near me gets a mosquito yard treatment, and you can instantly see the insect biodiversity in my garden drop.
I am no plantologist, but even an herbicide can affect insects, no?
Feeding or interacting with a freshly sprayed plant and becoming tainted, or perhaps even by the reduction/elimination of the plant sprayed?
It absolutely harms insects in some ways that increase their mortality, but pesticides straight up murder them and are used just as often if not more
No argument about pesticides, but herbicides are what I am concerned with currently as there seems to be some confusion with their effect on insects. In my ten-minute internet education on the topic, it seems there is a decided effect with herbicides and insects.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502833/
So, both direct and indirect impacts (melanin and their immune systems) as well as greatly reducing the plant sources they may be accustomed to frequenting is a triple-whammy. I do hate mosquitoes, but I feel bad for all the other bugs and what this will do to the world.
People aren't spraying herbicides for mosquitoes though, they're spraying pesticides that also kill bees, grasshoppers, and beetles. I'm not defending herbicide use, but as far as insect populations are concerned, pesticides are a serious direct threat
I was not implying that people were spraying herbicides for mosquitoes, but merely mentioned them as a sympathetic exception.