Cynthia and JJ, I noticed a decline in moths this year too. I've lived in the same deep south forest for twenty-three years and usually there are hoardes of moths of many species. I would always see Luna Moths in the spring and last year I only saw one and that one looked incompletely formed. The long tendrils were much shorter than usual. (It may have been immature but I've never seen one like that before). I recall this was mentioned on another thread and at that time I posted a link to a study in Britain detailing a moth decline there.

Well,  then the human population may become extinct by 2022 if my calculation was correct.   That gives us a few more years as I have heard many say 2012 is the year.   

I live in a rural area during the summer & last summer I did not see many moths nor spiders.  The year before we had many.   There were plenty of RED ANTS though.   It is a constant struggle to make them move over to my neighbors though I heard that ants are a good thing to help keep the flea population in check.

 
 We are all interconnected and when man disrupts the delicate balance of nature, we all suffer.

 This should be a cause for great concern, as we are seeing it happen right here, in our own back yards. One way we can help is to stop using pesticides and herbicides at home. Instead, look for organic, sustainable ways to protect your flowers, lawns, and gardens, and only support agriculture that is sustainable or organic.


Scientists set out to discover if insects are disappearing from Britain

Experts believe falling insect numbers explain a decline in some bird species - and they have developed a device to prove their case...
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http://environment.independent.co.uk/article110959.ece

SPECIES IN DECLINE

BEETLES
Large numbers of Britain's 4,000 beetle species are thought to be declining in abundance and range.

This applies especially to the larger ones and those associated with rotten wood, such as the stag beetle, the subject of a biodiversity action plan. The loss of large beetle species may be behind the extinction of one of Britain's most attractive birds, the red-backed shrike, which fed on them.

BUTTERFLIES
About three quarters of Britain's 55 butterfly species have declined in recent decades, according to Britain's leading authority, Dr Jeremy Thomas. Two have become extinct - the large tortoiseshell and the large blue (although the large blue has been successfully reintroduced). Several more species, including the high brown fritillary, the pearl-bordered fritillary, the wood white and the Duke of Burgundy, have virtually gone.

MAYFLIES
The numbers of mayflies and the other 50 aquatic upwing fly species on which trout feed may have declined by as much as about 60 per cent since the Second World War, according to a study organised three years ago. The Millennium Chalk Streams Fly Trends Study was based on the records and recollections of 365 experienced anglers on the chalk streams of southern England. The anglers said that they thought the numbers of flies were plunging.

MOTHS
Many of Britain's 900 or so larger moths are thought to be rapidly declining. When records for six species, caught in the moth trap network run by Rothamsted Research over 30 years, were examined, five, including once-common species such as the garden tiger and the magpie moth, were found to be plummeting in number. A large number of other moth records are now being scrutinised.

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http://environment.independent.co.uk/article110959.ece


Why Britain's disappearing butterflies may be early victims of the
Steve Connor Science Editor

A MILESTONE study of British birds, butterflies and wild flowers has revealed the strongest evidence yet that we are on the verge of a mass extinction of global wildlife - the sixth mass extinction in the history of life on Earth.

Scientists have accumulated the most detailed data to date indicating that human activity is systematically stripping the planet of its rich biodiversity.

Nearly a third of native British plants have significantly decreased in 40 years, more than half of native birds have declined in just two decades and nearly three-quarters of British butterflies have fallen in numbers in 20 years.

The study involved about 20,000 naturalists who inspected the entire British landscape to compile three atlases of native birds, butterflies and wild plants. The information they gathered on the presence or absence of more than 1,500 species in each 10-kilometre (six-mile) square of countryside they surveyed was compared directly with similar atlases compiled 20 or 40 years previously.

In the relatively short period between the past and present surveys, the scientists found a dramatic decline of all three major groups of wildlife, with one-third of all species studied disappearing from at least one part of the UK they had occupied 20 or 40 years ago. Jeremy Thomas, the leader of the study from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Dorset, said the decline in butterflies was much worse than expected and far worse than that of birds or plants. "The results are appalling," he said. "In Britain 71 per cent of all butterfly species have declined in the last 20 years.

"For the first time we can say that in the UK one group of insects has suffered as badly as birds or plants - this adds enormous strength to the hypothesis that the world is approaching its sixth major extinction event."

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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040319/ai_n12774272