A BUG’S LIFE

I read with interest Dr Karl’s article Is this Insectageddon? (AG 144) about the demise of insects. Not only are we poisoning them out of existence but, in south-eastern Queensland at least, we are physically killing them off too.

When a development is being established here, the top metre of soil is removed and stockpiled.This appears to be to remove white ants from this soil, and to get down to a firm and stable base for the concrete slabs on which most houses are constructed these days.

Removal of this layer not only removes white ants but also all sorts of other insects in the larval or grub development stage – ants, beetles, cicadas, spiders and God knows what else. All are killed off in this process. A prime example is the elephant beetles, which we used to see in great profusion at the right time of the year here, but I don’t know when I last saw one.