‘Terrifying’ decline in insects monitored with splat test
A “SPLAT test” study to count the number of insects found on vehicle number plates shows a “terrifying” decline of nearly 60 per cent in less than 20 years.
Kent Wildlife Trust and charity Buglife had people record the number squashed in 2019 and 2021, and compared it with data from an RSPB survey using the same method in 2004.
The largest decline was seen in England, with a fall of 65 per cent compared with 17 years ago, while Scotland saw a much smaller fall of 28 per cent.
Before a journey car drivers cleaned their number plate, and afterwards counted the insects using a “splatometer grid” supplied by survey organisers.
They submitted a photo and count via the Bugs Matter app and the data was converted into “splats per mile”.
Insects pollinate crops, ensuring humanity’s survival, but have been hit by habitat loss and pesticide. The study covered moths, butterflies, flies, flying beetles and ants, aphids, wasps, bees and lacewings, which are crucial pollinators or provide important food for birds and mammals. Drawing conclusions about long-term trends in insect populations would require data from multiple years, over long periods, and large spatial scales, the authors said.
Matt Shardlow, chief executive at Buglife, said: “This vital study suggests that the number of flying insects is declining by an average of 34 per cent per decade.
“We cannot put off action any longer, for the health and well-being of future
‘Declines are happening at an alarming rate and without action to address them we face a stark future’
generations this demands a political and a societal response, it is essential that we halt biodiversity decline – now.”
Paul Hadaway, director of conservation at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: “We are seeing declines in insects which reflect the enormous threats and loss of wildlife across the country. These are happening at an alarming rate and without concerted action to address them we face a stark future.”
What’s the last thing that goes through an insect’s mind as it hits a windscreen? Perhaps it thinks it should never have bothered pollinating all those crops, for all the thanks it got. A lifetime of service, brought to a sticky end by a well-fed motorist. Our cars were once plastered with bugs after a long drive, but no more. A survey led by the Kent Wildlife Trust asking people to count insects left on number plates using a “splat test” concluded that numbers had declined by nearly 60 per cent in less than 20 years – results described as “terrifying”. The fate of the nation’s insects is rarely discussed by activists keener on gluing themselves to roads than adding anything meaningful to public discourse, but this alarming decline in splats – once the stuff of bad jokes – ought to be a wake-up call.