Question: Are there any really unhealthy insect populations at the moment ? If there are what could we do to help them?

Tom Dally answered on 9 Mar 2020: last edited 9 Mar 2020 1:13 pm

This is actually a pretty complex question, and I’m glad you asked it. When I say unhealthy, I mean that the numbers of a particular insect are declining, either in the UK or across the world. We do have reasons to think that insects are in trouble, but because there are so many insect species in the world (potentially over 5.5 million), we don’t have scientists to collect enough data on *all* of them to know whether each of their populations is declining, or whether they’re OK. But for some well-studied insects we have a better idea. In the UK, for instance, we know that some insect pollinator species, like bees, are declining because of things like increased pesticide use, and the gradual loss of feeding/nesting habitat due to changes in the way we farm.
Helping insects can be as easy as changing the way we garden/look after green spaces like parks. Not using pesticides in our gardens, planting a wide variety of native plant species, making insect hotels out of old wood and bricks – these are all things we can do at home to help insects! See here for some cool stuff you can do at home: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/insects-and-minibeasts/ and https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/encourage-wildlife-to-your-garden