Letter: We're losing our insects, and that's cause for alarm

Posted 7/8/20

To the editor:

Last night we visited a neighbor's field where, about five years ago, we saw a magical display of thousands of fireflies. Since then their numbers have been decreasing: last night …

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Letter: We're losing our insects, and that's cause for alarm

Posted

To the editor:

Last night we visited a neighbor's field where, about five years ago, we saw a magical display of thousands of fireflies. Since then their numbers have been decreasing: last night only a paltry few.

The butterfly weed is blooming and no butterflies. Not many last year either. Several years have passed without resident ladybugs or a praying mantis. No Japanese beetles after usually spending all summer picking them off my shrub roses. And now very few vicious deer flies or mosquitoes — but relief comes at a deadly cost.

We are witnessing in our garden the documented worldwide extinction of insects. The familiar causes are herbicides, pesticides and loss of habitat.

What will make us inconvenience ourselves for future generations? Our own existence is at stake when, without pollinators, there is no agriculture and no food. Our children and grandchildren and all the vibrant life on this planet are in peril.

Cathy Rosenberg

Little Compton

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