> > >We would go to a nearby park, turn on the tennis court lights and > collect. The lights were swarming with insects. That is not the case > today. > Bob, I've observed the same in my area. I was speaking with a senior entomologist from UC Davis about the neonic link to butterfly and moth disappearance. He told me that the large moths had already begun to disappear in the Sacramento Valley before the neonics came onto the market. We also discussed how the introduction of the European Paper Wasp has affected lepidopterans--in my county (as in most), butterflies and moths at least temporarily disappear when the EPW invades. This year is the first year that I've seen butterflies here to any extent for nearly a decade, so I'm crossing my fingers that they may be recovering. But there are clearly other things causing the diminution of insect populations. I've been wondering about the effects of artificial lighting at night. Before artificial lighting, night-flying insects used the light of the moon in order to fly in straight paths (relative to the angle of the light from the moon). Artificial lighting changed all that, since an insect would now spiral straight into the light. It's easy to observe the exhausted insects under the lights in the morning. I'm wondering to what extent our artificial lighting at night is having on night-flying insects? (I wouldn't expect lighting to have an effect upon day-flying insects). -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html