The windshield phenomenon (or windscreen phenomenon) is the observation that fewer dead insects accumulate on the windshields and front bumpers of people's cars since the early 2000s. It has been attributed to a global decline in insect populations caused by human activity, e.g. use of pesticides. [1]
As early as the 2000s it became a commonplace observation among drivers that after a long drive, windshields no longer had to be cleaned of numerous insects. [2] [3] [4] In 2016, Canadian naturalist John Acorn noted that the phenomenon had recently become a meme but questioned whether it is "reasonable to assume that windshields can tell us something about the overall numbers of insects" and also that "humans are notoriously bad at detecting trends". [5] The windshield phenomenon was widely discussed in 2017 after major publications and media covered the topic of reductions in insect abundance over the last few decades. [6] Entomologists stated that they had noticed that they no longer had to frequently clean their windshields. [7] [8] [9]
A 20-year study measured the number of dead insects on car windshields on two stretches of road in Denmark from 1997 until 2017. Adjusted for variables such as time of day, date, temperature, and wind speed, the research found an 80% decline in insects. A parallel study using sweep nets and sticky plates in the same area positively correlated with the reduction of insects killed by cars. [10]
In 2004 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) asked 40,000 motorists in the United Kingdom to attach a sticky PVC film to their number plate. One insect collided with the plate for every 8 kilometres (5 mi) driven. [2] [3] [4] [8] [11] No historical data was available for comparison in the UK. [12] A follow-up study by Kent Wildlife Trust in 2019 used the same methodology as the RSPB survey and resulted in 50% fewer impacts. The research also found that modern cars, with a more aerodynamic body shape, killed fewer insects than boxier vintage cars. [13] Another survey was conducted in 2021 by Kent Wildlife Trust and nature conservation charity Buglife, which showed the number of insects sampled on vehicle number plates in Kent decreased by 72% compared to the 2004 results. [14]
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment through public awareness campaigns, petitions and through the operation of nature reserves throughout the United Kingdom.
Roadkill is a wild animal that have been killed by collision with motor vehicles. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how they can be mitigated.
A windscreen wiper or windshield wiper is a device used to remove rain, snow, ice, washer fluid, water, or debris from a vehicle's front window. Almost all motor vehicles, including cars, trucks, buses, train locomotives, and watercraft with a cabin—and some aircraft—are equipped with one or more such wipers, which are usually a legal requirement.
Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes remain in association with their parents and help them raise subsequent broods or litters, instead of dispersing and beginning to reproduce themselves. This phenomenon was first studied in birds where it occurs most frequently, but it is also known in animals from many different groups including mammals and insects. It is a simple form of co-operative breeding. The effects of helpers usually amount to a net benefit, however, benefits are not uniformly distributed by all helpers nor across all species that exhibit this behaviour. There are multiple proposed explanations for the behaviour, but its variability and broad taxonomic occurrences result in simultaneously plausible theories.
The European pine marten, also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is less commonly also known as baum marten, or sweet marten.
A bird strike is a collision between an airborne animal and a moving vehicle. The term is also used for bird deaths resulting from collisions with structures, such as power lines, towers and wind turbines.
A fly-killing device is used for pest control of flying insects, such as houseflies, wasps, moths, gnats, and mosquitoes.
RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor is an 89-hectare (220-acre) wetlands nature reserve in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It lies on the junction of the A633 and A6195 roads and is bordered by the Trans Pennine Trail long-distance path. Following the end of coal mining locally, the Dearne Valley had become a derelict post-industrial area, and the removal of soil to cover an adjacent polluted site enabled the creation of the wetlands at Old Moor.
Dominic Couzens is a leading nature writer, tour leader and lecturer based in the UK. He is the named author on 45 books, writes three regular magazine columns, and to date, has had more than 700 published articles.
A vehicle licence is issued by a motor registration authority in a jurisdiction in respect of a particular motor vehicle. A current licence is required for a motor vehicle to be legally permitted to be used or kept on a public road in the jurisdiction. Usually a licence is valid for one year and an annual licence fee is payable before a new one is issued.
Windshield washer fluid is a fluid for motor vehicles that is used in cleaning the windshield with the windshield wiper while the vehicle is being driven.
Insect biodiversity accounts for a large proportion of all biodiversity on the planet—over half of the estimated 1.5 million organism species described are classified as insects.
George C. McGavin is a British entomologist, author, academic, television presenter and explorer.
Lynn Kimsey is an entomologist, taxonomist, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis since 1989. Her specialties are bees and wasps; and insect diversity and evolution.
Downe Bank is a nature reserve owned and managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust in the North Downs, close to Downe in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) together with the neighbouring High Elms Country Park. Located close to Charles Darwin's home, Down House, it was one of his favourite places and helped to inspire his work.
Charles Gordon Hewitt was a Canadian economic entomologist and pioneer of conservation biology. He was appointed dominion entomologist of Canada in 1909. He helped in the development of the Destructive Insect and Pest Act of 1910, and implemented significant changes in the Department of Agriculture. He published several books on the subjects of biology and entomology, and helped to further the 1916 treaty between Canada and the United States for the protection of migratory birds.
Insects are the most numerous and widespread class in the animal kingdom, accounting for up to 90% of all animal species. In the 2010s, reports emerged about the widespread decline in insect populations across multiple insect orders. The reported severity shocked many observers, even though there had been earlier findings of pollinator decline. There has also been anecdotal reports of greater insect abundance earlier in the 20th century. Many car drivers know this anecdotal evidence through the windscreen phenomenon, for example. Causes for the decline in insect population are similar to those driving other biodiversity loss. They include habitat destruction, such as intensive agriculture, the use of pesticides, introduced species, and – to a lesser degree and only for some regions – the effects of climate change. An additional cause that may be specific to insects is light pollution.
Trees A Crowd is a natural history podcast presented by actor David Oakes.