View image in fullscreen Light traps have long been used to monitor nocturnal insect numbers. Out of the forest darkness, a tornado of insects would flock to its glow, spinning and dancing before the light. Reports of falling insect numbers around the world are not new. Photograph: George Ruhe/NYT/eyevineWhen David Wagner stepped out into the US’s southern wilderness this spring, he found landscapes emptied of life. “There just wasn’t any insect life to speak of.”It was not only the insects missing, he says, it was everything.

Source: The Guardian June 03, 2025 17:30 UTC