Ups and downs of insect populations

Abstract

The 'insect apocalypse' narrative, which claims a massive collapse of insect populations is happening at the global scale, has become embedded in popular perception despite very little evidence of global trends. Local or regional population declines have been documented for some species in the United Kingdom, Europe and North America, while other studies have shown stable or increasing population trends for some taxa. However, for most insect species and most countries in the world, there are simply no long-term population data. In an important contribution in Nature Ecology & Evolution, Macgregor et al. highlight the challenges involved in defining insect population trends and show that the severe population collapses being claimed by the insect apocalypse narrative are not supported by the most comprehensive longterm insect monitoring programme in the world, the Rothamsted Insect Survey in the United Kingdom.