Study that asked people to count squashed bugs reveals worrying results
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A project asking people to count squashed bugs on their car number plates suggests flying insects have declined. The citizen science survey led by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife showed a 78 per cent decline in “bug splats” on number plates across the UK since 2004. open image in gallery A Large White Butterfly To take part in the scheme, drivers cleaned their number plate before making an essential journey, recorded the route on their mobile phone, and afterwards counted the insects squashed on it using a “splatometer grid” supplied as part of the survey. “A decrease in the number of insects sampled of more than 75 per cent in less than two decades is really alarming, and we’re seeing fewer insects being sampled every year.” Andrew Whitehouse, from Buglife, said: “The latest Bugs Matter data suggests that the abundance of flying insects in our countryside has dramatically fallen.
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