14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific study has revealed a very worrying fact about some 44 species of insects in Europe – they appear to be multiplying out of control. The area that has been housing them for thousands, if not millions, of years, has warmed considerably since the 1980s, and the creatures have adapted their life cycle accordingly. For the first time ever, these moths and butterflies are beginning to spawn an additional generation during the summer months, which is something that was never recorded before.
The new investigation was conducted in Central Europe by University of California in Davis (UCD) ecologist Florian Altermatt and colleagues. He explains that, at this point, there are more than 263 species of insects in the region, which tend to spawn a second or third generation during the summer months. Of these species, about 190 have become a lot more likely to alter their life cycles since the 1980s, Wired reports. Full details of the findings are published online, in the December 22 issue of the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Usually, the expert adds, only a third of the insect species in the area have the ability to spawn more than one generation each year. He proposes that global warming is the main actor in this adaptation, saying that more warmth forces overwinter forms of the moths and butterflies to spring into action earlier on in the year. Additionally, the overall development speed is increased considerably, the UCD team hypothesizes. This gives the insects additional time to spawn a new generation, before the diminishing length of days shuts them down for the winter.
The new results are nothing except bad news for farmers. “From a pest perspective it’s an important issue,” Morgantown, West Virginia-based Forest Service Northern Research Station population ecologist Patrick Tobin explains. He studied the extra generation of grape berry moths, a North American pest. The research revealed that the extra insects brought about more nuisance to farmers, who were forced to invest more money in protecting crops. Overall, the productivity is reduced on account of these extra generations, Tobin believes.