Where Have the Insects Gone??

Science Vs Science Vs • Sep 10, 2026

Audio Brief

Show transcript
How long would humanity last if every insect on Earth vanished tomorrow? According to entomologist Doug Tallamy, a colleague of Dr. Jessica Ware, humans would not last more than three months. On this episode, host Wendy Zukerman talks with Dr. Ware, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History. Modern dragonflies have evolved bizarre tools for survival and reproduction. Today, male dragonflies have two penises, using a secondary one shaped like a bottle brush, pine cone, ragged claw, or scoop to scrape out rival sperm before mating. Despite some early scientific debate, the global drop in insect populations is severe. About ten years ago, a European study found a 70 percent drop in total insect mass, though a 2019 letter argued accounts of insect demise may be slightly exaggerated. However, a 2025 Science study analyzing over 12 million butterflies found a 22 percent decrease in total United States butterflies between 2000 and 2020. This decline threatens us because insects shape every environment we know. Beyond bees and butterflies, male mosquitoes, some cockroaches, true bugs, and accidentally mantises all pollinate plants, while other insects aerate soil and decompose dead animals. What is killing them off may be sitting in your garage. Entomologist David Wagner calls insect decline death by a thousand cuts, from droughts, fires, and light pollution to turning habitats into cow pastures. While farming pesticides are heavily regulated, Ware says a bigger issue is average homeowners dumping unregulated insecticides onto American lawns, which cover over 30 million acres and form the nation's largest irrigated crop according to a 2005 NASA study. Even our impulse to save the bees often misses the mark. Ware says focusing bee conservation only on honeybees while ignoring native wild bees is like worrying only about domestic cows going extinct while ignoring all wild mammals. When it comes to invasive insects, human intervention can mean total failure or total victory. The invasive spotted lanternfly arrived near Philadelphia on landscaping materials and uses a sucking mouthpart to feed on over 70 host plants, leaving sugary excrement that causes damaging mold. Yet the invasive Giant Northern Hornet, which can decapitate tens of thousands of honeybees in hours, was completely eradicated in the United States by December 2024 thanks to a Washington homeowner's tip, Smithsonian identification, and government containment. Even despised cockroaches have surprising family trees and abilities. Most lay coffee-bean-shaped egg cases that pop open when all the babies inside take a simultaneous breath, while one species secretes high-protein cockroach milk through breathing holes to feed its embryos. Plus, a 2007 paper abolished the separate termite biological order after proving termites are actually social cockroaches. Finally, insects are far smarter and weirder than common myths suggest. Instead of a traditional brain, insects have clusters of nerve cells called ganglia, yet they see many colors, care for their young, and a 2022 study showed bumblebees even play with balls. While cockroaches probably cannot survive a nuclear bomb, it is probably true, or even an underestimate, that 10 percent of your pillow's weight is house dust mites. Insects keep our ecosystems alive, and protecting them starts at home by skipping unregulated yard pesticides, letting lawn edges grow wild with native flowers, and reporting invasive pests. As Rutgers research shows, even our fear of bugs is learned from our parents rather than instinct, so model curiosity instead of panic around children.

Episode Overview

  • Host Wendy Zukerman speaks with entomologist Dr. Jessica Ware (Curator and Chair of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History) to investigate the "insect apocalypse"—the dramatic global decline in insect populations—and what would happen to Earth's ecosystems if insects disappeared.
  • The conversation traces 400 million years of insect evolution, exploring prehistoric giant proto-dragonflies with 2-foot wingspans, bizarre reproductive adaptations like gold-plated dragonfly penises used for microscopy, and the complex social lives of cockroaches and bees.
  • They examine the scientific evidence behind insect population drops—from a 70% decrease in European insect biomass to a 22% decline in North American butterflies—while unpacking the "death by a thousand cuts" driving these losses, including unregulated backyard pesticide use and America's 30 million acres of lawn.
  • The episode also covers high-profile invasive species like the spotted lanternfly and the recently eradicated Giant Northern Hornet ("murder hornet"), busts common insect myths, and reveals how human fear of bugs is learned rather than evolutionary.

Key Concepts

  • Prehistoric Insects and Reproductive Evolution: Insects have been evolving for roughly 400 million years. In the Carboniferous period (300 to 350 million years ago), proto-dragonflies (Meganeuridae) had 37-centimeter wings (a 2-foot wingspan) and small beaks, likely flying clumsily with stiff wings through oxygen-dense, viscous air. Modern male dragonflies have evolved two penises; because females store sperm, the male's secondary penis is shaped like a scoop, ragged claw, pine cone, or bottle brush to scrape out rival sperm before depositing his own. To study these structures under a scanning electron microscope, researchers coat hundreds of dissected dragonfly penises in gold-palladium metal. (Ware also notes that real dragonflies have antennae too small to see, meaning dragonfly tattoos with large antennae actually depict antlions or lacewings.)
  • The Reality and Nuance of the "Insect Apocalypse": About 10 years ago, a European study analyzing 30 years of data found a 70% decrease in total insect mass, followed by similar findings in the Caribbean. While some scientists initially hedged that this might just reflect a shift from heavy beetles to lighter mosquitoes, and a 2019 Global Change Biology letter argued accounts of insect demise "may be slightly exaggerated," newer data confirms severe drops. A 2025 Science study analyzing 12.6 million butterflies across 76,957 surveys and 35 monitoring programs found a 22% decrease in total US butterflies from 2000 to 2020, including common species like the cabbage white butterfly.
  • Why Ecosystems Depend on Insects: Every environment humans know is shaped by insects, prompting Ware's colleague Doug Tallamy to predict that humans wouldn't last more than 3 months without them. Beyond butterflies and bees, pollinators include male mosquitoes, some cockroaches, true bugs, and accidentally mantises. Insects also aerate soil and decompose dead animals.
  • "Death by a Thousand Cuts" and the Homeowner Pesticide Problem: Entomologist David Wagner describes insect decline as "death by a thousand cuts"—driven by drought, floods, fires, fossil fuels, soil nitrification, converting habitats into cow pastures, light and noise pollution, chemical pollution, and invasive species from transoceanic commerce. Counterintuitively, while agricultural pesticides like neonicotinoids harm native bees, agriculture is heavily regulated. Unregulated home and garden insecticide use by average citizens is a massive threat, compounded by the fact that lawns (including golf courses) cover more than 30 million acres in the US, making turf grass the single largest irrigated crop in America by surface area according to a 2005 NASA study.
  • The Honeybee Misconception: The famous Colony Collapse Disorder panic about 10 years ago specifically affected Apis mellifera—the European honeybee—which is a domesticated, non-native species in North America stressed by truck transport, invasive Varroa mites, and neonicotinoid residue. Focusing bee conservation solely on honeybees while ignoring native wild bees is the ecological equivalent of only worrying about domestic cows going extinct while ignoring all wild mammals.
  • Invasive Species Dynamics: The spotted lanternfly (Order Hemiptera), introduced near Philadelphia via imported landscaping materials, uses a sucking pump mouthpart (rostrum) and stylet to feed on the liquid juices of over 70 host plants (preferring the invasive "Tree of Heaven," Ailanthus, alongside maples, apples, and grapes). Their sugary liquid excrement ("honeydew") causes damaging sooty mold and fungus to grow on plants. Conversely, the invasive Giant Northern Hornet ("murder hornet"), which can decapitate tens of thousands of honeybees in a few hours, was successfully eradicated in the US by December 2024 thanks to a Washington homeowner's tip, Smithsonian identification, and government-funded containment.
  • Cockroach Biology and Reclassification: Most cockroaches lay coffee-bean-shaped egg cases (oothecae) that pop open when all the babies inside take a simultaneous breath. One ovoviviparous species, Diploptera punctata, secretes high-protein "cockroach milk" through modified spiracles to nourish embryos, which a 2018 paper highlighted as a potential superfood (though harvesting it currently requires sacrificing the roaches). Additionally, a 2007 Biology Letters paper ("Death of an order") abolished the termite order Isoptera after proving termites are actually eusocial cockroaches.
  • Insect Intelligence and Mythbusting: Despite having clusters of ganglia instead of a traditional brain, insects are not simple or stupid: they see many colors, perform maternal care, and a 2022 study showed bumblebees even play with balls and rest. Regarding common myths: cockroaches probably cannot survive a nuclear bomb (though they live a long time by storing nitrogen in special cells called mycetocytes and not needing to poop); humans do not get 25% of their dietary protein from swallowing spiders in their sleep; Egyptian scarabs don't eat human flesh (though apartment dermestid beetles eat dead skin flakes); and it is probably true (or an underestimate) that 10% of a pillow's weight is house dust mites, alongside microscopic mites humans inherit from their mothers that live on our faces.

Quotes

  • At 6:10 - "So he actually has modified, they have like these modified secondary penises that are like little scoops or like ragged claws, and they like scrape out the previous male's sperm, and then, only then, will they give her the sperm anew." - Dr. Jessica Ware explaining the evolutionary mechanics of dragonfly reproduction and sperm competition.
  • At 11:39 - "All of the environments that you know, every single environment that you know, is shaped by insects. And so if we lose them, then all of the environments that you know will be different, and many of us would say would be much worse. And some people predict, like there's a colleague of mine, Doug Tallamy, who says in the absence of insects, humans wouldn't last more than three months." - Dr. Jessica Ware illustrating the existential importance of insects to human survival through pollination, soil aeration, and decomposition.
  • At 20:18 - "My colleague David Wagner calls it death by a thousand cuts, you know? There's not one stressor that you could just be the panacea, you fix that and insect decline's over. There's all of these little pieces that together are just too much." - Dr. Jessica Ware summarizing why insect populations are declining globally due to overlapping climate, habitat, and pollution stressors.
  • At 21:23 - "And I think a bigger issue, to be honest, isn't necessarily the agricultural industry's pesticide use, although that is a huge volume, um, but it's, it's us. Like, it's the average person, you and I, right? You and I can put whatever insecticide we want. You and I could go buy insecticide tonight, and we could go put insecticide on whatever we want, whenever we want." - Dr. Jessica Ware highlighting the overlooked danger of unregulated residential pesticide application compared to regulated agricultural use.
  • At 24:09 - "Not just to save this one kind of domesticated, managed thing. It would be like getting, not worrying about any mammals going extinct and only worrying about a cow, right? About the cow that we like to eat, right? Um, no, like you want to actually like holistically try and think about bee health, um, so that native—that's why people plant pollinator gardens." - Dr. Jessica Ware clarifying why conservation must focus on wild native bees rather than just domesticated European honeybees.
  • At 37:31 - "It's your parents, man. I would, if you, like, if there's one time that you could blame your mom, it's now, right? Like, that's what the research shows, is that like it's a learned behavior." - Dr. Jessica Ware citing Rutgers research showing that babies have no natural fear of tarantulas unless a parent or caregiver models an aversion.
  • At 41:08 - "Insects have clusters of ganglia, but they can do very complex tasks. They can see a lot of colors, um, some of them do maternal care, bees are actually able to play and they play with balls and they rest, um, and so they do a lot of important things, yes, but they also seem to have these characteristics that make us think that they have some social lives that are more complex than we realize." - Dr. Jessica Ware debunking the myth that insects are simple, mindless creatures.

Takeaways

  • Stop using unregulated residential pesticides: Avoid buying and applying over-the-counter or online insecticides to your yard and garden, as unregulated chemical dumping by everyday homeowners is a primary driver of local insect decline.
  • Shrink your lawn and plant native pollinator gardens: Because turf lawns act as ecological dead zones across 30+ million acres of the US, let the edges of your yard grow wild and plant native flowers of varying heights and bloom times to give resilient native insects the habitat they need to bounce back.
  • Report invasive species to local authorities: Follow the example of the Washington homeowner who reported the Giant Northern Hornet (leading to its complete US eradication by December 2024) by reporting invasive pests, and help manage established invasives like the spotted lanternfly by targeting their preferred host plants (such as the invasive Ailanthus "Tree of Heaven").
  • Model curiosity rather than fear around children: Since Rutgers research demonstrates that entomophobia is a learned behavior from caregivers rather than an innate instinct, avoid reacting with panic or disgust around bugs so children don't inherit an aversion to insects.