![]() A few species increased, but overall one in six of all the beetles was lost in that time. In the UK, dramatic declines in ground beetles have been seen in almost three-quarters of the 68 carabid species studied from 1994-2008. Soil acidification, partly due to heavy fertiliser use, was the main cause. But scientists found their abundance in Germany plunged by 66% in the 50 years to 2010. Leafhoppers and planthoppers often make up a large proportion of the flying insects in European grasslands. ![]() In the US, recent surveys across California and Nevada found 65% of dragonflies and damselflies had declined in the 100 years since 1914. Red dragonfly populations have fallen sharply in Japan since the mid-1990s, which scientists link to insecticides in rice paddies that stop the water-living nymphs emerging into adults. They found four had completely died out, while eight were declining in number, and blamed intensive agriculture and pesticides. Museum records enabled scientists to assess the fate of 16 species of bumblebees in the US midwest from 1900 to 2007. In England, two-thirds of 340 moth species declined from 1968-2003. Butterflies were hardest hit, losing almost a half of species, including the large tortoiseshell and scarce copper. Scientists found more than a quarter of the 600 species once found had been lost. There has been a “severe reduction” in butterflies and moths in the Kullaberg nature reserve in Sweden compared with 50 years ago.
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