No moths
- Thread starter cheesefest
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Soldato
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Loads of cabbage whites around the allotment, loads of crickets as well which we only see on hot dry years.
Rainfall has been really low this year which tends to mean we see less of the insects that need water sources.
Lots of ants as well and they are farming bloody aphids all over the place grrr
Oh yea, I think the entirety of my back garden is just one massive ants nest. Pick up anything that has been there for a while and there there are hundreds of them under it
I've not seen as many bugs in the house this year compared to normal
Not even as many wasps as usual.
Having said that I go out the front door and I can immediately hear half a dozen crickets in the front garden even if I can't see them (it's possibly helping them that I reseed it this year and I'm whilst it's hot/dry I'm deliberately not mowing it).
It's early for wasps. You start seeing lots of them right at the end of July and really mostly of August/September.
Just realised last night whilst I've not seen a single moth, I've so far had to remove half a dozen crickets/grasshoppers from the house in the last couple of days.
Mind you that is probably because the back garden hasn't been mowed for about 3 months (didn't mow it in may, then june alternated between too wet and me being too busy/unwell to do it), so it's a reasonable length*, and I'm very deliberately not mowing the front lawn (which has a fair few weeds) as I only reseeded it at the end of may and I want to give the new grass the best chance to get established and it seems cutting it now would be bad for it.
*Not massively long, it's too shaded to grow that quickly (we joke about it being a "green", as in "it's got green moss, green weeds, green grass").
Mind you that is probably because the back garden hasn't been mowed for about 3 months (didn't mow it in may, then june alternated between too wet and me being too busy/unwell to do it), so it's a reasonable length*, and I'm very deliberately not mowing the front lawn (which has a fair few weeds) as I only reseeded it at the end of may and I want to give the new grass the best chance to get established and it seems cutting it now would be bad for it.
*Not massively long, it's too shaded to grow that quickly (we joke about it being a "green", as in "it's got green moss, green weeds, green grass").
Went a walk today and, on the way back, took a walk through the estate I live on... Relatively new place (less than 8 years old) and I lost count of the amount of gardens that have either been covered in decking/slabs/buildings or had the grass replaced with fake grass 
The vast majority of it looks bloody terrible as well, never mind the effect on the ecosystem.
The bugs can no longer migrate between the fields are one side and the fields at the other side of the estate because of this large sterile barrier of the houses with no real flowers/grass etc.
The vast majority of it looks bloody terrible as well, never mind the effect on the ecosystem.
The bugs can no longer migrate between the fields are one side and the fields at the other side of the estate because of this large sterile barrier of the houses with no real flowers/grass etc.
Soldato
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People who replace real grass with fake grass need to be taken into the woods and summarily executed.
any science to this as we all know a moth can fly around inside your house for at least 12hours
loads of insects etc can live without grass as well seems most of them have very little use for grass, they aren't cows
Insects can fly around your house for a few hours, until they tend to die often without the chance to breed
The grass provides space for the really tiny insects which may feed on it, then the larger ones feed on them, and your average "lawn" isn't just one strain of grass but multiple different species* and usually a variety of wild flowers as even the best kept lawn will usually have things like daisies and buttercups growing in it, and more around the edges.
A lot of insects as I understand it don't really have the homing instinct of say a bee so tend to go where the wind takes them, or from one plant/food source to another if you've basically got a barren area (fake grass, concrete) over a certain size they tend not to make the same crossings that they would if it was grass, or even better wild.
It's one of the reasons there has been a huge push for farmers to leave pockets of "wild" area, or things like hedgerows at the borders to their fields, as even a crop field doesn't exactly encourage a lot of the natural insects and other wildlife, but ironically does attract pest animals/insects** the same.
*I had to look for grass seed the other week and bought from a specialist supplier (far cheaper and fresher than the stuff you tend to get in hoimebase), and the variety of mixes is quite large even without looking for anything too specialised (most "grass seed" mixes have at least two or three varieties).
**Apparently if you plant a mixed field of complimentary crops you can significantly reduce the number of pesticides and weed killers you need as it turns out a bit of a mix results in less initial attraction for the primary pest insects, and helps reduce the spread.
Grass is a use for cows as a food source which is different from insects who use grass for shelter and other reasons.
Artificial grass has other disadvantages including adding microplastics into the environment via wear and tear and causing drainage issues.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...eat-to-british-wildlife-conservationists-warn.
https://www.turfonline.co.uk/blog/c... grows longer, it,to the decline of wildlife.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/...is-it-time-to-say-goodbye-to-artificial-grass
https://www.express.co.uk/life-styl...ial-grass-warning-dangers-real-grass-turf-evg.