I tell a story about driving across Canada in the 1970s and one of my memories is the windshield wipers going all day and night in Northern Ontario because of the bugs. When I did the trip again around 2010 I made a big deal about having extra jugs of wiper fluid ready. Didn't turn them on once. Scarcely a bug to be seen.

[–] BurgerBaron@quokk.au 9 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

This combined with local drought for quite a few years now followed by more rain in a month than we typically got in a year caused an insect population explosion, locally. I've not seen so many insects in quite awhile.

It's still like a tenth of what I remember as a kid in the 90's :(

Haven't witnessed a locust swarm since like 2002.

...remembering the disgusting camper van grill cleaning job at every gas station 🤮 baked on insect guts and gibs.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 4 points 14 hours ago

One modification to a car we bought in 1990 was to put a window screen in front of the radiator, as it was far easier to remove it regularly and clean than try to not damage the clogged radiator fins. I haven't had to worry about such things for decades now in later cars. Hell, even seeing a bug strike now while driving is like catching a rare meteor, an event. But then it reminds me how bad it is. :(

[–] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 7 points 15 hours ago

Same here. in the 80s our family trips through Alberta and Saskatchewan would result in the car's windshield and radiator being covered in various types of bugs; we kids would be fascinated by all the different types (though most were grasshoppers). No more. We've severely fucked up the biosphere when insects are diminishing like this.