Whatever happened to flies on the windscreen?

[M138]

Or front number plate/ front lights?

[CooperD]

A very good question. I haven't noticed very many on my car at all this year. I haven't washed it that much either. .

[swisstoni]

M138 said:

Or front number plate/ front lights?

Pesticides, changes in the environment, that sort of thing.

When I was a kid in London you couldn’t move for sparrows. Even in the dirty old East End where I lived.
Now they are virtually gone from London and the suburbs.

[ScoobyChris]

It’s the windshield phenomenon (no, really )

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windshield_phenome...

[Origami]

Maybe the flies are just getting smarter and more agile?

[M138]

swisstoni said:

Pesticides, changes in the environment, that sort of thing.

When I was a kid in London you couldn t move for sparrows. Even in the dirty old East End where I lived.
Now they are virtually gone from London and the suburbs.

Yeah, there seems to be some small drains out here in the fens that seem devoid of fish these days.
No short supply of house martins and swallows though. House Sparrows seem to been in decline for years now.

[Panamax]

Lower speed limits.
Flies are now faster than cars.

[DaiB]

Would you like some of mine?!

[Origami]

M138 said:

swisstoni said:

Pesticides, changes in the environment, that sort of thing.

When I was a kid in London you couldn t move for sparrows. Even in the dirty old East End where I lived.
Now they are virtually gone from London and the suburbs.

Yeah, there seems to be some small drains out here in the fens that seem devoid of fish these days.
No short supply of house martins and swallows though. House Sparrows seem to been in decline for years now.

Yes, but the birds aren't real so it's not the same thing really.

[Richard-390a0]

Panamax said:

Lower speed limits.
Flies are now faster than cars.

Sound's reasonable to me!

[BrettMRC]

Plentiful around these parts!

[cerb4.5lee]

I still get them all over the front of our cars, and it does my head in, because they aren't always all that easy to get off.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Improved aerodynamics and cars designed with wind tunnel results factored in, must also reduce the numbers.

[Sausage roll]

M138 said:

swisstoni said:

Pesticides, changes in the environment, that sort of thing.

When I was a kid in London you couldn t move for sparrows. Even in the dirty old East End where I lived.
Now they are virtually gone from London and the suburbs.

Yeah, there seems to be some small drains out here in the fens that seem devoid of fish these days.
No short supply of house martins and swallows though. House Sparrows seem to been in decline for years now.

We used to get house martins nesting under the eves of our house every year - in all honestly they were a bit of a nuisance due to the mess their droppings made. But they didn’t arrive about three years ago and there have not been any since or in the surrounding area. We live in a village surrounded my fields, so probably another indication of lack of flies etc as the house martins don’t have anything to feed on.

[otolith]

"New analysis from the 2024 Bugs Matter survey has highlighted further alarming consequences for insect numbers in Kent: the number of flying insects sampled on number plates by citizen scientists has declined by a massive 67% since 2021. "

https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/bugs-mat...

[M138]

Sausage roll said:

M138 said:

swisstoni said:

Pesticides, changes in the environment, that sort of thing.

When I was a kid in London you couldn t move for sparrows. Even in the dirty old East End where I lived.
Now they are virtually gone from London and the suburbs.

Yeah, there seems to be some small drains out here in the fens that seem devoid of fish these days.
No short supply of house martins and swallows though. House Sparrows seem to been in decline for years now.

We used to get house martins nesting under the eves of our house every year - in all honestly they were a bit of a nuisance due to the mess their droppings made. But they didn t arrive about three years ago and there have not been any since or in the surrounding area. We live in a village surrounded my fields, so probably another indication of lack of flies etc as the house martins don t have anything to feed on.

Tbh this year was the first time I’d seen quite a few in years, never beenshort of swallows though which I assume also feed on flies. Red Kites are more common round here than Chaffinches these days.

[Origami]

Now you mention it, I rarely need to clean bug splats,
I used to have to all the time a few years ago.

Maybe confirmation bias but I suspect not

[thecremeegg]

The opposite for me, not had to clean flies off for a good few years but this summer I've had loads. Friends have noticed the same, way more insects this year than previous.

[kambites]

Whilst I don't doubt that the number of insects is falling due to overuse of pesticides, I wonder if improving aerodynamics has also played a part? I guess the better attached the boundary layer is to the car, the less likely insects are to actually make contact?

My father-in-law's car is constantly splattered with insects, but that's both an older car and in a country which probably uses fewer pesticides so it's not very conclusive of anything.

[swisstoni]

kambites said:

Whilst I don't doubt that the number of insects is falling due to overuse of pesticides, I wonder if improving aerodynamics has also played a part? I guess the better attached the boundary layer is to the car, the less likely insects are to actually make contact?

My father-in-law's car is constantly splattered with insects, but that's both an older car and in a country which probably uses fewer pesticides so it's not very conclusive of anything.

Number plates haven’t really changed though.