Motorists are being encouraged to download a new app aimed at tracking the UK’s insect population by counting ‘bug splats’ on car number plates.
The hope is that the data will allow scientists to estimate insect decline across Britain.
Insect populations around the world are in flux, with land-based bugs seeing a dramatic decline over the past 30 years.
However, little is known about the state of insect populations in the UK because only butterflies and moths have been monitored in enough detail to allow trends to be fully understood.
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‘Splatometer’ counter: Motorists are being encouraged to download a new app called Bugs Matter, aimed at tracking the UK’s insect population by counting ‘bug splats’ on number plates
Drivers will be given instructions on what to do when they download the Bugs Matter app, with the survey running from June 1 to August 31.
They should first clean their number plate, then complete their journey, and on arrival count the bugs squashed on it using a ‘splatometer’ grid which will be sent in the post when they sign up.
A photo and details should then be submitted via the app. The hope is that motorists will count the number of bugs squashed on as many journeys as possible during the timeframe of the survey.
The citizen science project is being run by Wildlife Trusts in Kent, Essex, Gwent and Somerset, alongside the charity Buglife.
Organisers say the survey is based on the ‘windscreen phenomenon’, a term given to the observation that people tend to find fewer insects squashed on the windscreens of their cars compared to several decades ago.
Drivers will be given instructions on what to do when they download the Bugs Matter app
‘Many people remark on not having to clean bug splats off their car windscreens as much as they did 20 or 30 years ago,’ said Andrew Whitehouse, countries manager for Buglife.
‘The falling abundance of flying insects should be a major concern to everybody as these essential creatures are, quite simply, the small things that run the world.’
Dr Paul Tinsley Marshall, from Kent Wildlife Trust, said: ‘Finding fewer squashed bugs on car number plates is concerning because it suggests their populations may be in trouble.
‘The main causes of their decline are chemical use across our countryside, road verges and gardens, and habitat loss – but we need lots more data to determine trends and people to take the survey during their day to day car travel.’
More information about the Bugs Matter app and details of how to download it can be found here.