Summary: Recent studies have shown that Hariquin Ladybugs have been invading Europe in places like Switzerland, Belgium, and Britain. This has been causing native European Ladybugs to have a rapid decline shown in widely overspread Ladybugs. In the magazine ‘Diversity and Distributions’, it explain that this is caused by the predication and competition of the foreign ladybugs. Dr. Helen Roy and Tim Adraien have been leading this research with 20 more researchers and 11 institutes backing them up. The Harliquin Ladybugs were first found in Belgium in 2001 and later in Britain and Switzerland later on in 2004. Dr. Roy and Adraien have found that five (Belgium, and seven (Britain) out of the eight species studied have been rapidly declining from the Harliquinn ladybugs. Along with the 20 other researchers, they successfully proved with data by looking at a couple thousand distribution records from public participatory surveys in Britain and Belgium. Over the past five years, 30% of the homeland species has died off and 44% has in Belgium.
Impact: The impact of this problem is big. If one thing on the web of life or on the food chain goes extinct than other species of organisms could die off. Such as if bees died than our living plants would all die out since bees aren’t there to pollinate them. Even if we know how to prevent this problem, if could help us know who to go for help when things like this happens or help everyone know how to conserve better and prevent our biomes from all going extinct.
Critique: When I was younger, I loved to catch ladybugs and see how old they were by their spots and see if they were a boy or a girl during my boring but cherish able California home summers. Even though they are ladybugs, I seriously think all kinds of kayos could happen from an animal on the food chain going extinct just like this movie where a guy squishes one but and it affects like three peoples families. Also I’m glad people are smart enough to figure these things out, but they didn’t explain one bit on how to help the annoying flying things that will poo on you when you catch them. I personally need ladybugs because I’m terribly afraid of those aphid things they eat that jump in and out of the grass!!! But right now I don’t think I should waste my time stressing over some round spotted bug I could live without and worry about who loves who and what new roomer Is spreading around about Johny over there. Hehehe. (:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120206214226.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120206214226.htm
This is very interesting, Pdiddy. I agree with you on the grounds that having a disrupted food-chain in Europe would be bad. Most people here would think "I'm American. What do I care
ReplyDeleteabout Europe?" (The brilliance of the American people only goes so far, these days.) What they don't bother to think through is the effects it could have on the rest of the world. With less ladybugs, some spiders could go extinct, making less food for birds, who in turn decrease in population, perhaps decreasing the number of cats - stray or otherwise. Having a beloved pet die could make their owners die from heartbreak. And MAYBE the owner person could have opened a really successful restaurant where two people would have eventually met and had a child who would one day become a doctor and save the lives of many. That's right, I bet most Americans didn't think of THAT.
I, like you, used to collect ladybugs. I stopped after I accidentally squished one in the crevice of where the box closed near the hinges. Having gotten some weird orange stuff on my hands, I decided not to try to capture them anymore. NOW that I know they're not in Europe so much anymore, I feel kinda bad. 'Cause NOW the kids in Europe will never have the opportunity to accidentally squish a ladybug and decide to not keep them in boxes after washing weird orange stuff off their hands.
Wow i found this shocking considering you care more about lady bugs than big fish populations in the sea. save the lady bugs but its okay if the fish die( how rude).
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that there was more than one type of lady bug. How can you tell if they're male or female? this was a great blog. I'm a little confused as to why the lady bugs are dying? was it because of the climate, or because they were leaving and going else where?