Billions of bugs wiped out on Dutch roads!!!!!!!!!!!

[slvrbugjim]

Gasp! oh nooos what will we do about this travesty.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/12/us-dutch-insects-idUSTRE76B4YK20110712

(Reuters) - Dutch motorists kill about 133 billion insects a month, splattering bugs on their vehicles and eliminating important members of the food chain, according to a study released this week.

Biologists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands enlisted the help of 250 drivers for a "splash teller" study. Each motorist had to wipe his or her car license plate clean then tot up the bug body count at the end of their drive.

"They are by far the richest species groups in all countries, and therefore play an essential role in the food chain," biologist Arnold van Vliet, one of a team working on the project, told Reuters.

"Many birds such as swallows, who hunt for insects, depend on insect density. If insect numbers are low they inevitably face severe problems finding food for their young," he said.

Insects are not only important pollinators of commercial and wild plants, but also form a crucial part of the diet of many animals including birds and bats.

The study showed the most dangerous parts of the country for a flying insect are the coastal provinces of Zeeland, Friesland and Groningen -- which Van Vliet said was possibly a reflection of the fact the human inhabitants are more likely to drive longer distances in these less densely populated areas.

Van Vliet said the scientific study was inspired by a similar project in the United Kingdom, carried out in 2004.

(Reporting by Jennifer Martin; Editing by Sara Webb)

[Dogman]

Sounds like a very important study! The data collected is priceless! $0.00, Worth every euro they blew on it. Insert gagging icon Here!

[slvrbugjim]

Sounds like a very important study! The data collected is priceless! $0.00, Worth every euro they blew on it. Insert gagging icon Here!
Well my fellow bats here in Austin would say that insects are a great commodity and should be studied but other than that WTF?

[Dogman]

Well my fellow bats here in Austin would say that insects are a great commodity and should be studied but other than that WTF?

I was stationed at Bergstrom, back when, the bats are awesome to watch, in the evening going out and morning coming in.

[ximmy]

Human activity including vehicle usage to be banned in such areas...

[slvrbugjim]

Human activity including vehicle usage to be banned in such areas...

hmm I think we will get right on that, SUVs are the most evil of all, just look at the size of those windshields damn it.

[mrnhtbr2232]

If you're like me you did the math and came up with those 250 cars had to each kill 532 million bugs in one month. That's a pretty high number. So I looked it up - the Splash Teller study is here: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsplashteller.nl%2F

They take the body count on the license plate, then based on your license tag they retrieve your make and model and calculate the surface area of the front and the windscreen. Larger area, higher body count. I suppose it's possible, but man it sure puts a damper on picnics in the Netherlands.

[slvrbugjim]

If you're like me you did the math and came up with those 250 cars had to each kill 532 million bugs in one month. That's a pretty high number. So I looked it up - the Splash Teller study is here: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsplashteller.nl%2F

They take the body count on the license plate, then based on your license tag they retrieve your make and model and calculate the surface area of the front and the windscreen. Larger area, higher body count. I suppose it's possible, but man it sure puts a damper on picnics in the Netherlands.

Well then we can agree that in the Netherlands, bugs are not safe at all. We must continue the agenda 21 to kill off all people I would think. Call PETA

[Joe King]

Human activity including vehicle usage to be banned in such areas...

There's a shirt for that. http://skreened.com/fortworthology/agenda-21-car-confiscation-agent

[learn2swim]

Yeah, this is in line with the cow fart studies 60 minutes was reporting on back in the early 1990's. Now, it's being used as a climate change problem. i guess we're all gonna have to ride bikes, and become vegetarians now to save the planet.

[Neuro]

Very flawed logic, the licence plate is flat and frontmost the rest of the car is streamlined, and most probabably the insect would be carried in this airstream at least unkilled, if not unharmed. However some "scientist" would probably argue that the psychological trauma of having been airstreamed around a Volvo or a Fiat would be a fate worse than death for the twofingered asparagusbutterfly or the foureyed bullshitswarmer...

Hehehe, if anything the study gives a good argument for taking off the licence plate of your car. It does after all take many more lives than the rest of the car, and is a threat to the ecosystem...

[keehah]

Worse than useless, its being used to spread falsehoods.


The study showed the most dangerous parts of the country for a flying insect are the coastal provinces of Zeeland, Friesland and Groningen -- which Van Vliet said was possibly a reflection of the fact the human inhabitants are more likely to drive longer distances in these less densely populated areas.

I think its an easy bet a proper study would show that the less densely populated areas have fewer cars and more insects. This making it a less dangerous area of the country for a flying insect even as the uncommon car driving a longer distance has one or two more bugs on it.

[Serpo]

http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave2/images/weird_thai/bugs_small.jpg

[skid]

Back where I'm from in the 70's cars would have screens attached to the front of their cars (actually made to fit their model of car) to prevent grasshoppers from plugging the radiator fins and causing the cars to overheat when driving on the highway. They would also spray WD-40 on the paint/chrome so the bugs washed off easily.

[Dogman]

Back where I'm from in the 70's cars would have screens attached to the front of their cars (actually made to fit their model of car) to prevent grasshoppers from plugging the radiator fins and causing the cars to overheat when driving on the highway. They would also spray WD-40 on the paint/chrome so the bugs washed off easily.

Ever drive in "love bug" swarming parts of the country? If the remains are not cleaned off , very soon, they will ruin the paint on the vehicle.
Even more fun is be riding motorcycles and have to pass through them. If you are wearing light color clothes , they will be stained and ruined. Little red eyed bastards. ;D