[beauzero]

My fear in this is ..."unless they aren't incredibly successful reproducers"? My fear is that we have damaged their reproductive mechanisms, not their habitat, or a short term poisoning.

I hope for your hypothesis...but fear of the consequences makes me want to look at all of the data.

[jly]

That's an interesting point and one I haven't considered or seen any significant research on.

My gut take is that insects will be fine and would likely return to previous densities given a reduction in pesticide use and restoration of habitat. They reproduce frequently and in large numbers, accelerating natural evolutionary processes. There is no chemical control agent that insects haven't demonstrated resistance and adaptation to, given enough exposure time. History has also shown us that arthropods are the most successful animals of all time, emerging mostly unscathed through major climate shifts and extinction events that have decimated other animals. Insects have been flying on earth for over 400 million years (some today in almost the same form as then) and will likely be here long after we're gone.