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  • Taxes at work: Government to use hundreds of quail carcasses as love nests for endangered beetles

    Faux academic propaganda journal PhysOrg put out this little gem:

    First-ever release of endangered burying beetles in Missouri

    Beetles slated for release will be paired and marked by notching the elytra—the hard, modified forewings that encase the thin hind wings used in flight.

    Sounds time consuming.

    The beetle release process involves digging holes, or plugs, at specially selected sites, placing the carcass of a quail and a pair of notched beetles in each cavity and replacing the plugs. This process simulates a natural underground setting for the beetles’ life cycle.

    Now that’s touching.  Who’s paying for this?  Oh, right. TAXPAYERS.  The IRS has to seize your property so the Dept of Fish and Wildlife can bury beetles with bird carcasses.

    If the FDA would immediately de-approve the use of pesticidal GMOs, and aerial crop dusting with synthetic pesticides, that would go a long way toward preserving insect populations.  Instead the government automatically approves whatever Monsanto comes up with, and flies around spraying entire towns with pesticide without public consent, then acts surprised when insects die.  This is a pathetic band-aid fix to a problem of corruption and legislative failure.

    The beetles died for a reason the first time, and it’s not like beetle farming is going to rid the environment of pesticides, or whatever caused them to die in the first place.  If we control the use of dangerous pesticides, then we can ALL benefit, not just some beetles.  Save the Humans!

    Related: 3 New Studies Link Bee Decline to Bayer Pesticide

    Also related: $205,075 to ‘Translocate’ One Shrub from Path of Stimulus Project

     

  • Researchers discover a shocking 96 percent decline in four major bumblebee species

    (NaturalNews) New research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that another vitally important pollinator, the bumblebee, is in serious decline. According to the figures, there has been a shocking 96 percent decline in four major species of the bumblebee, and an up to 87 percent decrease in their overall geographic coverage.

    “We provide incontrovertible evidence that multiple Bombus species have experienced sharp population declines at the national level,” explained researchers in their report. And in a phone interview with Reuters, study author Sydney Cameron from the University of Illinois, Urbana, explained that these bumblebee species are “one of the most important pollinators of native plants.”

    Over the course of three years, the research team evaluated 382 different sites in 40 states, and mulled data from over 73,000 museum records. They determined that bumblebees are needed to pollinate various fruits and vegetables, and that they accomplish this task in a very unique way.