The Earth is in the midst of an insect apocalypse as research shows the dramatic decline of species over the last three decades.
Wild bees and hoverflies particularly have suffered widespread losses in the UK and this could pose a potential future threat to agriculture.
New research has shown that between 1980 and 2013, a third of more than 300 species experienced population declines.
Only 11% of insects became more abundant.
Even though 22 of the most important pollinators were among the species ‘winners’, scientists warned that the overall biodiversity loss could be storing up problems in years to come.
While around 34% of pollination is carried out by honeybees, a scarcity of hives means crop farmers are highly reliant on their wild cousins and other insects, especially hoverflies.
The research is based on analysis of more than 715,000 observational records collected by volunteers between 1980 and 2013. A total of 353 bee and hoverfly species, all known pollinators, were included in the study which focused on around 19,000 ‘cells’ each covering a square kilometre of countryside.
The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, revealed a biodiversity trend equivalent to losing four bee and seven hoverfly species per cell over the study period.
On average, the geographic range of bees and hoverflies declined by about a quarter, with greater losses in the upland areas of northern Britain. Environmental measures put in place by farmers, such as growing wild flowers in the margins of crop fields, were thought to have contributed to a 12% increase in dominant pollinators.
The scientists said it remained to be seen how pollinators might have been affected by insecticide restrictions brought in since the study was carried out.
In 2013 the European Union introduced a temporary ban on the widespread use of insecticides known as neonicotinoids in light of evidence suggesting they harmed bees. Until then, the chemicals had routinely been used by crop farmers.
Last year, the ban on three of the main neonicotinoid types was widened to cover all crops grown outdoors and made permanent. The researchers echoed previous calls by experts for garden owners to encourage pollinating insects by growing patches of wild plants and weeds.
Matt Shardlow, chief executive of the charity Buglife, said: ‘This new paper provides further evidence, were it needed, that our pollinators are in trouble and that the health of our environment and food supply cannot be taken for granted.
‘Solitary bees, rare bees and bees and hoverflies that live in the uplands are in particular trouble and need urgent help.’
Environment scientist Dr Lynn Dicks, from the University of East Anglia, said: ‘This pattern of biodiversity loss is happening everywhere we look. Some common species increase, while many more species decline, and the decliners tend to be more specialised in their needs, associated with particular habitats or food sources, for example.
‘It’s a process of homogenisation and leaves us with a natural world that is far poorer and less resilient to change.’
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