Simon Doneski, a PhD candidate at the University of New Mexico studying butterflies, said he didn’t have an interest in insects before a summer internship documenting populations. “They’re really incredible creatures,” Doneski said. “The more you know about them, the harder it is to look away.” (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)
The chirrup of a cricket. The stark flash of orange and black wings fluttering around flowers. The drunken looping flight of grasshoppers. The familiar sights and sounds of New Mexico summer are less frequent as populations of insects dwindle due to hotter and drier weather, pesticide use and habitat loss.
New Mexico, like many other states, is experiencing what experts describe as a startling decline of bugs, a shift that poses critical threats to ecosystems…