The Guardian _’Insect Migration’

Artworks and animations created for Guardian ‘In Focus’ piece: ‘Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations.’

“An estimated 90% of insects that fly through the Pyrenean mountain pass are pollinators. As they migrate, they move pollen hundreds of kilometres, improving the genetic diversity of plants. Insects such as drone hoverflies decompose waste and recycle nutrients so they can be used again by plants and animals.”

“Due to climate breakdown, habitat loss (driven by industrial farming) and pesticide use, the number of insects flying around our world is in decline. A study from Germany found there had been a 97% decline in aphid-eating migratory hoverflies over the past 50 years.

For centuries, insects migrated around the planet largely unnoticed. Now, as scientists are finally starting to unravel the mysteries of these long migrations, the insects are vanishing in front of our eyes.”