Windshield phenomenon
observation of apparent decrease in insect roadkill
The windshield phenomenon (or windscreen phenomenon) is the observation that fewer dead insects accumulate on the windshields and front bumpers of vehicles since the early 2000s. It has been attributed to a global decrease of insect populations caused by human activity, e.g. use of pesticides.
Background
As early as the 2000s it became a commonplace observation among drivers that after a long drive, windshields no longer had to be cleaned of numerous insects. In 2016, Canadian naturalist John Acorn noted that the phenomenon had recently become a meme but questioned whether it is "reasonable to assume that windshields can tell us something about the overall numbers of insects" and also that "humans are notoriously bad at detecting trends". The windshield phenomenon was discussed widely in 2017 after major publications and other media reported the topic of reductions of insect abundance during the last few decades. Entomologists stated that they had noticed that they no longer had to clean their windshields frequently.
Studies
United Kingdom
In 2004 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) asked 40,000 motorists in the United Kingdom to attach a sticky PVC film to their number plate. One insect collided with the plate for every 8 kilometres (5 mi) driven. No historical data was available for comparison in the UK.
A follow-up study by Kent Wildlife Trust in 2019 used the same methodology as the RSPB survey.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Windshield phenomenon” as observation of apparent decrease in insect roadkill. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as observation of apparent decrease in insect roadkill. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q65117920. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2016, 2017, 2004 and 2019.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Windshield phenomenon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.