Despite the co-occurence of drought-relieving rains and plentiful host plants (many mass-blooming), insects (aside from A. mellifera and a few other ecologically aggressive spp.) continue to be sparse at both Millard Canyon and Sante Fe Dam Recreation Area. I don't think it has to do with pesticides either.
A few hypotheses:
- Low insect density may be natural (this is less unreasonable than it sounds; there are high numbers of self-fertilizing native plants present, and the Eleodes of the dam are suspiciously violent towards conspecifics).
- The rains may not have been enough; insect populations there only rebound after many consecutive nondrought years.
- The rains were enough but habitat destruction is so bad that rain is no longer a population-limiting factor.
