Bugs Matter is an international citizen science program. It involves photographing a vehicle registration plate after a trip, using the Bugs Matter mobile app, to count the number of insects run over. The idea is to measure the windshield phenomenon attributed to a global decline in insect populations caused by human activity.
Participation
The protocol can be carried out by anyone, on any type of registered vehicle (car, van, truck, etc.), from April 1st to September 30th. The Bugs Matter app is available for download on Android (Google Play) and iPhone (App Store). Before a trip, clean the front license plate. Open the Bugs Matter app. During the trip, keep the app and geolocation active. At the end of the trip, take a photo of the license plate with the app. The date, time, and trip details are submitted via the app.
History In June 2004, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) introduce an innovative tool, the splatometer, a paper grid for counting insect impacts on license plates. The name splatometer is a humorous portmanteau of the English onomatopoeia "splat": the sound an insect makes when it splatters. The program is called the Big Bug Count and attracte 40,000 participants. Fifteen years later, the conservation groups Buglife and Kent Wildlife Trust revive the program in Kent. The study take place from June 1 to August 31, 2019. The following year, it can not be conducted due to the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom. In 2021, the program is expanded to the entire United Kingdom. The Bugs Matter mobile app is launched. It records the exact route of the vehicle. Paper "splatometers" are permanently phased out in 2023, and become virtual. From 2024, the study period is extended to include April and September. In 2025, the program is expanded to Ireland. More than 10,000 motorists are registered. A study covering the period 2021–2024 reveale that the UK's flying insect population has declined by 63%. A dashboard for sharing the results is developed. In April 2026, the protocol is translated and deployed in France by the National Museum of Natural History, France. The idea is that license plates are standardized, all have the same size, the same orientation, and are placed at almost the same height. The French organisations Noé and OPIE are partners, as well as the French Office for Biodiversity.
See also Butterfly count List of citizen science projects
References
External links Official website