Insects Gone

I went to see my aged mother on Wednesday. I saw a large tomato plant in her garden. I said: "I see you are growing tomatoes." My mother said: "Not actually. There is nothing to pollinate them. Not one bee. Not one butterfly. Not even a fly. The insects are gone." OBSERVATION: There is alarm the world over at the loss of insects. But on this blog, there is a curious counter-example. In the recent South African drought, farmers in the Suurveld left their land fallow, and insects reappeared which had not been seen in a generation. See Strange Reversal.