The Effect of Weather Conditions on Insect Activity

Abstract

People often claim that they observe an increased amount of insect activity after rain. Some articles suggest that water accumulation in the soil forces insects to leave the ground which increases insect activity. Others state that a number of insects prefer a humid environment and therefore are more active after rain. However, there is no scientific evidence to support the observation. In this experiment, we tried to validate the above statement by examining whether there was a significant difference between the number of insects observed on sunny days compared to that observed on cloudy days after rain. We collected one set of data from a grass field and another from a soil land under a maple tree. For each location, we recorded the number of insects observed in two types of weather six times in pairs. The analyzed data from both locations suggested an insignificant difference between the number of insects observed in the two weathers. The observed increase in insect activity after rain could be a misjudgement due to a higher frequency of insect appearance. Overall, we did not have enough evidence to conclude that there is higher insect activity observed after rain.