Remember when you were a kid and a drive down a country road meant maneuvering through a cloud of insects.  Now consider, when was the last time you had to clean bug guts off your windshield? It's often referred to as "The Windshield Phenomenon".

Could this mean that some insects are on the verge of extinction? The question was bugging us, so we tracked down entomologist and insect ambassador, Tanya Latty for the answer along with some highlights of a recent insect study - the largest of its kind in world.   It suggests an insect "apocalypse",  with as much as a third of all insect species being threatened with extinction.  “It’s really the case of the perfect storm – of a whole bunch of negative conditions making life really difficult for a lot of living things,” says Latty.

Put down the fly swatter and tread softly - on this episode of the Big Blue Marble, we explore how insects are vital to our existence.  From pollination to preventing us from drowning in our own waste,  arthropods are threatened little super heroes that are crucial to our existence.