You will never know what is lost, or not, unless you you go and look around once and awhile. 20 years ago, about two miles down the road, there was a colony of Karner blue butterflies that is endangered here in Michigan, but was once very common. It requires wild lupines and other plants in tall grass prairies and savanna lands. This colony was on an abandoned Christmas tree farm that had openings with prickly pears, wild flowers (mostly lupines), and prairie grasses like Indian grass and bluestems. I took a look at it a year or two ago and it was over grown, there were no lupines or Karner blues. There are some local restoration projects trying to encourage this rare butterfly, but the lupines in my rock garden never attracted them from the now extinct colony down the road.
I have found bugs and spiders that are rare local subspecies, quite exotic looking. The colorful variation of northern black widow we have in the swamp is beautiful and the trapdoor spider I found is likely entirely unknown, at least I could never find anything about those in Michigan. Then there is the metallic gold cockroach. Small insects and bugs are so ignored, you'd step on them and never notice, so you never notice them going extinct all around you.
I have found bugs and spiders that are rare local subspecies, quite exotic looking. The colorful variation of northern black widow we have in the swamp is beautiful and the trapdoor spider I found is likely entirely unknown, at least I could never find anything about those in Michigan. Then there is the metallic gold cockroach. Small insects and bugs are so ignored, you'd step on them and never notice, so you never notice them going extinct all around you.
A trail goes two ways and looks different in each direction - There is no such thing as a timid woodland creature - Whatever does not kill you leaves you a survivor - Jesus is NOT a bad word - MSB