https://apnews.com/0f71e87255cc4726a2a06e4fbc181cbc

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A recent study indicates that climate change could threaten hundreds of insect species in Missouri that may not recover after they die during extreme weather conditions.

A 2019 study by the University of Missouri at St. Louis examined 250 insect species whose populations plummeted after mid-spring frosts and summer droughts, decreasing as much as 95% for some species. The study, published in the science journal Frontiers focused on insects that eat the leaves of white oak and black oak trees in Missouri. The findings concluded that cold periods in the spring could hurt caterpillars by disrupting their metabolism and killing off the young oak leaves they consume, KCUR-FM reported.