Many bee species are in steep decline with agrochemicals called neonicotinoids thought to be a key cause.

Orthoptera, which include grasshoppers and crickets, are down about 50 percent, and about 40 percent of bee species are now vulnerable to extinction.

Populations of most bee species are in freefall, partly because of infection.

Conservationists warn that many wild bee species are in decline and want more protection for pollinating insects, whose activities are worth an estimated £700 million a year to farmers.

Honeybees are talented linguists capable of understanding what other bee species are communicating, scientists have found.