Hi Rick- Thanks for your question about the bug population being altered this year. It certainly has! We have no spotted wing drosophila spoiling our raspberries and very few native bees on the milkweed. I was told that our heat wave has affected some of the insect populations and we certainly had a bizarre spring with the rain and then heat cycles.

There is also a worldwide invertebrate decline which is being documented by organizations such as the Xerces Society. Habitat loss, pesticides and climate change seem to be targeting our pollinator friends in a pretty major way. I'll attach the website of the Xerces Socitey in case you want more information. They have lots of information about ways we can help.
https://www.xerces.org/

Thanks for noticing and finding out about a change in our natural world!