Unidentified Insect Wreaks Havoc In Areas Of West Africa
Posted on: Tuesday, 3 February 2009, 13:55 CST
Experts say a plague of caterpillars devastating part of West Africa is not armyworms, as previously believed, but an unidentified species.The BBC reported that the insects in Liberia and Guinea were very different from armyworms, according to a UN emergency coordinator.
The insect has distinct feeding patterns, life cycle, habits, movement and appearance and specialists are studying the pest to find a way of controlling the swarm, which has affected 400,000 residents.
The infestation has devoured crops and polluted water sources with feces.
“Insect experts realized the species was not armyworm during a field trip to Bong County in Liberia last week,” said UN Food and Agriculture Organization emergency coordinator Tim Vaessen.
Armyworms typically feed on ground cereal like millet, rice or sorghum, but the unidentified insect favors munching the leaf of the Dohama tree.
“The unknown species' cocoons are found on the surface beneath ground leaves, whereas armyworm casings are buried in the soil at a depth of several centimeters,” Vaessen said.
The mystery caterpillar appears to rear up, making half circles in the air as it moves forward, which the armyworm does not do, he said . The wings of its moth also appear different.
"Our experts in the field spoke to villagers who said they'd seen this type of caterpillar before. They said they'd put leaves under trees and burned them to suffocate the caterpillar with smoke,” Vaessen said.
He also said the members of the village claim they've never seen the insect in such large numbers before, and that they're “really flabbergasted”.
Experts at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Benin and at Cardiff University are currently reviewing pictures of the insect as part of an effort to help identify the species.
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On The Net:
Liberian Ministry of Agriculture
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation
Source: redOrbit staff
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