Invading Bug Species Destroys Barbados Crops, Plants
Pastor Dale Morgan
Nov 29, 4:43 PM EST
*Invading Bug Species Destroys Barbados Crops, Plants*
By ROSEANN PILE
Associated Press Writer
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) -- A foreign bug species is sucking the life
out of crops and native plants across Barbados, which has already been
overrun by an infestation of ravenous snails that are rapidly destroying
cultivated fields.
The new invader in the Caribbean island's burgeoning pest crisis is the
"Icerya genistae," a tiny, oval-shape white insect believed to be native
to Brazil that is so obscure it has no common name, according to
scientists with the Barbadian Agriculture Ministry.
The sap-sucking pest has attacked 21 varieties of wild plants,
ornamentals and vegetables across the 270-square-mile tropical country
and scientists are quickly trying to determine the bug's geographical
range, government entomologist Brett Taylor said Tuesday.
Peanut fields in northern St. Peter's parish and sweet peppers in
eastern St. Philips have already been decimated by the insect, which
resembles a mealybug. It has also damaged fields of hot peppers, sweet
peppers, tomatoes and egg plants, Taylor said.
"It is widespread from one end of the island to the next," he said.
Florida's Department of Agriculture said in a recent report that very
little is known about the biology of the insect species, and there is no
reported data on its natural enemies. The bug was first spotted in
Florida in May, but has not damaged agriculture fields there, a
spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Insecticides are being used to combat the pest in Barbados.
"We have started a collaborative effort with scientists from the United
States Department of Agriculture in trying to see what natural enemies
they have," Barbadian entomologist Ian Gibbs said.
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Earlier this month, authorities reported that giant African snails -
often about the size of a human hand - were swarming the central parish
of St. George, the island's agricultural heartland. Farmers complained
of damage to sugar cane, bananas, papayas and other crops.
Volunteers sprayed government-supplied pesticides in gullies and other
cool, low-lying areas where the snails are believed to breed. They are
known to consume as many as 500 different plants and can transmit
meningitis and other diseases through their mucous.