Insect Disaster
Margorie Gomoran
The best was to prevent infection from diseases spread by mosquitoes is to prevent mosquito bites. Mosquitoes bite during the day and night. Take the following steps to protect yourself and your family:
Damaged or abandoned homes and other buildings may be infested with rodents. If buildings have been abandoned for an extended period of time, it may be helpful to air them out for 2-3 days before reentering.
After a natural disaster, snakes may have been forced from their natural habitats and move into areas where they would not normally be seen or expected. When you return to your home, be cautious of snakes that may have sought shelter in your home.
If you are walking in high water, you may feel a bite, but not know that you were bitten by a snake. You may think it is another kind of bite or scratch. Pay attention to the following snake bite signs and symptoms.
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NC State University Entomology extension faculty and staff work with county field faculty, growers, consultants, and the public across the state in solving insect problems through research based and environmentally sound practices.
A detailed glossary of phytosanitary terms was developed for the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. It was produced by the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Examples of relevant terms for insect pest infestation are given below (FAO, 2019):
The Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) has three main objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources (United Nations, 1992). At the time of writing, there were 196 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2021).
There are over a million species of insect. These include some key species causing direct damage to crops and natural vegetation such as locusts, grasshoppers, armyworms and fruit flies as well as those that also function as vectors for the transmission of plant disease agents such as white flies, aphids, spittle bugs and mealybugs (FAO, 2021).
The most recent global-scale insect pest infestation is caused by fall armyworm (FAW) spreading to almost the whole of Africa and south and southeast Asia following its jump from Latin America to Africa in 2016. It is currently causing damage to millions of hectares, particularly on maize but also other crops, creating significant food security risks. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a Global Action for FAW Control to facilitate international collaboration to combat the insect (FAO, 2020a).
Higher temperatures, severe and extreme weather events and drought stress can all result in reduced vigour of trees, making them more vulnerable to outbreaks of native and introduced pests and diseases. For example, the dieback of millions of hectares of pine forests caused by outbreaks of native bark beetles in Central America, Europe and North America is associated with climate change, impacts of extreme weather events and, in some cases, inadequate forest management practices (FAO, 2020b).
Favourable climatic conditions, disruption of ecosystems and negligence of crop/forest hygiene contribute to growth in insect populations which can cause substantial damage regularly. In many cases, long distance spread of insects results from transportation of infested goods. Following principles of sustainable plant production, sustainable forest management and integrated pest management practices are the best approach for control, focusing on diversified production systems, regular surveillance, preparedness before potential outbreaks, and a rapid response to prevent escalation to unmanageable scales (Guzewich et al., 1997).
Post disaster needs assessment (PDNA) is designed to evaluate immediate needs for recovery and restoration for better disaster response. The focus of this mission, however, is on estimating socioeconomic impact; and currently does not take into account longer-term damage and loss caused to natural environments and forests. In addition, damage caused by small-scale fires, small windthrow events, and localised pest infestations remains largely unreported, despite meeting the universally established definition of a disaster (FAO, 2018).
Regarding insect pest infestations in forests, much of what is currently known about the damage and its assessment is in the form of research reports on the application of remote sensing and does not constitute a solid basis for a rigorous sectorspecific assessment (FAO, 2018).
As the communists ascended to power in the fall of 1949, China was saturated with disabling infectious diseases. Tuberculosis, plague, cholera, polio, malaria, smallpox, and hookworm were endemic throughout much of the country. Roughly 10.5 million people were infected with the water-borne liver parasite schistosomiasis (1). Cholera epidemics raged through the population freely, some years killing tens of thousands (2). Infant mortality was as high as 300 per 1000 live births (1).
So began the initiation of the Great Leap Forward with a patriotic health campaign that would target vermin that spread disease, a carte blanche issued to the people to fulfill their duty to their nation through the massacre of small bothersome animals and insects. In 1958, the Chinese took up the cause with merciless efficiency and embarked upon an incredible slaughter of wildlife.
Public health posters serve as billboards of knowledge and empowerment, but these particular forms of propaganda are also a historical snapshot, a birth announcement from a new political and public health system.
The researchers advocate for the conservation of forests, savannas and grasslands as well as making the most of less obvious areas of insect habitat such as alongside roads, utility corridors, and on military bases and airports.
Tracts of primary forests can serve as reservoirs of biodiversity to repopulate regenerating areas. Forests need to be structurally diverse, containing not only a variety of trees and plants, but also fallen trees, logs, stumps and leaf litter, all unique microclimates where different sorts of insects live.
Pesticides, herbicides, and other runoff from agricultural sites are major causes of insect decline, so a move toward organic farming and agroforestry practices that keep pesticides at a minimum and out of watersheds are also recommended.
There are easily more insects, by mass, on the planet than all mammals (including humans) combined, and they are also hyper-diverse. A 2012 study found more insect species in an acre of rainforest in Panama than there are mammal species in the entire world. And current estimates suggest that more than 5.5 million species of insects live on the planet, only a fifth of which have been named by science.
New species, like these three new moths named for famous alpinists, are regularly discovered by entomologists, but further assessment, inventorying and mapping of global insect distributions are needed to better understand and protect insect diversity.
Freshwater insect numbers appear to be on the rise in North America and Europe, where clean-water measures have been enacted over the past 50 years, a recent study shows. Freshwater insects benefit from connectivity of waterways, intact riparian zones, control of invasive species, and by installing or maintaining high-quality ponds in places like golf courses and military training grounds.
While preparing my garden beds last week, I came across dozens of pupae waiting out the winter in the comfort of the dirt in my raised beds. A pupa, which is Latin for doll, is the resting stage of a holometabolous insect, or one that undergoes complete metamorphosis. These particular pupae hailed from the sphinghidae, or sphinx family of moths.
As most of us remember from grade school, the stages of complete metamorphosis include egg, larva, pupa and adult. For the crossword puzzlers and Scrabble players out there, the adult metamorphic stage is also called imago. And in the case of these insects, the larval stage is a caterpillar, the pupa is the transition phase between larva and adult and its form can be encased in a cocoon or chrysalis. The adult is the moth.
Being a lover of most creatures, I photographed the sphinx moth pupae and left them in the dirt to transform into their adult stage. I had made my bed, I figured, and they could lie in it. The thinking was that I would get the identification as to genus and species later, after some research.
Sphinx moths are notably large and include many memorable varieties such as the gorgeous white-lined sphinx and pink-spotted hawkmoth. Some of the individuals in this group are very unique and admired.
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