Liberia: Mysterious insect identified

Posted on Friday 6 February 2009 - 07:25
Murtala Mohamed Kamara, AfricaNews reporter in Freetown, Sierra Leone

The identity of mysterious caterpillars ravaging crops and contaminating water in northern Liberia has been established. A joint effort of the FAO, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Commonwealth Agriculture Bureau International named the insect as Achaea catocaloides.

Georg Goergen, IITA entomologist and taxonomist explains: “The moth plague in Liberia is not African armyworms, or Spodoptera exempta, as earlier reported in the media, but belongs to the species A. catocaloides. Although Spodoptera and Achaea moths are related, their feeding and breeding habits are quite different. For example, caterpillars of armyworms generally don't attack trees as larvae of A. catocaloides do.”

In less than 10 days, the species swept across 100 villages and six communities in neighboring Guinea forcing the Liberian government to declare a state of emergency. Responding to the outbreak a visiting ECOWAS delegation this week donated the sum of USD$100, 000 to help fight the species.

“Without proper identification, the FAO and the Liberian government would have engaged in a huge effort fighting the wrong insect,” stated Manuele Tamò, IITA entomologist.

Eric Boa, Head of the Global Plant Clinic at CABI added: "Correct taxonomic identification of this insect is crucial for managing this worrying problem. Now efforts can be focused in the right direction.”

According to Goergen, the larvae or caterpillars, of A. catocaloides are primarily forest insects that feed on trees. However, populations can develop in large numbers and attack agricultural crops, especially in the absence and inefficiency of natural enemies brought about by climatic disturbances, such as the sudden interruption in rains, thereby leading to outbreaks of the moth.

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