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Regional Control of the Red Locust, Nomadacris Septemfasciata (Serville), in the First Half of the 20th Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Medway University Campus, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The development of a regional control strategy for the red locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serville) began in the 1920s during a period when red, desert and African migratory locust swarms were widespread in Africa. The strategy involved controlling locusts in their permanent breeding areas to prevent swarms escaping over a much larger invasion area and damaging crops and pasture. Mapping and analysis of reports at the Imperial Institute of Entomology in London and field research in the Rukwa and Mweru wa Ntipa areas confirmed the location of two important red locust outbreak areas, and by the mid-1930s implementation of a preventative control strategy became a practical proposition. Regional control against red locusts formally came into being in 1941 under impetus from the Belgian and British Governments and collaborative surveying and control work continued despite the Second World War. Locust swarm activity intensified in the mid 1940s and other outbreak areas were found, raising the profile of the threat red locusts posed to food security. As a result, international collaboration in research, control and information dissemination was formalised in 1945 through the formation of the IRLCO-CSA.

Résumé

Le développement d'une stratégie régionale de lutte contre le criquet rouge, Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serville) a commencé dans les années 1920, période à laquelle des invasions par des essaims des criquets, rouge et migratoire ainsi que du criquet du désert étaient encore trés répendues en Afrique. Cette stratégie consistait à lutter contre ces criquets dans leurs foyers de reproduction permanente afin de limiter la dispersion des essaims sur des grandes étendues et leurs dégâts sur cultures et pâturages. La cartographie et l'exploitation des rapports à l'Institut Impérial d'Entomologie à Londres et les études de terrain dans les régions de Rukwa et Mweru wa Ntipa ont confirmé l'existence de deux foyers importants de reproduction grégarigène et ont donné lieu à une mise sur pied d'une stratégie de lutte préventive concrète lancée vers le milieux de l'année 1930. La lutte régionale contre le criquet rouge devint réellement effective en 1941 à l'initiative des gouvernements de la Belgique et la Grande Bretagne. La surveillance conjointe et la lutte ont continué malgré la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. L'attaque par des essaims de criquets s'est intensifiée au milieu des années 1940 et d'autres foyers grégarigènes ont été identifiés donnant ainsi des nouvelles dimensions de la menace causée par le criquet rouge à la sécurité alimentaire. C'est suite à ce, qu'en 1945, est née l'IRLCO-CSA, une organisation visant la recherche collaborative internationale, la lutte et la diffusion des informations.

Keywords

criquet rougeNomadacris septemfasciataIRLCO-CSAfléauxlutte préventivefoyer de reproduction grégarigènered locustNomadacris septemfasciataIRLCO-CSAplaguespreventative controloutbreak area
Type
Research and Review Articles
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , December 1999 , pp. 283 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1999

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