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April 2017. A member asked for information/experiences on the successful control/management of locust. The identification of the locust (Coscineuta virens) at the egg bed and hopper stages is posing a serious threat to food produce. It serves as a public nuisance and is very difficult to manage. Among the many signs which may indicate the existence of egg-beds include: the presence of mating pairs on high spots along river banks or on other elevated areas, and the sighting of adults flying around the same area for days.
[Editor] Just to give some background to the message about locusts in Trinidad. It seems from reports on the Internet that the outbreak occurred some time ago, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Forestry has been giving advice at local meetings since February at least: http://www.news.gov.tt/content/effective-management-moruga-locust#.WO_hulOGO50and http://www.news.gov.tt/content/locust-awareness-training-forest-users-moruga-%E2%80%A6-next-stop-barrackpore#.WO_i61N9650. However, this is not the first outbreak, it is part of an extensive outbreak that goes back some years. The Ministry was trying to control locusts in July 2014: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-07-24/ministry-battles-locusts-chatham
Interestingly, it has been known in Trinidad for some years – a review in the Journal of Orthoptera Research says that it has been recognised as a serious pest since 1918: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3503610?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents, and that it is Coscineuta virens the Moruga grasshopper, difficult to control as it is a forest species.
Deanne Ramroop wrote in response and sent the following: “The identification of the Moruga locust (Coscineuta virens) at the egg-bed and hopper stages is critical in the eradication of the pest since at the adult stage, they pose a serious threat to food produce, serve as a public nuisance and can be very difficult to manage once in full flight. Among the many signs which may indicate the existence of an egg-beds include:- the presence of mating pairs on high spots along river banks or on other elevated areas; the sighting of adults flying around the same area for days and; the corpses and pungent smell of dead adults (i.e. the males that die after mating and the females that die after laying eggs).
“At the hopper stage, the locusts are still [at] ground level and can thus be easily treated with mist blowers or cannon sprayers (on wheel tractors) utilizing a solution containing ‘Propoxur’ (Baygon, a carbamate) as the active ingredient. However, as an adult, the management of the locust would usually involve surveillance strategies so as to properly identify the resting place(s) of these pests for effective eradication either late evening or early morning, just before they take flight”.
The Ministry is currently exploring a range of options. Presently, there is the chemical application of Propoxur .
The article highlights some of the activities
http://www.news.gov.tt/content/locust-awareness-training-forest-users-moruga-%E2%80%A6-next-stop-barrackpore#.WPh9cP4m7IV
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