Reeling From Giant Snail Invasion, Barbados Crops Pounded By Invasive Insect Species - ENN

[hatrack]

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — 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.

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11757

[Speck Tater]

1. Bugs have LOADS of protein.

Time to start harvesting them to feed the hungry masses.