[Taxacom] deaths in 2020 from genus Schistocerca (desert locust)

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi All,
       At least some people in Uganda (and other countries?) are harvesting the desert locusts for food, but at least some of them are very careful to only harvest those that have not been sprayed with insecticide.  But I've seen news reports that Ugandan officials are warning people not to eat the locusts because of pesticide spraying.
       If people consider desert locusts as a "delicacy", should widespread aerial spraying of toxic pesticides continue?  Does it really put much of a dent in the locust population?  In other words, is it doing more harm than good?  Non-toxic biopesticides would be the best alternative to chemical pesticides, but are they available to countries in Africa?
                              -----------------Ken

https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Kitgum-residents-turn-dreaded-desert-locusts-into-food/688334-5462656-uios3x/index.html

________________________________
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> on behalf of Kenneth Kinman via Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2020 10:26 AM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: [Taxacom] deaths in 2020 from genus Schistocerca (desert locust)

Hi All,
        Not much in the news about the current plague of desert locusts (the worst in 25 years) in east Africa, as well as causing problems as far east as Pakistan.   Starvation causes the deaths of up to 9,000,000 people each year, but how many of those might be due to desert locusts?  I haven't found any estimates yet, but it could perhaps cause deaths in the hundreds of thousands during 2020.
       Although desert locusts are edible, I doubt that they would provide much food in the long run (most of them don't stick around long after devastating an area).  Therefore, I might have to add genus Schistocerca to my list of deadliest genera which could result in over 50,000 deaths per year.   NOTE:  I probably should add genus Aedes to the list, since it carries several viruses which cause a total of over 50,000 deaths each year.
                                       -----------------Ken

east Africa:   https://www.science20.com/james_njoroge/while_coronavirus_talk_dominates_the_us_few_notice_25_million_africans_being_devastated_by_locusts-244921

Pakistan preparing for more attacks:  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pakistan-consider-importing-insecticides-india-125753848.html


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