Giant swarms of locusts have invaded the south of Ukraine. According to ecologists, the reasons for the mass invasion are climate change and favorable conditions for insect reproduction in Ukraine. However, the threat to people from insects is minimal, but uncontrolled use of chemicals can cause much greater harm. Roman Hezha, a communicator for the NGO "Ekoltava", told UNN about this.
Details
Videos and photos are being published online, showing a mass invasion of locusts in Southern Ukraine. According to reports from the State Food and Consumer Service, it concerns migratory (Locusta migratoria) and Egyptian (Anacridium aegyptium) locusts.
How they got to us
As the expert notes, this could have happened due to a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. In particular, the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), for example, flies well for hundreds of kilometers.
The conditions of our south due to climate change are very appealing to them, so they occasionally fly to us from the Middle East or Africa, and will likely fly more often due to the rapid shift in climatic zones. We remind you that in Ukraine, climate change is happening 2.5 times faster than the world average.
Also, if we consider the favorable soil conditions for pest egg-laying in the summer-autumn of 2024 and the lack of biodiversity over huge areas, then the locusts could have hatched right here, in Ukraine, as the expert notes, and formed these giant swarms.
Because, for example, another species that has long been recorded in Ukraine - the Egyptian locust, common in the Mediterranean - "does not migrate over long distances."
And in general, the distribution areas of both pests are moving north due to climate change - and this is a bad sign
Harm caused by locusts to people
According to the State Food and Consumer Service, the main food source for locusts now is reeds and wild grasses. So, fortunately, industrial crops have not suffered significant losses.
But, as ecologists say, due to panic, insecticides may now be widely used - "both permitted and unpermitted, although they are only allowed to be used locally in areas of active accumulation."
The danger to people and animals lies primarily in the concentration of insecticides, not in the locusts themselves. Locusts are safe for humans, are not carriers of infections - that is, direct harm is minimal. In addition, natural regulation mechanisms are working, and the number of insects will decrease.
He adds that people often do not understand the principle of ecosystem balance.
Where birds, bats, and other insect competitors disappear, a favorable environment for pests is created. The use of chemicals or burning vegetation is equivalent to the return and reproduction of locusts.
Therefore, according to him, instead of this, it is necessary to support natural means of pest control - birds and beneficial insects, namely: plant flowers with different flowering periods, leave "wild" zones or meadow areas of grasses.
And most importantly - less chemicals, prefer organic protection methods