Catalonia is preparing to fight another battle against an invasive Asian pest that threatens to damage crops. The Generalitat has appealed to the population of 185 municipalities (20% of the total community) so that if they detect specimens of a bed bug of Asian origin, known as “brown stink bug” because of the strong smell it gives off, they should eliminate it .
”He has not yet had excessive virulence. But now we must not lower our guard to avoid damage to agriculture ”, explains the head of Plant Health of the Department of Climate Action of the Generalitat, Jordi Giné. The bed bugHalyomorpha halys is the scientific name) was detected in 2016. The theory of experts is that it entered the Pyrenees through roads. The stowaway technique has been used before by other invaders such as the one known as the “billion beetle” ( diabrotica virgifera ), detected this year and famous for its damage to corn. They enter the territory through trucks and then expand from north to south, jumping from crop to crop with extreme ease. It measures 12 to 17 millimeters long and 7 to 10 millimeters wide.
Despite the fact that in the at least six years that the insect has not caused great damage in the community, the Government is concerned. The experience in other countries such as Italy is not at all promising. “The damage it causes is that it feeds on the fruit. It damages it and then it cannot be marketed ”, says Giné. The expert explains that now is the time to call for citizen support because in autumn it is the time when the insect accesses homes to take refuge from the rains and low temperatures. Then, in spring, it comes out to feed. The extremely dry year that the community has experienced (in some areas it has been one of the worst of the century) has helped to keep the bed bug more at bay, which apart from feeding on numerous crops lives on other plants, trees and shrubs, too in the city.
Summer is when it is most active and this year, despite the fact that less has been detected than in previous years, there has been damage to fruit plantations in Girona and Baix Llobregat. Giné alerts of the progressive arrival of species by land, sea and air in recent years, especially Asian ones, such as the one known as the olive fly. But above all, Giné is concerned about the arrival of others who have not yet done so: such as bacteria. Xylella fastidiosa which according to the EU can put some 300,000 jobs at risk.
Today, in Catalonia more than 1,200 exotic species have already been detected. The community is one of the most affected by this phenomenon in the EU. And experts such as the director of the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Joan Pino, have long warned that the problem has come to stay.
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