Kenya, and i believe some of her neighbors, is experiencing infestation by the army worm. The spread of this pest is so sporadic and widespread in the Country that it may soon add to the current food shortage in the country.
What are the indicators for the army worm infestation for the purpose of prediction and control
The common species of moths/butterflies that are army-worms?
Armyworm may refer to:
African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) (Africa)
Common armyworm (Mythimna unipuncta) (North and South America)
Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (North and South America)
Lawn armyworm (Spodoptera mauritia)
Oriental armyworm or Rice ear-cutting caterpillar (Mythimna separata) (Asia)
Right now, we are talking about either the African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) or the fall armyworm (S. frugiperda), the former indigenous, the latter newly invasive in Africa including Kenya. It is too soon to know what the population dynamics of fall armyworm will be in East Africa, but in general populations can be expected to increase during the growing seasons and decrease during the dry seasons. There are prediction and early warning tools for the migratory African Armyworm, see e.g. latest forecast (June) which predicts outbreaks in northern Kenya: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/armyworm/forecasts/?article_id=002968
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- Invertebrate Zoology
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