African Armyworms Invade Liberia

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Many have heard of army ants, but perhaps not armyworms. But much like the military might of an army, a host of crop-destroying armyworms has invaded Liberia.

Armyworms are, in fact, not worms, but caterpillers. They are the larvae of of nocturnal moths, of the species Spodoptera exempta. Their name comes from their "habit" of crawling en masse into fields of crops.

Besides being known as the African armyworm, it's also known as the okalombo or Kommandowurm or nutgrass armyworm.

The African armyworm larvae feed on grasses, early stages of cereal crops , sugar cane, and occasionally on coconut. During the rainy seasons, the adult moths spread and begin laying eggs in grasses and food crops. Each female lays between 500 and 1,000 eggs in her 10-day adulthood.

Currently, the situation in Liberia is so bad that the country has declared a state of emergency to deal with the invasion. The plague has affected 300,000 rural residents in central and northwestern parts of the country thus far.

Winfred Hammond, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told CNN that the infestation started sometime during the week of January 12 but spread quickly, to 50 villages in just a week. He added:

"The plague is being described as Liberia's worst in 30 years. The last African armyworm outbreak in the sub-region occurred in Ghana in 2006."

The weapon of choice against these pests would, unfortunately, be pesticides. A different approach, a biological one using a virus fatal to armyworms, NPV, is also being investigated in various countries, including the UK, Canada and Tanzania, but that is a long-term approach and will not help in this case.