Karnataka: Locust found in Dakshina Kannada villages endangered, not harmful, say experts

MANGALURU: Spotted Coffee Grasshopper or Aularches Miliaris, which is found in various parts of Dakshina Kannada district, is not harmful, but endangered, experts said.
The agriculture department in the district had already identified through experts that the swarms of locusts that arrived in various parts of Belthangady and Kadaba taluks were Aularches Miliaris. The department had also sent species collected from Shirlalu village of Belthangady taluk to Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) and Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK), Bengaluru for analysis.
As per the reports of these institutes, it was confirmed that the locusts found in the district are Aularches Miliaris.
Locust swarms were found in Noojibalthila, Renjiladi, Shirlalu in Dakshina Kannada district recently.
“Spotted Coffee Grasshopper is found in Western Ghats of southern India and it is one of the endangered species as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The insects are usually found in plantations of coffee, banana, cashew, arecanut, coconut, cardamom and paddy fields. The insect is not harmful and it can be eradicated in the ploughing stage itself in its egg stage. It can be destroyed in the later stage by spraying neem based insecticides or 1.5ml of lambda cyhalothrin 5 EC per litre. However, the locust needs to be protected since it is an endangered species,” said agriculture department joint director M C Seetha.