More than 60 species of new insects have “migrated” to Greece in the last 20 years, with scientists worried that climate change may bring insecticides back to the forefront.

Nikolaos Koulousis, professor at the Laboratory of Applied Agriculture in Zoology & Parasitology – Department of Agriculture, AUTh, expressed his fear that humanity will be forced to return to the use of insecticides in order to control the insects that cause their . .

“I am very afraid that we will have to fight insects with insecticides, which in themselves contribute greatly to climate change and make it worse,” he said.

Citing recent work, with companies trying to quantify the possible effects of insects on wheat, rice and corn, Mr. Koulousis stressed the additional rise in temperature by two degrees Celsius, there will be “an increase in insect loss by 59 million tons corresponding to all US production in 2017, an increase in loss of 92 million tonnes of rice, or 3/4 of China’s consumption, and 62 million tonnes of maize, corresponding to total production in Kenya and Uganda The year”.

He clarified that the aforementioned three species, in 42% of the calories consumed by humans and noted that the aforementioned losses are additional and more pronounced in temperate countries.

More than 60 species of insects “migrated” to Greece in the last 20 years

In the last 20 years, according to Mr. Koulousis, more than 60 new species of insects have entered Greece, with 20 of them having developed into serious enemies “not only because of climate change, but also because of it,” he explained.

In fact, he added that there are other insects on the verge of entering Greece, the worst of which is not considered what made its appearance in Italy in 2018 and looks like the olive grove and the Mediterranean fly, “with the difference that it is very “Worse, it has great destructive potential and many hosts,” he said.

Insects will not be the main cause of the problems of climate change, but they will aggravate the problem, said Mr. Koulousis.

“What can we do?” He asked. They will need the same new strategies and treatment of insects and “I am very afraid that we will have to resort again to the insecticides that are decreasing and coming out of the market”.

In his statement, Mr. Koulousis stated that insects are insectivorous, which means that they have the ambient temperature and consume more calories when it increases.

They survive better during milder winters, resulting in faster reproduction, change the range of their geographical distribution and settle in favorable areas depending on the climate.

With information from ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ