New insect species can be seen in Turkey: Expert

ORDU - Demirören News Agency

New insect species that started to appear lately in fields and agricultural lands and new invasive species might be seen in Turkey, an expert has warned.

Hasan Sevgili from Ordu University said that the invasion of desert grasshoppers, which has spread from Africa to the Turkish-Iraq-Iran border in recent years, may be a harbinger of climate change.

Stressing that the plants and animals that are not included in its fauna and flora have somehow come to the Black Sea region, Sevgili pointed out that these creatures found a suitable environment and rapidly increased their populations.

Indicating that this population belongs to a non-butterfly insect family that the locals call a butterfly, the academic noted that an Asian insect species, that feeds on the sap of plants, causes serious damage to the nut and kiwi trees.

He said that this insect named the “Japanese beetle” reproduced and multiplied easily due to the lack of a natural enemy such as a bird or reptile in nature and expanded its population area to the western Black Sea region starting from the Georgian border.

Underlining that it is very difficult to fight with those in a natural way because Japanese beetles attack all kinds of plants, the scientist urged authorities to take action to combat these insects.

“We can define these insects as invasive species. Their numbers may gradually increase. So, in the next process, we can come across various types of insects and plants that we have not seen before, it is good to be prepared,” he added.