Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Earth

Caterpillar plague strikes west Africa

By Debora Mackenzie

28 January 2009

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Close-up of the caterpillars devastating crops in Liberia

(Image: Zoom Dosso / AFP / Getty)

Update: On 29 January, the that the caterpillars in the Liberia outbreak are of the same species of armyworm that is a well known pest in east Africa. However, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation has now told Âé¶¹´«Ã½ that their first impression, that they are with a strikingly different life cycle, has now been borne out by laboratory observations in Accra.

A THRONG of crop-eating caterpillars is threatening food supplies across west Africa, and…

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