TBILISI, October 7 – A pest that first appeared in Abkhazia about eight years ago has now become a permanent local species, Abkhaz authorities say, but its threat to harvests has faded, officials add.
Vladimir Geria, head of the Plant Protection Service at Abkhazia’s de facto Ministry of Agriculture, told Apsnipress that the insect known locally as the brown marmorated stink bug established itself after an initial outbreak and caused serious damage to persimmon, fig and tangerine crops in its early years. At that time, Geria said, the pest’s population was huge and there were no natural enemies to hold it back.
Now, he said, the picture is different. Natural predators have emerged and the pest’s overall numbers have fallen, meaning crop losses have dropped to a minimum. The terminal storage of the infestation, he added, appears to be under control compared with the first years after the species arrived.
Still, October has seen large aggregations of the insects around houses and nearby yards across parts of Abkhazia. Geria explained that the gatherings are a seasonal “calendar explosion” linked to the insects’ life cycle, in particular when the creature is nearing its end of seasonal dormancy. He stressed that the autumn concentration does not reflect a sudden population boom but rather normal life-cycle activity.
Because the insects are not feeding while emerging from hibernation, Geria advised against chemical treatments now. Spraying during this phase, he warned, risks killing beneficial entomofauna that help keep the pest under control.
