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Swarms moving in the Horn of Africa and Arabia
During the past week, strong north winds have carried small mature (yellow) swarms south of the south Somalia northeast and east Kenya (Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, Tana River and Kitui Counties). In recent days, some swarms continued further south into Taita Taveta County and almost reached the northeast. Tanzania where they could appear in the Kilimanjaro, Manyara and Tanga regions until Sunday, November 22; thereafter, the winds will change and will no longer come from the north.
Although some of the swarms that came to Kenya I may have already laid eggs in the south Somalia prior to their arrival, there is a risk of increased egg laying in the sandy areas of the northeast Kenya where recent rains have fallen. In this case, jumper hatching and banding can be expected in early December. In the northwest, control operations are being carried out against small bands of grasshoppers that are forming from local farming in Samburu county.
The breeding continues in the center Somalia and oriental Ethiopia where there are hopper bands, and a new generation of immature swarms will begin to form later this month. The swarming will continue throughout December due to the widespread hatching and banding that occurred last week. Starting in the second week of December, several waves of numerous swarms can be expected to move south into Somalia Y Ethiopia, coming north Kenya. Intensive air and ground control operations continue in both countries.
Strong southerly winds over the Arabian Peninsula over the past week caused immature swarms to drift from within Yemen to the Asir mountains in the southwest Saudi Arabia as well as inland north of Riyadh. Some of these swarms may continue further north towards Iraq in the next few days until the south wind dies down.
In Eritrea, ground control operations against groups of grasshoppers and adults continue in the winter breeding grounds of the north coast of the Red Sea. In Sudan, Air and ground control operations against grasshopper bands and swarms continue in the summer breeding areas east of the Nile Valley. Control is also being carried out against the swarms that mature in the winter breeding areas in the Red Sea coast in the Tokar Delta. In the southeast Egypt, the control teams are treating some groups and bands of hoppers that have formed in an area.
In Yemen, several swarms were recently seen in the central highlands moving from the inland summer breeding areas to the Red Sea coast for winter breeding.
