Centipedes invade 102 communities in Western Region
An army of centipedes has invaded more than 102 communities in the northern parts of the Western Region, causing havoc to crops and creating discomfort in the affected areas.
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Following the invasion, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Western Region office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) have dispatched a team to study and control the situation.
Initially, the centipedes were resistant to some chemicals but are unable to withstand chemicals such as agrocombi, nopest and super agro blast being used by the team to control them.
Centipede
Centipede is the common name for any member of the arthropod class Chilopoda, comprising species with long, flattened bodies with many segments, and with one pair of jointed appendages on each segment except the last two. The appendages on the first segment take on the form of jaw-like, venomous claws with poison glands that are used in capturing prey. There are more than 2,500 known species.
Centipedes are typically fast-moving, predatory, terrestrial arthropods that feed on insects (such as flies and cockroaches) and other invertebrates, and even small vertebrates. Chiefly nocturnal, centipedes are found primarily in tropical climates, but are also widely distributed in temperate zones. Some species are highly venomous, but human deaths are very rare.
Centipedes play key roles in food webs. Furthermore, the house centipede, which may be seen as a household pest to be exterminated, actually is one of the most beneficial creatures to inhabit human dwellings, consuming actual household pests like bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, and so forth.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Western Regional NADMO Coordinator, Mr Abdul Ganiyu Mohammed said currently the situation was under control compared to what prevailed when the creatures surfaced in the communities a fortnight ago.
Chemicals
He said currently the team was running out of supply of the three chemicals, and arrangements were being made to replenish the stock to ensure successful completion of the exercise to control the invasion.
Some communities in the Western Region had, in the past, experienced similar invasion of centipedes, believed to have migrated from Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr Mohammed expressed the hope that the farmers and residents in those 102 communities in the two districts would soon see some changes as NADMO and other agencies worked to clear the community of the centipedes.
Background
In 2012, more than 1,000 residents in the Prestea Huni Valley District in the Western Region battled with strange centipede-like creatures, which were giant reddish in nature.
The creatures created discomfort for the people for more than five years, as they resurfaced between January and April every year.
Some of residents of Huni Valley attributed the invasion of the centipedes to some spiritual curses that might have been visited on them by a deity in the area.
Again in 2014, residents of Buabeng-Fiema in the Nkoranza North District in the Brong-Ahafo Region were consumed by fear due to centipede invasion in some communities including the monkey sanctuary that had been preserved for centuries.
