Muhammad Abdul Hamid Miah
Former President, Bangladesh Entomological Society.
INTRODUCTION: Effect of climate change is not confined to arthropod pests and their outbreaks; beneficial arthropods are also affected. Therefore, an attempt has been made to include effect of global warming on four beneficial arthropods viz., insects, mites, ticks and, spiders. Global warming is a great concern throughout the world. The ill effects of global warming like change in climate, temperature, rainfall, humidity, level of carbon dioxide have been found to have both positive and negative effects on insects, which in turn reduces the effectiveness of crop protection measures. Effect on human animal health is no exception. This creates the need for global warming to be taken as an important criterion in Entomology. Being poikilothermic in nature insects are greatly affected by changing temperature.
The major cause of climate change is the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) viz., carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO2) as a result of human activities from pre-industrial era. These gases keep the earth warm and cause global warming or greenhouse effect. Global warming is caused by natural factors as well as human activities. There are number of natural factors responsible for climate change. Some of the most prominent are volcanoes, ocean currents, forest fire etc. Among human activities, emissions of greenhouse gases, industrialization, deforestation, fuel burning, etc. are the most important factors contributing to global warming. It is not new that global warming can affect agriculture through their direct and indirect effects on crops, soils, pests, livestock and fish. Changes in climatic factors affect crops in various ways through ineffective pollination, salinity, drought, crop sterility, submergence, flash floods, plant mortality through inappropriate temperature level, hot air flush, cyclone, hailstorm etc. Climate change affects the biology of insects, spiders and mites.
Global climate changes have significant impacts on agriculture and also on agricultural insect pests. Agricultural crops and their corresponding pests are irectly and indirectly affected by climate change. Direct impacts are on pests’ reproduction, development, survival and dispersal, whereas indirectly the climate change affects the relationships between pests, their environment and other insect species such as natural enemies, competitors, vectors and mutualisms. Insects are poikilothermic organisms; the temperature of their body depends on the temperature of the environment. Thus, temperature is probably the most important environmental factor affecting insect behavior, distribution, development and reproduction.
Therefore, farmers can expect to face new and intense pest problems in the coming years due to the changing climate. The spread of crop pests across physical and political boundaries threatens food security which is a global problem common to all countries and regions. Effects of different climatic factor on several aspects of insects, their natural enemies, insecticides, biopesticides and overall impact on crop production and food security are described here starting with effects on some beneficial and commonly known arthropods.
REFERENCES
AFP (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE). 2021. Global warming is so bad it’s causing fruit flies to go infertile, finds study. May 27, 2021.
ALI, A. M. & RYAD, L. 2018. Thermal and photodecomposition of chlorpyrifos and profenofos insecticides. Current Science International. 7: 419-422.
BARLEY, S. 2009. Cockroaches’ future-proofed against climate change. New Scientist August, 2009.
BORA, N. & SAIKIA S. 2022. Climate change and its impacts on sericulture Industry. Just Agric. 2: 1-5.
CHANDRA, G. & MUKHERJEE, D. 2022. Effect of climate change on mosquito population and changing pattern of some diseases transmitted by them. Advances Anim. Experiment. Model. 35: 455–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90583-1.00030-1.
DURANT, J. L. 2022. Climate change is ratcheting up the pressure on bees. (https://www. ucdavis.edu>climate>change>bees>face –ma.
GILBERT, L. 2021. The impact of climate change on ticks and tick-borne diseases risk. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 66: 373-388.
HENRIQUES, S. 2019. Spiders are threatened by climate change- and even the biggest arachnophobes should be worried. The Conversation, August 2019. https:// theconversation.com › spiders-are-threatened-b.
HINDU, 2023. Relation between termites behavior and warming world. J. India. https:// journalsofindia.com.
HOLLAND, J. S. 2013. Dung-beetles-global-warming. Animals Science. https://www. nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/130904.
HOSSAM, A. S., OWAYSS, A. A., IBRAHIM, Y. & BASUNY, N. K. 2017. A review of impacts of temperature and relative humidity on various activities of honey bees. Insects Sociaux. 64: 455-463. DOI:10.1007/s00040-017-0573-8.
INGLIS, G. D., DAN, L., MARK, J. & GOETTEL, S. 1997. Effects of temperature and sunlight on Mycosis (Beauveria bassiana) (Hyphomycetes: Sympodulsporae) of grasshoppers under field conditions. Environmental Entomol. 26: 400-409. https:// doi.org/10.1093/ee/26.2.400.
INTAGLIATA, C. 2019. Warming climate implies more flies- and disease. Scientific American, February 20: 2019.
JACKIE, 2016. Flatulent cockroaches adapt to climate change. https://www.rentokil.co.uk › Blog › Cockroaches.
JENNIE, H. 2016. As climate change leads to higher numbers of head lice infestation, lice troopers respond with all-natural approach. Just Agric. 2: https://www.prweb.com.
KING, B. H. 1987b. Offspring sex ratios in parasitoid wasps. Quarterly Review of Biology. 62: 367-396.
KING, B. H. 1987a. Effect of temperature on sex ratio and life tables parameters of the leek and tobacco associated thrips lineages (Thysantoptera: Thripidae). Population Ecol. . 63: 230-237. https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-390X.12082.
LEBLOND, N. 2021. The impact of climate change on pest control. https://blog.rentokil. co.za/the-impact-of-climate-change-on-pest-control.
MACHEMER, T. 2018. Climate change makes spiders bigger-and that’s a good thing. National Geographic, July 24, 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic.com>animals.
MOUSTAFA, M., SALEH, M. A., ATEYA, I. R. & KANDIL, M. A. 2018. Influence of some environmental conditions on stability and activity of Bacillus thuringiensis formulations against the cotton leaf worm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Egyptian J. Biol. Pest Ctrl. 28: 1-7.
PARREY I. R. 2018. Impact of temperature on crop and higher silk production (Bombyx mori L). Seed Process Technology. 6: 186-187.
PENTILLA, A. 2013. Dung beetles are saving the world from global warming. https// entomology today.org.
RUKKE, B. A., SIVASUBRAMANIAM, R., BIRKEMOE, T & AAK, A. 2018. Temperature stress deteriorates bed bugs (Cimex lectuarius) population through decreased survival, fecundity and offspring success. PLoS ONE. 13: e0193788. DOI:10:1371/journal.pone.01793788.
SKENDZIC, S., ZOVKO, M., ZIVKOVIC, I. P., LESIC, V. & LEMIC, D. 2021. The impact of climate change on agricultural insect pests. Insects. 12: 440. https://doi. org/10.3390/insects12050440.
SOLIMAN, M. M. M. 2012. Effects of UV-light, temperature and storage on the stability and biological effectiveness of some insecticides. J. Plant Protect. Res. 52: 275-280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10045-012-0044-1.
