Bug takes over Home Economics College
Large colonies of a foreign bug have spread throughout the Home Economics College campus in the capital, creating panic among students and teachers.
The small, sap-sucking pest officially known as mealybug pervaded classrooms, labs, department offices, and dormitories--it is everywhere.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid visited the campus on Thursday and gave instructions to the authorities concerned to contain the infestation.
Following his inspection, the college administration extended an ongoing vacation till April 26 to eliminate the insects in the meantime.
Thousands of herds of mealybugs looking like tiny cotton balls were spotted along the corridors, on trees, drains and ground. Contacting the insect causes itching on skin, leading to infection.
“We are scared of seeing hundreds of thousands of bugs all throughout the campus. We can't sit in the departments,” said Iffat Ara Nargis, principal of the college.
She said the college went on summer vacation on April 3 and was due to open Sunday, but the authorities concerned advised them to vacate the institution before they started the drive.
The ministries of agriculture, health, and education and experts from Dhaka University, Bangladesh Agricultural University, and Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University will work to remove the insects from the campus, she told The Daily Star.
Students said for the last few days, hundreds of thousands of bugs had scrolled down to the ground from trees.
Masuma Aktar Poly, a final-year resident student of home management, said they were forced to keep windows and doors of the dormitories shut all the time and use mosquito net at night
Already experts from the three universities have visited the campus several times.
Dr Md Razzab Ali, professor of entomology at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, said the bug was very harmful for crop and fruit production, but it was not detrimental to humans.
“We are doing research on the bug for the last few years,” he said. It is very difficult to kill the adult bugs, as they remain alive for two to three days even under water, he added.
Mealybugs scroll down trees from April to May to lay eggs and diapause under the soil between May and December before crawling up the plants again, he told The Daily Star.
This is the best time to kill the insects by spraying pesticides, he said.
Prof Razzab said mealybugs might have migrated to Bangladesh in plants smuggled from African countries or in large military convoys.
The expert advised that the government seriously consider curbing the pest before it spreads all over the country and affects crop production.
In Bangladesh, mealybug infestations are seen in host plants like mango, jackfruit, citrus, papaya, brinjal, guava, tamarind, and rain tree.
Infested plants or plant parts grow weak and then wither or may die eventually.
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