One of Africa’s giant beetles – one of the world’s greatest insects – is one step away from extinction. The fault is mostly from the cocoa industry in the West of the continent.
A kind of the huge goliah beetles has been almost decimated by cocoa industry From West Africa and, to a lesser extent, by the international trade of dry insects, revealed a new investigation. After all, what went wrong and how can the beetle Goliath be saved?
The Besouros Goliath Goliathus) are among the largest incests in the world. There are five different species, which grow up to 11 centimeters long; Males have Y -shaped horns and females have no horns.
These beetles are found in the tropical forests of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benim, Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. The beetle larvae, or larvae, are omnivorous and probably feed on meat and remains of plants. They play an important role in the transport of nutrients through the forest ecosystem to feed other plants and animals. Adult beetles feed only on the sap of some tree species in ripe tropical forest zones.
The golias beetle is a Excellent forest health indicator: If they are abundant in a forest, it is because the forest is in good enough conditions to support other species. But when their populations decrease, it is an early warning indicator of the emptying of forests and erosion of ecosystems.
What happened?
Luca Luiselliprofessor of biostatistics and ecology at the University of Lomé, Togo, investigates threatened species in African forests for 30 years. Studying the reptiles threatened in West African forests, their team of ecologists from African and European countries realized that the beetles-golias shared the same habitat and could also be in danger.
The team then started intensive campaigns of face -to -face interviews in communities to find out if the places (hunters, farmers, curl collectors, mushrooms and wood and other forest materials) had noticed a lower presence of beetles Goliath.
When they confirmed the fears, the investigators decided to launch an in -depth investigation. It began to locate the trees that were dripping sap, because it is known that adult beetles feed on sap during the day. Then he looked at the treetops where they flying every morning, returning at night to collect them and measure before freeing them in their natural habitat.
The team found that two of these giant insects, Goliathus Royal Klug e Goliathus cacicus Olivierare threatened with extinction.
O Goliathus cacicus It is the smallest of the two species of giant beetles; It is up to 95 mm long (usually 60-84 mm) and only lives in mature tropical forests. THE Gijolaathus It can reach 105 mm long (usually 75-95 mm) and prefers drier forests. Occasionally they live in the same piece of forest and even in the same tree and mate, giving rise to natural hybrids.
Calculate-be that about 80% of the population of Goliathus cacicus has been decimated on the coast of ivoryif we take into account the amount of forest destroyed for the cocoa culture. Similarly, the Gijolaathus Lost about 40% of its natural habitat.
Based on the registered habitat loss, it is believed that the Goliathus cacicus had a catastrophic decline in the last 30 years. It seems to have been extinguished in various areas of West Africa, such as the Bank’s Forest Park in Abidjan, on the Ivory Coast, probably due to the fact that thousands of these beetles were captured and sold in the international dry insect market.
Other closely related species, such as the Goliathus goliatuscontinue to be sold to hundreds in the dry insect market, especially in southwest of the Cameroon and, to a lesser extent, in Kenya and Uganda, exported to Western markets.
Due to the fact that they exist in large numbers and in a very vast area, they are not yet a species in extinction. There are large areas of Africa where beetles are protected. The forests of Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Sudan South, Rwanda and Kenya offer a valuable shelter Goliathus goliatus. Gabon, the northern Republic of Congo and the northern Democratic Republic of Congo have vast forests, largely pristine and inaccessible, where the beetles goliathus goliatus are not threatened.
How can we save them?
It is imperative to protect its natural habitat – the remains of the forests of the Ivory Coast and the Liberia where they lived. Special attention should be paid to the protection of the trees where these beetles tend to focus.
Even species that are not in danger at this time need wet forests to survive, but are facing increasing threats due to deforestation, land conversion, mining exploration and climate change. They may be the next to be threatened and should be carefully monitored.
In addition to protected reserves and national parks (the most important thing is the Taï National Park, on Ivory Coast), there are no real measures to limit the expansion of cocoa plantations in West Africa.
Scientists, government agencies and non -profit organizations in West Africa should agree on an action plan to keep the beetles Goliath, especially the Goliathus cacicus.
