Swarm laying along the Indo-Pakistan border
SOUTHWEST ASIA. Summer breeding is underway along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border.
In India, numerous adult groups and swarms are laying eggs over a wide area of Rajasthan between Jodhpur and Churu while hatching and band formation from earlier laying have occurred further south from Phalodi to Gujarat.
In Pakistan, hopper groups and bands are present in the Nagarparkar area in Tharparkar of southeast Sindh. Adult groups are scattered throughout Cholistan and other parts of Tharparkar that will lay eggs shortly.
In Iran, locust numbers have declined, and the situation has improved. Survey and control operations are in progress in all countries.
EAST AFRICA. Spring-bred swarms are shifting north to the summer breeding areas. In Kenya, there has been a notable decline in immature swarms in the northwest due to control operations and migration to Ethiopia. Nevertheless, there are still some swarms present in parts of Samburu and in Turkana near the Uganda border.
In Ethiopia, immature swarms are mainly present in the Somali region and, to a lesser degree, in parts of Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions.
In Somalia, immature swarms are present on the northern plateau where some of them have started to become mature. Survey and control operations are in progress in the three countries.
In Sudan, low numbers of solitarious mature adults are present between Eritrea and North Kordofan while mainly immature adults are present further north in the Nile Valley. Small-scale breeding will start shortly in areas of recent rainfall. So far, there are no reports of swarms arriving from NW Kenya. Intensive surveys are in progress.
ARABIAN PENINSULA. Yemen continues to be a cause of concern because of the continuation of good rains and breeding in interior areas where hopper bands and swarms are forming. Survey and control operations are in progress in some areas.
In Oman, control operations are in progress against hopper groups and bands that formed on the southern coast near Salalah while solitarious adults are present in adjacent areas of the interior.
In Saudi Arabia, local infestations of solitarious adults are present in the southwest near Najran.
WEST AFRICA. The situation remains calm. Solitarious adults are present in the summer breeding areas in southern Mauritania, central and northern Niger, and in western and eastern Chad where egglaying will occur shortly in areas of recent rainfall.