Climate Changes and the Newly Emerged Insect Pests in the Nena Region

The NENA region faces urgent and interconnected challenges of climate change and political instability. These factors not only weaken the agricultural quarantine and phytosanitary system but also create an environment that encourages the spread of agricultural pests across borders. In this brief editorial, I will shed light on some key insect pests that have significantly worsened over the past decade, emphasizing the need for immediate action. Food and Agriculture Organization FAO and other organizations focus on transboundary insects that threaten crops due to their ability to spread across multiple territories and impact many crops. The most common transboundary pests of crops include desert locusts Schistocerca gregaria , fruit flies, red palm weevils Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, and fall armyworms Spodoptera frugiperda , which invaded maize in 2016 in West Africa. As the migration of these pests is often aided by strong winds, trades, and climatic factors, other insect pests succeeded in traveling across countries and continents, such as citrus leaf miner Phyllocnistis citrella in 1994 and tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (= Phthorimea absoluta ) in 2006.