Tiger mosquitos, Asian hornets and bed bugs: What climate change means for Europe’s ‘pest demographics’ haunting the Paris Olympics

The culprit was the Brazilian wandering spider, an 11cm-long black and red spider with a bite that causes convulsions, hypothermia, death and – if you're male – a particularly painful case of uncontrolled erection. You can imagine the shock.

the Store closing For preventive disinfection, the spider escaped and was never heard from again. But it's hardly the only invasive creeper to make its way into European tabloids recently.

France gained an unfortunate reputation ahead of the Olympics for a bedbug infestation, with Paris's deputy mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, warning people that “no one is safe”. “You can catch them anywhere,” and reports of vampires on board the Eurostar caused panic in London.

Tiger mosquitoes, which can carry dengue and Zika, have also been seen across the country, prompting Paris authorities to bring in entomological “investigators” to track down their breeding sites.

At the same time, the Turkish pharmaceutical industry is looking to Europe more widely as a new and exciting export market Scorpion anti-venom.

Is climate change to blame for this apparent arthropod invasion?

The reality is less terrifying than the headlines suggest, says Dr Matt Green, principal entomologist at UK-based global pest control company Rentokil Essential, which has operations across the continent.

We are not close to dengue becoming endemic. Reports of French bedbugs skyrocketed because people saw the terrifying news headlines and started looking under their mattresses. And if we're generally seeing more invasive species, it's mostly not because temperatures are rising.

“I'm often asked how climate change will impact our business. Well, since humans have already moved all the major pests to almost every country, and certainly to every major center of human activity, not as much as you might think,” Green says. luck.

The good news is that those who are worried about bumping into wandering Brazilian spiders can relax.

Most species need more than just warming to be able to live in completely new and different ecosystems. For example, Sheerness Docks near London has a population of about 1,000 10,000 yellow scorpions for centuriesSince merchant ships brought them from continental Europe, these harmless creatures have not spread because conditions are not suitable.

What is climate change doing to Europe's pest population?

This does not mean that climate change is not affecting the pest picture in Europe.

Termites – a long-standing problem in Mediterranean countries – are making their way to northern Europe as temperatures rise, although the relative shortage of wooden buildings means they are unlikely to cause widespread economic damage there.

Aedes The mosquitoes – the genus that includes the tiger mosquito – are well established in Italy, and are arriving there in France, meaning countries such as Switzerland are unlikely to be spared.

“Europe is already seeing how climate change is creating more favorable conditions for the spread of invasive mosquitoes in areas that were previously unaffected,” said Andrea Amon, director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Tell BBC.

Fortunately, this is not the type that carries malaria; Anopheleswhich is unlikely to spread in Europe due to the lack of large bodies of stagnant water to the contrary Aedes-It needs to reproduce.

The same cannot be said about Asian hornets Which, depending on where you live, could soon be coming to a picnic near you. “They move across France quite easily, and there have been cases where they've overwintered in the UK, which means we've probably got this now, so they've come to terms with it,” Green says.

Then there are bedbugs. Even before the recent surge, infections were costing the French economy 230 million euros ($246 million) annually, according to the health agency. It is considered. Callouts can cost hotels thousands of dollars in treatments and lost income, and can lead to hysteria and panic during the Paris Olympics.

The six-legged vampires may have been there all along, but they prefer warm weather.

“When the temperature inside your home is 25 to 26 degrees Celsius (77 to 78.8 Fahrenheit), it only takes five days for bedbug eggs to hatch. Under normal conditions, when the temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius, it takes 10 days. Wired During the height of the panic last year

How pests are changing in Europe after climate change

Whether rising temperatures help us or not, the pests we are likely to see more of are those that are best adapted to humans and our behavior, and it is our behavior that helps them spread.

In rural areas, this is often done through monoculture, although sometimes all it takes is a tendency to import non-native plants.

Oak processionary moth – A species endemic to southern Europe, it destroys forests and releases hairs that can irritate the skin, eyes and airways.Established a foothold In the United Kingdom in the 2000s, when an oak tree was shipped from Europe. Ironically, this happened near the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where the authorities keep an eye on such things.

However, you are more likely to notice urban pests.

Rats, mice, cockroaches and the like all share characteristics that make them ideally suited to living closely with humans, whether we like it or not. They are small in size, able to crawl through tight, dark and generally nocturnal spaces, making them difficult to detect. More importantly, they are also carnivores.

“They're very flexible, so you won't care about a degree or two (change in temperature). They're already living in air-conditioned buildings,” says Rentokil-Green. “Some of the moths in warehouses are barely flying these days. They don't have to do that. They were just living in a world filled with food, and moved by humans. It's a hell of a life.”

Sometimes it's a well-intentioned or necessary change in human behavior that helps urban pests multiply.

Regardless of the media frenzy, the numbers of bed bugs an act It increased rapidly worldwide in the early 21st century. in AustraliaThe percentage of increase ranged between 500% and 4500%. In New York City, bedbug complaints filed with the council jumped from 537 in 2004 to 10,985 in 2009, although Since it dropped.

Entomologists Describe Resurgence at the End of the DDT Era – The notorious insecticide dramatically reduced global insect pest populations in the mid-to-late 20th century, before serious environmental and health concerns ended its use and species began to develop resistance. In essence, we are returning to historical norms from a period of unusually low insect activity.

Don't expect this to change. Although the pest control industry is deploying increasingly sophisticated control strategies and “physical” interventions, such as steam cleaning rooms containing bedbugs, the move away from chemical controls means we are losing what has been a powerful weapon against infestation.

Something similar may be about to happen with mice, at least in Europe, where regulators are cracking down Increasingly bleak vision Concerning the use of anticoagulant rodenticides.

This may be for good reasons, but it worries pest watchers. As one of them said: “There is a whole generation of pest controllers who have been trained to put rat poison in bait boxes. If you take it off the market, what are you left with?” Quotes AliensWhat are we supposed to use, harsh language?

the future

Humanity has caused the extinction of many species, most of them unintentionally, and continues to do so. However, the species that at least some of us don't want have proven to be stubbornly resilient. Almost by definition, pests thrive when we do.

So what can we expect? In Europe, climate change and human activity are unlikely to make deadly spiders a regular part of grocery shopping, or lead to tropical levels of mosquito-borne diseases.

But it will change the numbers of animals we share our environment with. Habituation to Aedes and Asian hornets; Be careful of mice and bedbugs.

But what may change the most are our expectations of what pest control means. With the spray-first-ask-ask-later approach now cemented in the history books, eliminating pests when they first appear may end up being remembered as a 20th-century idea.