Locust
Locust are the swarming phase of certain species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae. Such swarms are usually made of a great number of locusts. They do a lot of damage to the places where they pass, by eating the crops.
These are species which breed rapidly under suitable conditions. The migratory locust is the best-known example. They become gregarious and migratory when their populations become dense enough. They form bands as nymphs and swarms as adults. Both the bands and the swarms are nomadic and rapidly strip fields and greatly damage crops. The adults are powerful fliers; they can travel great distances, consuming practically all green material wherever the swarm settles.[1]
The origin and apparent extinction of certain species of locust—some of which grew to 6 inches (15 cm) in length—are unclear.[2]
Locusts are edible insects, and are considered a delicacy in some countries. There have been references to their consumption as food throughout history.[3][4]
In the Book of Joel in the Old Testament locust swarms are described as a plague.
Locust Media
Locusts are grasshoppers, such as this migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), that have entered into a migratory phase of their life.
Millions of swarming Australian plague locusts on the move
Solitaria (grasshopper) and gregaria (swarming) phases of the desert locust
Locust detail from a hunt mural in the grave-chamber of Horemhab, Ancient Egypt, circa 1422–1411 BC
Locusts which swarmed over England in 1748: Drawing by De la Cour; engraved by R. White, in Thomas Pennant's A Tour in Wales, 1781
Eugenio Morales Agacino on expedition monitoring locusts in the desert of Spanish Sahara, 1942
Preparing to flame locusts in Palestine, 1915
Cessna of the International Red Locust Control Organization spraying red locusts in Iku Katavi National Park, Tanzania, 2009
.jpg)
Related pages
References
- ↑ Stephen J. Simpson and Gregory A. Sword 2008. Locusts. Current Biology 18:r364-366.
- ↑ Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005 DVD. Rocky Mountain Locust.
- ↑ Alison Fromme (2005). "Edible Insects". Smithsonian Zoogoer. Smithsonian Institution. 34 (4). Archived from the original on 2005-11-11. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
- ↑ "Edible Insects - National Zoo| FONZ". Archived from the original on 2005-11-11. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
Other websites
More detailed information on locusts can be found at the pages of the Australian Plague Locust Commission Archived 2006-02-08 at the Wayback Machine.