locust

locust, (family Acrididae), any of a group of insects (order Orthoptera) that are distributed worldwide, the common name of which generally refers to the group of short-horned grasshoppers that often increase greatly in numbers and migrate long distances in destructive swarms. In Europe the term locust denotes large acridids, whereas smaller species are called grasshoppers. In North America the names locust and grasshopper are used for any acridid. Cicadas (order Homoptera) also may be called locusts, the 17-year “locust” being the 17-year periodic cicada. The grouse (or pygmy) locust is a member of the family Tetrigidae (see pygmy grasshopper).

A phase theory has been developed to account for the sporadic appearance and disappearance of locust swarms. According to the theory, a plague species has two phases: one solitary and the other gregarious. The phases can be distinguished by differences in coloration, form, physiology, and behaviour. A solitary-phase nymph, for example, adjusts its coloration to match that of its surroundings, does not collect in groups, has low metabolic and oxygen-intake rates, and is sluggish. A gregarious-phase nymph, on the other hand, has black and yellow or orange coloration in a fixed pattern, gathers in large groups, has high metabolic and oxygen intake rates, and is active and nervous. Adult locusts differ more in form than in colour. The solitary phase has shorter wings, longer legs, and a narrower pronotum, or dorsal sclerite (with higher crest and larger head), than the gregarious phase. The adult of the gregarious phase has a more saddle-shaped pronotum, broader shoulders, and longer wings.

When a nymph of a solitary-phase locust matures in the presence of many other locusts, it undergoes a physiological change and produces offspring of the gregarious type. If crowding is sufficiently dense and of long enough duration, the majority of a local population will shift to the gregarious migratory phase. The young of a gregarious-phase locust, on the other hand, will produce offspring that revert to the solitary phase if it matures in isolation. The solitary phase is the normal state of the species, the gregarious phase being a physiological response to violent fluctuations in the environment. Migratory swarms do not form in regions favourable for the growth of a species. Instead, they form in marginal regions in which suitable habitats are scarce. A succession of favourable seasons enables a population to expand in numbers so that individuals are forced into marginal areas. When unfavourable environmental conditions occur in the marginal regions, individuals are forced to return to smaller, permanently habitable areas, resulting in crowding and triggering the physiological shift to the gregarious form.

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A gregarious-phase locust is restless and irritable, and it flies spontaneously on warm dry days, when its body temperature is high. The muscular activity of flight further raises its temperature. A swarm ceases flying only when environmental conditions change—e.g., rain falls, temperature decreases, or darkness occurs. In 1869 desert locust swarms reached England, probably from West Africa, and a flight across the Red Sea in 1889 was estimated to be about 5,000 square km (2,000 square miles) in size. The long-distance dispersal of these swarms is usually associated with either frontal winds of storm systems or high-level jet-stream winds. The acridids typically fly almost straight up into these fast-moving winds and then are carried with the winds until they slow to the point where gravity overcomes wind speed, causing them to drop from the sky.

The range of the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) is wider than that of any other acridid. It is found in grasslands throughout Africa, most of Eurasia south of the taiga, the East Indies, tropical Australia, and New Zealand. The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) inhabits dry grasslands and deserts from Africa to the Punjab and can fly upward to about 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) in huge towers of individuals. The smaller Italian and Moroccan locusts (Calliptamus italicus and Dociostaurus maroccanus) cause extensive plant damage in the Mediterranean area, with D. maroccanus found as far east as Turkestan. In South Africa the brown and red locusts (Locustana pardalina and Nomadacris septemfasciata) are extremely destructive. In Central and South America the chief migratory species is the South American locust (Schistocerca paranensis). The nonmigratory S. americana (found in the United States) may be a solitary phase of this genus. The Rocky Mountain locust and the migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus spretus and M. sanguinipes, respectively) destroyed many prairie farms in Canada and the United States in the 1870s. Many other species occasionally increase sufficiently in numbers to be called plagues.

Once developed, a locust plague is almost impossible to stop or control. Control measures include destroying egg masses laid by invading swarms, digging trenches to trap nymphs, using hopperdozers (wheeled screens that cause locusts to fall into troughs containing water and kerosene), using insecticidal baits, and applying insecticides to both swarms and breeding grounds from aircraft.