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Swarms have devastated crops and have caused famines and human migrations. More recently, changes in agricultural practices and better surveillance of locust breeding grounds have allowed control measures at an early stage. Traditional locust control uses insecticides from the ground or air, but newer biological control methods are proving ...
Swarms can travel 5 to 130 km or more in a day. Locust swarms can vary from less than one square kilometre to several hundred square kilometres with 40 to 80 million individuals per square kilometre. An adult locust can consume its own weight (several grams) in fresh food per day. For every million locusts, one ton of food is eaten.
The largest swarms can cover hundreds of square miles and contain billions of locusts. A locust can eat its own weight (about 2 grams) in plants every day. That means one million locusts can eat more than one tonne of food each day, and the largest swarms can consume over 100,000 tonnes each day. [87]
A mathematical model of locust swarms could help in the development of new strategies to control their devastating migration.
Locust swarms had infested 23 countries by April 2020. East Africa was the epicenter of the locust crisis—with Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda among the affected countries. However, the locusts had traveled far, wiping out crops in Pakistan and damaging farms in Yemen, a fragile country already hit hard by years of conflict.
A bystander in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, captured the moment when swarms of locusts coated the sky above him on Feb. 21. According to National Geographic, locusts are sometimes solitary insects ...
The Australian plague locust is less gregarious than other locust species and swarms occur in a continuum from dense swarms through a range of densities down to scattered adults. Swarms may persist for days, dispersing and reforming while following the wind. Swarms may move up to 20 km in a day. [7]
The red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata) is a large grasshopper species found in sub-Saharan Africa. Its name refers to the colour of its hind wings. It is sometimes called the criquet nomade in French, due to its nomadic movements in the dry season. When it forms swarms, it is described as a locust.