desert locust
Crop-devouring migratory insect
A desert locust is a species of grasshopper found across Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia that is notorious for forming enormous swarms capable of devastating crops and vegetation.
Under certain environmental conditions, these normally solitary insects undergo physical and behavioral changes that trigger them to gather in groups numbering in the billions.
A single swarm can travel over 100 miles in a day and consume food equivalent to what millions of people would eat, making desert locusts among the most destructive agricultural pests on earth.
- grasshopperJumping insect, long legs
- swarmingGathering in large numbers
- swarm intelligenceDecentralized group decision-making
- insectSix-legged invertebrate
- pesticidesChemicals destroying harmful organisms
migration · pheromones · plague · plague of locusts · orthoptera · aggregation · food security · crop destruction · famine · ovipositor · breeding ground · Horn of Africa · munching · horde · dark cloud · arthropod · aerial spraying · control measures
- insectsant, ants, bee, bees, butterfly
- arthropodsarthropod, arthropods, Arthropoda, insects, insect
- swarming insectsarmy ant, driver ant, flying ant, bee, honeybee
- African bugstsetse fly, driver ant, army ant, African bee, dung beetle
- desert arthropodsscorpion, deathstalker, emperor scorpion, camel spider, harvester ant
- grasshoppersgrasshopper
desert locusthoneybee
Nectar-gathering social insect
pollinator · earthworm · beneficial insect · ladybug · dung beetle