LIFECYCLE OF THE DESERT LOCUST Egg pod THE DESERT LOCUST (SCHISTOCERCA GREGARIA FORSKAL) First instar The Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria Forskål) is a species of short–horned grasshoppers that belongs to the family Acrididae and order Orthoptera. Locusts differ from grasshoppers in their ability to change from a solitary living form into social, highly mobile adult swarms and hopper bands as their numbers and densities increase. Periods of low and intermediate numbers and densities (recessions, outbreaks and upsurges) alternate with very high numbers and densities (plagues). Second instar LIFE SPAN • Noise Noise increases the randomness of a swarm helping break it apart. A small • Desert Locusts live from 3 months to 6 swarm is easier to control than a big months or sometimes up to 10 months. swarm which could cover several hundred Apart from accidental death, the life kilometers. Local communities can span depends on how long they take to bang on metallic containers, scream, become sexually mature. automobile hooting and iron sheets to • The quicker they mature, the shorter the create atmospheric disturbance that disrupt Third instar total length of life. They reproduce from locusts. two to five generations a year depending on the duration of the rainy seasons. • Smoke • Ideally, a female lays eggs into moist Burning of tires and bonfires scares the sandy soil of between 5 to 15 cm depth to locust swarms from an area. This may limit water loss. present a problem for the neighbors but when the communities work together, this THREAT POSED TO FOOD SECURITY can divert a swarm. Fourth instar • Digging trenches • Desert Locusts damage a wide variety The immobile nymphs are buried in deep of wild and cultivated crops and trenches hence suffocating them. consume about their own weight of fresh vegetation each day. 3. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) • Half a million locusts each weighing • Building up of the natural enemies 2 grams can collectively eat about populations in areas prone to locust one tonne of vegetation each day. This invasions can keep the populations in amount is believed to be enough to feed check. Natural predators of the desert about 2,500 people. locusts include predatory wasps and flies, parasitoid wasps, predatory beetle Fifth instar CONTROL MEASURES larvae, birds and reptiles. 2. Chemical 1. Mechanical • Band spraying of the immobile young • Early warning hoppers Surveillance and reporting sightings of the The farmers spray on the immobile hoppers locusts to the relevant authorities is the (nymph stage) before they develop wings. most effective control measure. Email: [email protected] Adult female.