Locusts are a group of certain species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they become more abundant and change their behaviour and habits, becoming gregarious. No taxonomic distinction is made between locust and grasshopper species; the basis for the definition is whether a species forms swarms under intermittently suitable conditions.
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
The desert locust is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and southwest Asia. During population surge years, they may extend north into parts of western Spain and southern Italy, south into Eastern Africa, and east in northern India. The desert locust shows periodic changes in its body form and can change in response to environmental conditions, over several generations, from a solitary, shorter-winged, highly fecund, non-migratory form to a gregarious, long-winged, and migratory phase in which they may travel long distances into new areas. In some years, they may thus form locust plagues, invading new areas, where they may consume all vegetation including crops, and at other times, they may live unnoticed in small numbers.
The migratory locust is the most widespread locust species, and the only species in the genus Locusta. It occurs throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It used to be common in Europe but has now become rare there. Because of the vast geographic area it occupies, which comprises many different ecological zones, numerous subspecies have been described. However, not all experts agree on the validity of some of these subspecies.
The red locust 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.
The Australian plague locust is a native Australian insect in the family Acrididae, and a significant agricultural pest.
The Senegalese grasshopper is a medium-sized grasshopper species found in the Sahel region of Africa, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, and West Asia. Although not called a locust in English, this species shows gregarious behaviour and some morphological change on crowding. In many parts of the Sahel, this species may cause greater year-on-year crop damage than better-known locusts, attacking crops such as the pearl millet.
The brown locust is a medium-sized small locust species in the monotypic genus Locustana. It is found in Southern Africa and shows classic gregarious behaviour with phase polymorphism on crowding.
Chelisoches morio, also known as the black earwig, are part of the family Chelisochidae. It is an omnivore that can be found worldwide, however it is most prominent in tropical areas, Pacific islands, the Pacific Northwest, and damp environments. The adults are jet black and can range in size from 18 to 25mm in size, though some have grown to be 36mm. The males cerci are widely separated and serrated compared to the female. The forceps are used for prey capture, defense, fighting and courtship.
Eurygaster integriceps is a species of shield bug in the family Scutelleridae, commonly known as the sunn pest or corn bug. It is native to much of northern Africa, the Balkans and western and central Asia. It is a major pest of cereal crops especially wheat, barley and oats.
Archipsocus nomas is a web-spinning barklouse, a psocid in the insect family Archipsocidae. It is found in the southeast of the United States, living gregariously on trees, feeding on and lichen and fungi and spinning a web that adheres to the trunk and large branches in sheets. The webs are thought to protect the barklice from predators and neither the insects nor the webs cause damage to the trees.
Calliptamus italicus, the Italian locust, is a species of 'short-horned grasshopper' belonging to the family Acrididae, subfamily Calliptaminae.
Schistocerca americana is a species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae known commonly as the American grasshopper and American bird grasshopper. It is native to North America, where it occurs in the eastern United States, Mexico, and the Bahamas. Occasional, localized outbreaks of this grasshopper occur, and it is often referred to as a locust, though it lacks the true swarming form of its congener, the desert locust.
Patanga succincta, the Bombay locust, is a species of locust found in India and southeast Asia. Usually a solitary insect, only in India has it has exhibited swarming behaviour. The last plague of this locust was in that country between 1901 and 1908 and there have not been any swarms since 1927. It is thought that the behaviour of the insects has altered because of changing practices in agricultural land use.
Valanga nigricornis, the Javanese grasshopper, is a species of grasshopper in the subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae of the family Acrididae. It is found in southeastern Asia, the type location being Singapore. It was first described by the German zoologist Hermann Burmeister in 1838. There are more than twenty subspecies, most of which are endemic to different island groups; the subspecies V. nigricornis nigricornis is the type for the genus Valanga.
Locusta migratoria manilensis, commonly known as the Oriental migratory locust, is a subspecies of the migratory locust in the family Acrididae. It is sufficiently different in size and structure from the African migratory locust to be considered a distinct subspecies of the migratory locust. It is found in southeastern Asia and is an important agricultural pest in the region. It is normally a solitary insect but when conditions are suitable, it enters into a gregarious phase when the young form into bands which move together and the adults into swarms. Although outbreaks may have recently been fewer in number and size because of changes in agricultural practices and better locust detection, the insects remain active as crop pests and the potential for outbreaks is still present.
Locusta migratoria migratorioides, commonly known as the African migratory locust, is a subspecies of the migratory locust family Acrididae.
Valanga irregularis belongs to the family Acrididae. The distribution is restricted in the Australian tropics and subtropics. The species is the largest grasshopper of the continent. Usually the animal lives a solitary mode of life.
Phymateus aegrotus, sometimes called the blue bush locust or East African bush locust, is a pest species of grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae. Unlike "locusts" the adults are not known to change their morphology on crowding, but at the hopper stage, marching behaviour of small bands may occur.
2019–2022 locust infestation is a pest outbreak of desert locusts which is threatening the food supply across the regions of East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Indian subcontinent. The outbreak is the worst in 70 years in Kenya and the worst in 25 years in Ethiopia, Somalia and India. The plague began in June 2019 and continued into 2020, although locust swarms have experienced steady declines in population and geographical reach from May to October, and as of November 2020, primarily found in the Horn of Africa and Yemen.
