Locusta migratoria manilensis

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Oriental migratory locust
Locusta migratoria.jpg
Solitary phase in Japan
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Caelifera
Family: Acrididae
Genus: Locusta
Species:
L. migratoria
Subspecies:
L. m. manilensis
Trinomial name
Locusta migratoria manilensis
(Meyen, 1835)

Locusta migratoria manilensis, commonly known as the Oriental migratory locust, is a subspecies of the migratory locust (L. migratoria) 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. [1] 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.

Contents

Description

The Oriental migratory locust is slightly smaller than the African migratory locust. It can exist in two phases, solitary and gregarious. The solitary adults are either green or brown, but as the insects become more crowded together, then brown individuals predominate. The nymphs or hoppers are greyish-brown when they first hatch but their colour changes to either green or brown as they grow, with brown being more common in dry conditions. When their densities increase and they begin to form hopper bands, the colour becomes orangeish-brown or reddish-brown, with black markings. [2]

Distribution

The Oriental migratory locust is found in southeastern Asia. Outbreaks have occurred in western Malaysia, Sabah, eastern China and the Philippines. Plagues of swarming locusts have occurred in these areas and as far away as Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Sulawesi and the southern tip of Japan. [2]

Life cycle

The adult female Oriental migratory locust deposits a number of egg pods in the ground over the course of a few weeks. The sites selected include soft soils such as volcanic ash, alluvial soils and sand. Each pod contains between fifteen and a hundred eggs and most females lay from two to seven pods during the breeding season. The eggs hatch 10 to 24 days later and the nymphs develop through 5 or 6 instars, taking between 26 and 61 days to fully develop. [2] Females do not lay eggs when the temperature is below 21 °C (70 °F), and above this temperature, development times reduces as the temperature rises until 32 °C (90 °F) is reached, after which no further reduction takes place. [3]

Locusts change their behaviour and are attracted to each other when there are large numbers in close proximity. This behaviour starts when the nymphs are quite small and form a band that move together as a cohesive unit. The band of hoppers can travel a distance of up to 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) per day, mostly moving downhill, stopping sporadically to feed and bask in the sun. When the insects are fully developed and have wings, they stay together as a swarm. Solitary adults usually fly by night but gregarious ones fly by day. The new adults mature and become sexually active in three or four weeks. There may be up to five generations per year in the Philippines, but in the cooler parts of China, there may be just one or two. [2]

Outbreaks

Outbreaks tend to originate in two types of habitat; soft flood plains periodically inundated by floodwater and forest clearings. In the latter case, the land is cleared for growing crops but when the soil is exhausted it is abandoned and cultivation moves elsewhere. The grasses and weeds that grow in the clearing provide food for locust nymphs and cultivated areas nearby provide soft soil for mass egg deposition. [2]

A serious outbreak of the Oriental migratory locust occurred in Indonesia in 1997-1998. It was first observed in the provinces of Lampung, South Sumatra and Bengkulu in 1997 and then seemed to disappear. It reappeared early in 1998 and intensified, with nearly 20,000 hectares of rice and 15,000 hectares of maize being affected. It may have been triggered by the drought conditions of 1997. [4]

Outbreaks in China historically occurred about every ten years, usually after dry summers were succeeded by warm winters. The swarms were mostly restricted by the surrounding uplands to the river valleys. [2] Low-lying land that floods intermittently in the delta areas of the Yellow River has been identified as outbreak centres. During the period 2002 to 2006, outbreaks of hopper bands in this locality were biologically controlled with the fungal pathogen Metarhizium acridum by ground and aerial applications, giving a kill rate greater than 90%. [5]

In the Philippines, there were four major plagues in the first half of the twentieth century. They seem to have originated in southern Mindanao around Sarangani Bay. They tended to follow periods of below average rainfall. Since about 1960, the Oriental migratory locust has been less of a problem in the Philippines, probably because cultivation practices have changed and there is less untended grassland where populations can build up undetected. [2]

An outbreak in southern Japan was discovered on an uninhabited island in 1986. [2] A wildfire had restricted the area available to the locusts for feeding and later provided ideal conditions for egg deposition. Hopper bands with a density of 1000 insects per square metre roamed around and swarms of adults occurred over the whole island; the outbreak was brought under control later in the year by spraying. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Rocky Mountain locust Extinct species of grasshopper

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Grasshopper Common name for a group of insects

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Desert locust Species of grasshopper

The desert locust is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found mainly in Africa, through Arabia and West Asia, and extending into parts of South Asia. During population surge years, they may extend into parts of western Spain. The desert locust shows periodic changes in its body form and can change, in response to environmental conditions, over generations, from a solitary, shorter-winged, highly fecund, nonmigratory 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.

Migratory locust Species of grasshopper

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.

Bandwing Subfamily of grasshoppers

Bandwings, or band-winged grasshoppers are the subfamily Oedipodinae of grasshoppers classified under the family Acrididae. They have a worldwide distribution and were originally elevated to full family status as the Oedipodidae. Many species primarily inhabit xeric weedy fields, and some are considered to be important locusts:

Red locust Species of grasshopper

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.

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Senegalese grasshopper Species of grasshopper

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.

LUBILOSA

LUBILOSA was the name of a research programme that aimed at developing a biological alternative to the chemical control of locusts. This name is an acronym of the French title of the programme: Lutte Biologique contre les Locustes et les Sauteriaux. During its 13-year life, the programme identified an isolate of an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the genus Metarhizium and virulent to locusts, and went through all the necessary steps to develop the commercial biopesticide product Green Muscle based on its spores.

Brown locust Species of grasshopper

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<i>Hieroglyphus daganensis</i> Species of grasshopper

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<i>Dociostaurus maroccanus</i> Species of grasshopper

Dociostaurus maroccanus, commonly known as the Moroccan locust, is a grasshopper in the insect family Acrididae. It is found in northern Africa, southern and eastern Europe and western Asia. It lives a solitary existence but in some years its numbers increase sharply, and it becomes gregarious and congregates to form swarms which can cause devastation in agricultural areas. The species was first described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1815.

<i>Calliptamus italicus</i> Species of grasshopper

Calliptamus italicus, the Italian locust, is a species of 'short-horned grasshopper' belonging to the family Acrididae, subfamily Calliptaminae.

<i>Schistocerca americana</i> Species of grasshopper

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.

<i>Patanga succincta</i> Species of locust

Patanga succincta, the Bombay locust, is a species of locust found in India and southeast Asia. It is usually a solitary insect, and it is only in India that 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.

<i>Valanga nigricornis</i> Species of grasshopper


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.

African migratory locust Subspecies of locust

Locusta migratoria migratorioides, commonly known as the African migratory locust, is a subspecies of the migratory locust family Acrididae.

<i>Phymateus aegrotus</i> Species of grasshopper

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.

<i>Locusta migratoria cinerascens</i> Subspecies of locust

Locusta migratoria cinerascens is a subspecies of the migratory locust in the family Acrididae.

References

  1. ↑ Uvarov, B. P. (1936). "The Oriental Migratory Locust (Locusta migratoria manilensis, Meyen 1835)". Bulletin of Entomological Research. 27 (1): 91–104. doi:10.1017/S0007485300058144.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Oriental migratory locust - Locusta migratoria manilensis". Locust Handbook. Humanity Development Library. Retrieved 2015-04-06.
  3. ↑ Xiongbing Tu; Zhihong Li; Jie Wang; Xunbing Huang; Jiwen Yang; Chunbin Fan; Huihui Wu; Qinglei Wang; Zehua Zhang (2014). "Improving the Degree-Day Model for Forecasting Locusta migratoria manilensis (Meyen) (Orthoptera: Acridoidea)". PLOS ONE. 9 (3): e89523. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089523 . PMC   3943769 . PMID   24599091.
  4. ↑ Michel Lecoq and Sukirno (1999). "Drought and an Exceptional Outbreak of the Oriental Migratory Locust, Locusta migratoria manilensis (Meyen 1835) in Indonesia (Orthoptera: Acrididae)". Journal of Orthoptera Research. 8 (8): 153–161. JSTOR   3503438.
  5. ↑ Guoxiong Penga; Zhongkang Wanga; Youping Yina; Dengyu Zenga; Yuxian Xia (2008). "Field trials of Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) against oriental migratory locusts, Locusta migratoria manilensis (Meyen) in Northern China". Crop Protection. 27 (9): 1244–1250. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2008.03.007.
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