GC: n
S: FAO – https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/Five-things-you-should-know-about-an-age-old-pest-the-Desert-Locust/en (last access: 29 September 2024); NatGeo – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/locusts (last access: 29 September 2024).
N: 1. “grasshopper, large orthopterous insect noted for mass migrations accompanied by destructive ravages of vegetation,” early 14c., borrowed earlier in Old French form languste (c. 1200), from Latin locusta “locust; lobster” (see lobster).
In the Hebrew Bible there are nine different names for the insect or for particular species or varieties; in the English Bible they are rendered sometimes ‘locust,’ sometimes ‘beetle,’ ‘grasshopper,’ ‘caterpillar,’ ‘palmerworm,’ etc. The precise application of several names is unknown. [OED]
2. locust, (family Acrididae), any of a group of insects (order Orthoptera) that are distributed worldwide, the common name of which generally refers to the group of short-horned grasshoppers that often increase greatly in numbers and migrate long distances in destructive swarms. In Europe the term locust denotes large acridids, whereas smaller species are called grasshoppers. In North America the names locust and grasshopper are used for any acridid. Cicadas (order Homoptera) also may be called locusts, the 17-year “locust” being the 17-year periodic cicada. The grouse (or pygmy) locust is a member of the family Tetrigidae (see pygmy grasshopper).
3. The range of the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) is wider than that of any other acridid. It is found in grasslands throughout Africa, most of Eurasia south of the taiga, the East Indies, tropical Australia, and New Zealand. The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) inhabits dry grasslands and deserts from Africa to the Punjab and can fly upward to about 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) in huge towers of individuals. The smaller Italian and Moroccan locusts (Calliptamus italicus and Dociostaurus maroccanus) cause extensive plant damage in the Mediterranean area, with D. maroccanus found as far east as Turkestan. In South Africa the brown and red locusts (Locustana pardalina and Nomadacris septemfasciata) are extremely destructive. In Central and South America the chief migratory species is the South American locust (Schistocerca paranensis). The nonmigratory S. americana (found in the United States) may be a solitary phase of this genus. The Rocky Mountain locust and the migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus spretus and M. sanguinipes, respectively) destroyed many prairie farms in Canada and the United States in the 1870s. Many other species occasionally increase sufficiently in numbers to be called plagues.
Once developed, a locust plague is almost impossible to stop or control. Control measures include destroying egg masses laid by invading swarms, digging trenches to trap nymphs, using hopperdozers (wheeled screens that cause locusts to fall into troughs containing water and kerosene), using insecticidal baits, and applying insecticides to both swarms and breeding grounds from aircraft.
4. In certain parts of the world, grasshoppers are eaten as food. They are often dried, jellied, roasted and dipped in honey or ground into a meal. Grasshoppers are controlled in nature by predators such as birds, frogs, and snakes. Humans use insecticides and poison baits to control them when they become crop pests.
Although most grasshoppers are herbivorous, only a few species are important economically as crop pests.
5. Insects, Centipedes, Spiders, and Scorpions: locust.
- The term locust is used when referring to the insects of the family Acrididae, in a swarming phase.
- Kenyan authorities are battling swarms of locusts, which are reported to have damaged crops.
6. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention The Plague of Locusts from The Bible (Exodus 10).
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=locust (last access: 29 September 2024). 2 to 4. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/animal/locust-insect (last access: 29 September 2024). 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=locust&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 29 September 2024). 6. Biblegateway – https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Locust, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2010&version=NIV (29 September 2024).
SYN:
S:
