Locust Invasion - an article about nation's recent threat and details about Locust Vs grasshopper

 Locust (Caelifera schistocerca) 

The emerging threat of the nation. 

                 In the past few days we came across a hot topic amidst Covid-19. It's about the swarming of locust in the northern parts of the country and soon they will become a national threat as they can able to devastate the standing crops and it leads to severe food insecurity and feared global starvation.

              In this article, we tried to make you understand about this notorious issue called Locust swarm and also about Locust vs grasshopper.

What kind of phenomenon is this?

Is it new? Definitely not.

              Chapter 7 verse 133 of Qura'an says, "So we sent upon them the flood and locusts and lice and frogs and blood as distinct signs, but they were arrogant and were a criminal people" 

              Exodus Chapter 10 verses 12-15 of Bible says, "And the lord said to Moses, 'stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locust will swarm over the land and devour everything growing fields, everything left by the hail. 'So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night".

              From the above evidences, we came to know that the locust were exist from time immemorial. It's definitely not a new phenomenon. 

In 19th century, the desert locust plague were reported during the below mentioned timelines,

• 1926 - 1934
• 1940 - 1948
• 1949 - 1963
• 1967 - 1969
• 1986 - 1989

              These locusts are believed to exist before 25,000 years (approximately) from now and their origin is believed to be Africa. From all this we will become clear that this is not a new phenomenon.

What is this 'Locust'?

                   The Locust is actually a short horned grasshopper. When the short horned grasshopper is congested (more insects in a small area) they are called Locusts. Locusts have two behavioural property.

                       They are solitary and gregarious (fond of company) where grasshoppers have only one behavioural property which is Solitary. There are nearly 10 species of locusts. Out of these, Caelifera schistocerca is the most destructive one. The females are bigger than males. 

                     The size of female locust ranges from 7-9 cm and the size of male locust ranges from 4-6 cm. They eat nearly equal to it's weight. That is, if a locust weighs 2 gm, they can eat nearly 2 gm of food. 

• The locust remain in the egg stage for nearly 2 months. (On an average a female locust can lay upto 80 to 100 eggs thrice in it's lifecycle)

• And gradually developed into wingless insects in 3 months

• And finally the wings are developing and their life expectancy is about 5 months

What is the suitable climatic conditions for these locusts to get multiplied in large numbers?

                       Generally, these locusts multiply drastically in Summer season. The reason is that they bury their eggs under the soil which makes vulnerable for hatching in Summer. But in Winter season, due to the excess of moisture in the soil  which leads to the formation of fungi on the eggs. Because of this, the eggs get decayed easily. Summer season is suitable for locusts to get multiplied in large numbers compared to Winter season. 

Why these locusts swarm (move from place to place) in large numbers?

                         In Summer season, their food (green matter) became a limiting factor. Because of this, the food is limited for the growing population. Soon they become clustered and because of this, their nervous system releases

                       "Serotonin", a hormone responsible for their swarming. Because of this, these locusts swarm in large numbers.

                          According to a recent report of FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation), a swarm can travel upto 200 km in a single day with a speed of about 15-20 km/hr. A single swarm can eat food that can be fed to nearly 35,000 people, 20 camels and 6 elephants.

What are the consequences due to these locusts in our country?

                          In this year, the first swarm of locusts were seen on April 11 in India - Pakistan border. Then an Upsurge of locusts (entire group of insects), reached Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and affected drastically.

                         In Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, nearly 3.5lakh hectares of agricultural lands were destroyed by these locusts which is considered as the  biggest locust invasion in India in past 25 years. 

                        A small swarm of locusts get separated from the upsurge and reached Maharashtra. Amidst all these things, Pakistan seeks India's help to give them Malathion 50% EC, an insecticide to control locusts and India replied in a positive way. 

                        If the wind is proceeding towards the north, a swarm is expected to reach Delhi. If they reached the capital city, nearly 20% of the states greenery will be completely destroyed. As of now, the probability for the locusts to reach the southern part of India is minimum. Let's hope for the best.

Is there any control measures to destroy these Demons?

                       The answer is Yes. There are many ways to destroy these locusts. Out of them, the most important and economical feasible control measures are listed below.

Predatory birds, wasps and bees can destroy these locusts by eating them.

• Application of green muscardine fungus (Metarhizium anisopilae)  on the eggs laid by the locust by an aircraft technican through aircrafts made it to decay and their growth will be controlled. 

• By using the insecticide Malathion 50% EC, the growth of locusts will most probably controlled. They can also be controlled by using a chemical called, Fipronil. It's mode of action is to disrupt the activity of their nervous system. 

• Spraying neem based products in relatively higher concentration such as Neem oil,Neem cake extract etc., will  prevent locusts from eating  greener area. If the affected area is  very large, we can hire a best aircraft technician and spray them from an aircraft. 
• By creating artificial  sound frequency we can also able to control its swarms as the sound waves directly affects the nervous system so that serotonin production ultimately collapsed and thus the Swarm can be controlled to an extent

These are the facts that we collected about these Demolishing Demons - Locusts. Hope this will be an informative article to you.

Today's English word

Infestation

This means the presence of large number of insects or animals in one place to cause damage to something.

Sentence usage

This year Somalia is infested by an upsurge of Locusts.

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