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Muhammad Zeeshan Nazar Contact Email: [email protected]

Locust - Locusta migratoria

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Page 1: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Muhammad Zeeshan Nazar

Contact Email: [email protected]

Page 2: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Wild Locust

Page 3: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Taxonomy

Scientific Name

Migratory Locust: Locusta migratoria

Tree Locust: Anacridium melanorhodon

Family: Acrididae

Order: Orthoptera

2. Tree Locust1. Migratory Locust

Tree Locust

Migratory Locust

Page 4: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Distribution

All temperate and tropical parts of the Eastern hemisphere

Europe

Africa

Madagascar

Caucasus

Arabian and Indo-Pakistan region

Central and South-Eastern Asia

Australia

New Guinea

New-Zealand

Locusts are adapted to live in hot and dry countries

Page 5: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Identification

• Large size insect

• Body length from 35 to 50 mm for males 45 to 55 mm for females

• Wings are colorless and exceeding

clearly the abdominal extremity.

• The color can vary but is usually

green, brown, yellowish-green or grey.

• The mandibles are dark purple

to black

Mandibles

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Locust

Solitary Gregarious

Behave Independently Repelled from other locusts Walk slowly with creeping Active mostly at night Diet restricted

Behave as a Cohesive Unit Attracted to conspecific Walk rapidly Active mostly at day Diet broad

Page 7: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Eggs

Life Stages

• Eggs are yellowish brown in color and

7-8 mm long

• 1-3 egg pods per female with an average

of 60-80 per pod.

• Egg pod is large, slightly bent, 50-85 mm

in length, 7-10 mm in diameter

Egg Pod

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Nymph An immature locust is called a nymph or hopper

Miniature to adults but wingless

Lighter in color than adult

Adult• Large size about 45–60 mm in length

• Green or brown in the solitary form

• Straw-colored in gregarious form

• Hind wings have no markings.

• Adult flight is strong and steady

Solitary

Gregarious

Page 9: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Incomplete metamorphosis

Female lays eggs in a hole in damp, warm or sandy

soil called a Pod usually at a depth of 2-10 cm.

Each pod contain 60-80 pale yellow banana-

shaped eggs 5-6 mm long.

Covers the eggs with frothy liquid to protects from

enemies, dehydration and contamination.

Life Cycle

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Eggs hatch in 14-20 days

Afterwards the nymphs move by crawling or hopping along the ground as

they have no wings.

5 nymphal instars and nymphs take 4-8 weeks to complete development

Collection of egg pods laid by a number of locusts

is termed as Egg Bed.

Egg beds may vary from a few square meters to

several hundred square meters and scattered

throughout a region.

Page 11: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Adult is the final stage

• Locusts at this level have fully pledged wings and can fly without problem.

• Adults appear from June to early July.

• 2-4 weeks after fledging, mating start and

females start laying eggs 2-3 weeks later

(usually at the end of July)..

• Lifespan of adult is almost eight weeks.

• Univoltine in the considered area but can have up to five generations

tropical zones.

• Overwinter in the form of eggs.

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Damage

During outbreaks, swarms damage to

pasture, hayfields, cereal crops, various vegetable crops as well as plantations of

volatile oil bearing plants, many tree species, young plants of many fruit, vines,

fruit, forest and bush trees.

If numbers are sufficient, locusts form dense groups.

Swarms infested areas that are usually 5 km2-50 km2.

There can be 40-80 millions locust in each square kilometer of swarm.

Swarms can travel about 5-130 km or more in a day.

Swarm

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Control

Cultural control

Cultivating the soil where eggs were laid

By exposing, they dry out or eaten by birds

Mechanical Control

• Collecting hoppers with catching machines

• Killing them with flame-throwers

• Crushing them with rollers

Page 14: Locust - Locusta migratoria

Chemical control

Monochrotophos and Cypermethrin applied by

vehicle-mounted and aerial sprayers and to a lesser

extent by knapsack and hand-held sprayers.

Natural enemiesRose-coloured and common stralings(Pastor roseus and Sturnus vulgaris)Blister beetle, Ground beetle and Crickets are eggs predators.Flesh flies, Tachinid flies and tangled veined flies are nymph and adult parasitoids.

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Unit, 2015. Emergency Management, Locusts - egg laying and egg beds

Ellis, Peggy E., 1953. The Gregarious Behaviour of Marching Locusta Migratoria Migratorioides (R. & F.)

Hoppers. J. Exp. Biol. vol,30:2:214

Lockwood, Jeffrey, A., 2010. The fate of the Rocky Mountain locust, Melanoplus spretus Walsh: implications for

conservation biology., Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 129-160

Simpson, S J, Despland, E. 2001. Gregarious behavior in desert locusts is evoked by touching their back legs.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 98

References

Page 16: Locust - Locusta migratoria