Locust - description and video of the insect, types and stages of development of locusts

Locust (lat. Acrididae) is an insect that includes several species and differs not only in its external characteristics and structure, but also in the phases that only this animal has. Locusts can be called locusts; they are capable of long-term migration over long distances and form large flocks among themselves. The key feature is vitality, unpretentiousness to the external environment and the presence of two phases - gregarious and solitary.

Appearance

The body of the locust is elongated, the length varies from five to twenty centimeters. This animal has folds in the form of small “knees”, which are larger in size than the front and middle limbs, forming a kind of tubercle and showing readiness to jump. The elytra are covered by translucent wings, which are almost impossible to notice when folded. They do not have a specific color, but can sometimes be painted in various patterns. Locusts have shorter antennae than other similar insects, such as grasshoppers and crickets. The head size is quite large, the eyes are large and located on the sides. This animal makes a characteristic sound that irritates many people, and its formation occurs as follows: male representatives in their structure have small notches that are located near the hips, as well as denser elytra with thickening in certain places. When such a structure rubs against each other, it emits a chirping sound of varying tones, which not only scares away enemies, but also informs its fellow creatures that danger is approaching or that ill-wishers have already left.

The color of an insect depends entirely on its environment, and not on any genetic conventions. Even if all individuals are born at the same time and from the same female, when they are separated into different climatic conditions, the coloring of each will be different from the previous one. In addition, the protective coverings of locusts change color as they develop. Therefore, in the solitary phase, the male and female become green, yellow, gray or brown, due to which they are better able to hide in their environment. And during the change of stage to gregarious, the color becomes identical to other individuals of the same stage. Another remarkable difference between the gregarious phase and the solitary phase is the complete absence of external sexual characteristics.

Locusts are capable of developing quite high speeds, so an entire flock can cover a distance of over 150 kilometers in just one day.

Terrible locust attacks

The raid always begins suddenly and to the observer it looks like a black cloud on the horizon, approaching with an ominous rustle. As the “cloud” approaches, it becomes clear that it is heterogeneous, and now hordes of insects are filling the entire space around.

The locusts fly so densely that it is impossible to dodge them: the insects get into the face and mouth, crawl along the arms, fall to the ground, crunch underfoot, and the surviving individuals take off again. In a matter of minutes, they eclipse the sun, cover the ground, buildings, trees, pets, vehicles in a continuous layer, penetrate into all cracks, and clog into houses.

Each individual tries to bite off what it sits on. It should be especially noted here that adult migrating locusts are distinguished by amazing omnivorousness, which is not characteristic of nymphs and solitary adults.

Therefore, the swooping locusts eat all the vegetation they see. First of all, bread, melons and industrial crops suffer from it - these delicacies go to the vanguard of the flock.

But since the raid can last from several hours to a couple of days , those who arrived later pounce on everything that the pioneers did not eat: fruit trees, weeds, products and textiles of plant origin.

During this feast, noise from the movement of many jaws is heard everywhere. Each insect absorbs about 300 g of food during its life - it doesn’t seem like much, but if you consider that swarms of locusts number in the millions and billions of individuals, the scale of losses in agriculture is simply colossal. When the flock flies away, the place of the feast turns into lifeless land, on which the bare remains of trees stick out like sad monuments to human grief.

It is not surprising that people perceived locust plagues as the ultimate punishment sent by God.

In ancient times, they were completely unable to withstand such a disaster, and since the Middle Ages, attempts have been made to contain the attack:

they tried to scare away locusts with smoke and sulfur,
lit fire barriers on the path of the walking bands,
crushed under the feet and hooves of cattle,
They beat them with everything they could get their hands on.
In the 20th century, vacuum cleaners and flamethrowers were added to these methods.

But the multitude of locusts overpowered everything.

Structure

The body structure of this insect is very similar to others, but the oral apparatus is noticeably different. It is a gnawer and has all the necessary elements for proper nutrition with solid food. This type is considered to be the original for most other animals, in principle, since locusts still remain one of the most ancient insects. The gnawing apparatus contains a full set of elements for cutting and primary digestion of solid plants - two lips, upper and lower, under which there are two pairs of lower and upper jaws without teeth.

Giant locust

Thanks to the upper lip, this animal checks potential food for suitability, after which it grabs a small piece, moving exclusively in the horizontal plane, and then bites off and breaks it into even smaller pieces. The lower jaws serve as a kind of spring, thanks to which the crushed food is pushed into the pharynx, and then into the esophagus.

Meaning for humans

A polyphagous pest that damages the leaves of many crops, in particular cereals (wheat, corn, barley, millet), legumes (alfalfa, clover), tobacco, sugar beets, various vegetables and melons. Young plants are completely eaten. On ripening plants (cereals, cotton), the stems are often chewed, as a result of which damaged crops take on the appearance of being mown down or damaged by hail.

Until the second half of the 20th century, it posed a serious threat to agriculture in Mediterranean countries, Central Asia and even Central Europe. Regular outbreaks of the herd form led to the destruction of cultural plantings. As of the 1990s, the situation has changed. Thus, in France, the range of the insect has narrowed significantly to a small steppe zone in the south; the appearance of a gregarious form is unlikely. In Hungary, the last outbreak was recorded in 1948-1949, the number of the species is low. But in southern Spain, natural reservoirs of the Moroccan locust are still large, which led to outbreaks in 1983 and 1992. In Crimea, a number of outbreaks were recorded in the 1920s, after which, under anthropogenic pressure, the number of the species became so low that it was even proposed to include the species in the Red Book. However, the number in Central Asia and North Africa remains high. In 2016-2018, outbreaks of the gregarious form were observed in the North Caucasus, from where the locusts spread to the Krasnodar Territory and even to the Crimea.

Migration of larvae, Dagestan

Kinds

Locusts have lived on the planet for thousands of years, thanks to which they have gone through many stages of evolution not only of the animal world, but also of human civilization. Due to constant development and adaptation to the external environment, a fairly large number of species have appeared, each of which has its own characteristic features. Among the main and most important ones we can note:

Asian (migratory) locust

(lat.
Locusta migratoria
) - this is one of the largest varieties. The length of the body in males can reach five or even ten centimeters, and in females - 4-7 centimeters. The color has several color shades: bright green, brownish, gray or yellow-green. The wings have no color and are hardly noticeable against the background of the other limbs, but they have peculiar smoky stripes, as well as barely visible black veins.

Asian locust

Italian locust (Prus Italianus)

(lat.
Calliptamus italicus)
is a medium-sized species that does not stand out with any serious external or internal differences. Due to climatic conditions, Italian insects have more powerful wings than others, and the veins on them are located much less frequently than their counterparts. The color can be completely different and one of the most multifaceted, but brick, brown, brown and even pale pink tones largely predominate over others.

Italian locust

Siberian filly

(lat.
Gomphocerus sibiricus)
- as the name suggests, insects of this species spread mainly throughout Siberia and in the regions closest in climatic conditions. The dimensions are insignificant, rather small. One of the most harmful animals for grain crops, it destroys everything in its path.

Siberian locust

Blue-winged filly

(lat.
Oedipoda caerulescens)
- this subspecies has very noticeable differences that are clear to everyone even from the name. The wings of this insect look impressive and have a bright blue color closer to the base, but towards the top they become as colorless as the wings of other species. In addition to the special coloring, you can see peculiar patterns consisting of randomly located black veins. The lower legs, like the wings, have a bluish tint and are also covered with small spines.

Blue-winged filly

Rainbow Locust

(lat.
Phymateus saxosus) is
the calling card of all insects of Madagascar, which is the main and only habitat of this subspecies. The size of locusts with such a bright and specific color is also large: the length of the body often exceeds seven or even eight centimeters, making the species one of the largest. The rainbow color of the wings indicates not only beauty, but also the strong poison that these insects have.

Rainbow Locust

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Lifestyle and behavior

The common solitary locust, which may also be called the grasshopper, is not particularly harmful to people or plants. The appearance of gregarious individuals occurs due to a lack of food, as a result of which the insect lays eggs, from which animals of a different phase hatch. This species is best adapted to flying over long distances and can gather in flocks, in which the number of individuals often exceeds hundreds of millions. The migration of such a huge number of insects is more like the movement of several clouds or a storm, sweeping away all the plant food along the way. In a matter of hours, an entire field or grove with many crops will be devastated. Locusts are most active during the daytime.

Unlike gregarious species that bring destruction with them, a single insect is inactive and does not bring any dire consequences. The herd is more like a single organism whose goal is to destroy any crops found along the way. In the records of scientists there is information about the flights of numerous herds thousands of kilometers across the ocean, and from afar it is described as “a cloud with an area of more than a thousand square meters.” Single insects try not to join herds, but can form small groups of up to ten individuals. Moreover, in such formations there is always only one male, and the rest are females.

Description and features

Nature has endowed the locust with an elongated body and six limbs, of which two pairs are short and weak, one (the back) is stronger and much longer. In some cases, there are specimens whose “height” approaches 15 cm.

This subspecies has a large head with clearly visible eyes. One pair of solid elytra covers 2 transparent wings, which are practically invisible when folded. Locusts belong to the long-existing order of Orthoptera, of which there are supposedly more than twenty thousand species.

Coloring usually has nothing to do with heredity; color is influenced only by the conditions in which the individual lives and the stage of its formation. Specimens coming from the same litter will be colored differently if they were raised in different conditions.

The stage of formation has a direct impact on how the insect looks - single insects are painted in camouflage shades (green-yellow or walnut), which are influenced by the region of residence. When a flock is formed, everyone acquires a color exactly the same as everyone else. Gender divisions are already disappearing at this time.

The speed at which the flock moves reaches 120 km per day. The locust in the photo looks like a grasshopper familiar to every child. In order not to make a mistake and not miss the appearance of a formidable dirty trick, you should pay attention to the following characteristic features:

Locusts and grasshoppers are recognized primarily by the size of their antennae. The grasshopper's whiskers are not much larger than his own size, the locust has short whiskers, they are no more than his head;
locusts have less developed forelimbs than grasshoppers;
grasshoppers love the coolness of the night and begin to become active in the evening, and locusts are active during daylight hours;
grasshoppers are loners, they never gather in large groups for self-preservation;
the common grasshopper is a predator that eats only small insects, the locust is a plant eater (for the most part, it will indiscriminately eat everything it comes across).

How long do locusts live?

The lifespan of locusts is very short, regardless of whether they live in favorable climatic conditions. Thus, on average, individuals do not live to see a year, but some species, for example, desert

, can live a little longer - 13-14 months, after which they still die. Such a short period of life is due to the body being too fragile and many other factors that simply do not allow the insect to exist for a long time. And the role here is played not only by climate and nutrition, because even in incubation rooms and under the most ideal conditions, the animal dies in a matter of months.

Desert Locust

Locust lifestyle

The new generation stays in a pack and has new external characteristics. A large locust appears, its wings capable of moving it a considerable distance. Fillies turn into locusts under the influence of factors: the need for protection from predatory relatives and lack of protein food.

The insect is diurnal. The diet includes only plant foods. Cannibalism occurs when there is an existential threat.

Locusts adapt to life in any conditions except harsh cold climates. The presence of bodies of water is not a prerequisite.

Where does it live?

These unpretentious insects do not have any specific and limited habitat. They can be found throughout the entire globe, only the species will differ, but even between them there are no significant differences, which means that locusts still remain locusts. The only place on the entire planet where insects cannot reach is the coldest continent - Antarctica. In other climatic zones, from the tropics and subtropics to Western Siberia and Sakhalin, these herbivores can be found.

Some species settle close to crops, others - remotely, in the mountains or near water bodies. There are as many variations in lifestyle and habitat as there are varieties of the most common insect on Earth, but all this is just conventions and specifics, which in some cases you don’t have to go into. Even in the driest deserts, such as the Sahara, where there are basically no plants except dead bushes, locusts can still be found.

What does it eat?

Fillies, which are called single individuals, exist according to a hermit lifestyle, separate from their relatives and any civilization. Therefore, their appetite is also small, and their food is moderate and rarely exceeds any large numbers. One such individual will feed on two hundred grams of vegetation throughout its life, but everything changes when the phase changes from solitary to gregarious. Swarms of many millions begin to destroy any crops that come their way, and from herbivorous insects they turn into omnivorous pests, capable of devouring even thatched roofs of houses or long-lasting grape plantations. In addition, since the number in the herd is so huge that it simply cannot be counted, no matter how much time a person has, no one cares about weakened individuals. On the contrary, they are instantly eaten along with the rest of the food, since the entire mass cannot be stopped and if the sick animal is not eaten, it will simply be crushed, without even leaving a wet spot. Cannibalism also allows you to replenish the lack of fluid and protein in the body of other members of the pack.

What is included in the locust diet

Insects move long distances in search of food. A single individual requires a small amount of plant food to maintain life. Insects gnaw leaves and grass.

Swarms include in their diet everything that locusts eat. Cereals, grass, leaves, bushes, reeds encountered along the way. Dry and old plants will be used for food.

Reproduction and development stages of locusts

Reproduction in most individuals occurs throughout the year, but in temperate climates it is limited only to the summer season, and the rest of the time, insatiable insects go in search of food. Locusts have three stages of development - the egg, which matures in a short period of time; a larva that hatches from an egg and develops rapidly; the adult into which the larva turns after development. Egg laying occurs in the fall, which is the main season for gluttony, i.e. The summer season is ending, and the time to migrate due to the cold has not yet arrived. The foliage of trees or the soil itself acts as a shelter for the masonry, and a special bag of mucus protects the offspring. Such a bag contains up to 120 eggs, and per square meter the number of such clutches can exceed two thousand.

It is also noteworthy that after laying offspring, the parent dies, and the hatched babies eat it in order to quickly form into full-fledged insects. The larvae differ from adults in the absence of wings and are smaller in size, but are otherwise similar. After just one month, their wings form and their first sexual characteristics appear, which indicate their readiness to reproduce. If the climate is warm, then development occurs even faster and after two weeks the individual is ready for mating. Locusts need a break for wintering only in extreme cases.

Social structure and reproduction

Photo: Large locust

Locusts lay eggs and reproduce sexually. To attract a female, the male uses a specific hormone (produced by the male when he vibrates his wings), and the female, in turn, chooses the male based on the smell she likes. After she discovers a male, she tries to get as close to him as possible. The male lightly touches the partner a couple of times with his antennae, and after that he attaches himself to the female and tries to deposit a special capsule with sperm in the back of her abdomen.

This is a rather labor-intensive and time-consuming procedure, so the approximate mating time is 13 hours, but it can happen faster. After mating, the female buries the ovipositor in moist soil, covering it with a special foamed liquid, which, after hardening, turns into a hardened cocoon. The average number of eggs in one clutch ranges from 60 to 80 eggs. Throughout her life, the female makes from 6 to 12 clutches, which on average equals four hundred eggs. After twelve days, white larvae simultaneously emerge from the eggs, which after birth begin to actively eat and grow.

In order to get out of the capsule, the larvae require a lot of effort and time. As soon as the larvae hatch, they molt and release their limbs. The locust larva is very similar to the adult, it is only much smaller and lacks wings. After experiencing several stages of development, the larva becomes an adult locust after 35–40 days, undergoing five moults.

Population

Due to the very rapid and numerous birth rate, locusts do not have any population problems. Every year the number of individuals increases tenfold, and swarms, which may not even contain several million, but several billion insects, in a matter of hours, destroy not only small groves, but also entire villages, and in some situations, agricultural cities. Because of this, humanity is trying with all its might to resist the outrages of the flying robbers, creating insecticides, processing all plant crops and literally burning clouds of them. But even such radical measures cannot bring a person one step closer to at least some protection from locust invasions. It quickly adapts to any poison; burning does not help, since the quantity is so large that burning only a few flocks will not make a difference. Therefore, there are no problems with the population and the species is only thriving.

Predators

The species' numerous predators include blister beetle larvae Zonabris variabilis and Epicauta rufidorsum, as well as several species of buzz flies.

Variable blister (Mylabris variabilis)

Epicauta rufidorsum

Natural enemies

The only representatives of the world's fauna that are able to give at least some resistance to locusts are birds, for example, starlings, larks or storks. Only they have the means and the ability to resist insect fillies that have not yet entered the gregarious phase. But this very transition neutralizes all attempts to fight and literally condemns all nearby cultures to death. Birds simply cannot resist the huge number of herbivorous insects that form herds that resemble clouds.

Starling is the enemy of locusts

Interesting Facts

When the locust's wings begin to rub against each other, a creaking sound is created that is familiar to most people. It is very similar to the sounds that crickets make at night, but it is louder and harsher, making it unpleasant for human ears to perceive.
Despite many misconceptions on the part of ignorant people, the locust is an exclusively herbivorous animal that does not have teeth in its mouthparts, and therefore cannot harm humans “personally.” Similar in appearance and structure are grasshoppers, which are precisely predators, and when they see danger they can even bite through the skin until they bleed.
The number of individuals in one flock can currently reach 50 billion, which is why the cloud formed from them spreads over tens of thousands of square meters, filling everything around and creating noise that can drown out any construction work in the entire city. Such a swarm is capable of eating more than two hundred thousand tons of vegetation in one invasion, which is approximately twice its own mass and hundreds of times more than one individual can eat in a lifetime.
At the moment, there are about ten thousand different species of locusts all over the world, which can have very subtle differences, down to millimeters in size and grams of food. These insatiable insects bring huge troubles to any place where they fly, which is why they are considered the main pests of all plants in the world. Any means of fighting them ultimately turn out to be pointless attempts.

Natural enemies of locusts

Photo: What locusts look like

Nature has it in such a way that locusts are also food for other living beings. This is due to its great nutritional value, as it contains a lot of protein, fat and phosphorus. The main enemy of the insect is birds. Birds not only eat adult individuals, but also destroy their eggs, pecking them out of the ground. Similarly, locust eggs are destroyed by pigs, moles and shrews. Spiders do not disdain such food either.

Mantises and other mammals that feed on small insects also hunt for locusts. Locusts are eaten by various ungulates, such as zebras, giraffes and roe deer, as well as elephants and lions. Many pets will also not refuse to eat a tasty treat in the form of locusts. It is worth noting that the locust itself does not mind eating its fellow creature if there is no other food left.

Interesting fact: People also eat locusts, both cooked (fried and boiled) and raw. Flour is made from locusts previously dried by the sun's rays and ground into dust, which is added to milk or fat during baking.

There are a number of parasites that also destroy locusts:

blister bugs and fungi destroy locust eggs;
viviparous flies and hairworms infect the locust's body from the inside.