Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» How much damage can locusts do if there are bazillions of them attacking one target? Besides to growing things? Other living things?
If there is a plague of locusts, they will devour anything that is still and allowing them to nibble. Just like them there grasshoppers.
They eat plants and they will eat you if you just lie there. Don't do that.
It would hurt. See the movie Exorcist II (Don't really, Rosie. It is really terrible)
Locust From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the insects. For other uses including plants, see Locust (disambiguation). Locusts are grasshoppers, such as this migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), that have entered into a migratory phase of their life. Garden locust Acanthacris ruficornis in Ghana Millions of swarming Australian plague locusts on the move
Locusts are certain species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they become more abundant and change their behavior and habits, becoming gregarious. No taxonomic distinction is made between locust and grasshopper species; the basis for the definition is whether a species forms swarms under intermittently suitable conditions.
In the solitary phase, these grasshoppers are innocuous, their numbers are low, and they do not pose a major economic threat to agriculture. However, under suitable conditions of drought followed by rapid vegetation growth, serotonin in their brains triggers a dramatic set of changes: they start to breed abundantly, becoming gregarious and nomadic (loosely described as migratory) when their populations become dense enough. They form bands of wingless nymphs which later become swarms of winged adults. Both the bands and the swarms move around and rapidly strip fields and cause damage to crops. The adults are powerful fliers; they can travel great distances, consuming most of the green vegetation wherever the swarm settles.
Locusts have formed plagues since prehistory. The Ancient Egyptians carved them on their tombs and the insects are mentioned in the Iliad, the Bible and the Quran. Swarms have devastated crops and been a contributory cause of famines and human migrations. More recently, changes in agricultural practices and better surveillance of locations where swarms tend to originate, have meant that control measures can be used at an early stage. The traditional means of control are based on the use of insecticides from the ground or the air, but other methods using biological control are proving effective.
Swarming behaviour has decreased in the 20th century, but despite modern surveillance and control methods, the potential for swarms to form is still present, and when suitable climatic conditions occur and vigilance lapses, plagues can still occur. Locusts are large insects and convenient for use in research and the study of zoology in the classroom. They are also edible insects; they have been eaten throughout history and are considered a delicacy in many countries. The word "locust" is derived from the Vulgar Latin locusta, meaning locust or lobster.[2]
Thank you for your thoughtful and very helpful/informative reply Sharon. Up close the little critter is kinda cute. But in massive numbers and hungry they are scary as scary can be. Happy Tuesday to thee. On a different subject. Well I started reading THE BOOK. SIGH. So now I get to live in the moment as doofus don does his damage in the present and also relive all the damage he's done in the past. Simultaneous here and now as well as yesterday and yesterday and yesterday. AARRGGHH! Someone's gotta stop this guy. He is such a puny puerile prevaricating provocateur he should be easy to pulverize (figuratively). Full of evil intention and lies. An evil clown puppet whose strings are pulled by others. We need someone with scissors to cut the strings and render him impotent. Wonder who will finally do so? :)
JakobA the unAmerican. 