We will find out what the locust eats: a description of the oral apparatus, whether it bites and whether it has teeth at all. What do locusts eat? Can a locust bite a person

22.05.2020

Locust is a rather large insect from the category of Orthoptera. For a long time, it has been the main threat to cultivated crops.

The description of the locust can be found in such ancient writings as the Bible, the works of the authors ancient egypt, Koran and so on.

Description of the insect

The body of the locust is elongated, the length can reach 20 centimeters. The "knees" of the hind legs are bent, their size is several times greater than the size of the middle and front paws.

There is a pair of rigid elytra, under which fragile wings with original patterns are located. When folded, they are quite difficult to see.

The antennae of the locust are somewhat shorter than, for example, those of crickets, and the head is larger, the eyes are larger. The insect makes a characteristic sound characteristic of males.

The surface of the thighs of males has small notches, and some thickenings can be seen on the thighs. During friction, these parts make a specific sound, which can be of any key.

Many believe that the color of the locust depends on its genotype. But actually it is not. The color of the insect has a direct relationship with the conditions environment.

Even individuals belonging to the same offspring, but living in different places, may differ in color.

Another factor that affects coloration is the phase of development. A younger individual is green in color, and an individual that has entered the gregarious phase acquires the traditional color.

Locusts have the ability to fly, they can travel up to 120 kilometers a day.

Difference between locust and grasshopper

The main difference between the grasshopper and the locust is that they belong to different families and suborders. In contrast to the locust, the grasshopper belongs to the suborder of long-whiskers.

The structure of the paws also differs. In locusts, they are shorter than in grasshoppers.

Despite their big sizes, locusts are herbivorous insects, while grasshoppers are predators.

Locusts are active during the daytime, while grasshoppers are active at night.

For agriculture, grasshoppers are harmless, and locusts often bring enormous harm and huge losses.

These insects also differ in the way they lay eggs. Locusts lay eggs in the soil, and grasshoppers use plant stems for their offspring or lay their eggs under the bark of trees.

Locust habitat

Locusts live on almost every continent, with the only exception being Antarctica. Many climatic zones are suitable for this insect.

Some species are characterized by living in grassy areas, others prefer to settle in close proximity to water, while others choose semi-deserts as their habitat.

Nutrition

Those individuals who live apart do not differ in voracity. In a lifetime, one locust is able to absorb up to 300 grams of plants. However, when she enters the pack, her behavior changes dramatically.

The locust invasion causes great harm, because, having met with its relatives, the insect becomes omnivorous and begins to absorb everything it sees: reeds, reeds, fruits, crops, and so on.

Long flights and lack of food force locusts to feed on their weaker relatives.

Development and reproduction

Locusts go through three stages of development during their life. 1. Egg; 2. Larva; 3. Adult. The hotter the climate, the more often mating occurs, and, consequently, reproduction.

In autumn, eggs are laid, which are in a special bag that protects against damage. One such bag can hide more than 100 eggs.

After laying, the parents usually die. All winter the eggs are in the soil and ripen.

With the onset of spring, the young locusts hatch, but they do not yet look like an adult, they lack wings.

It takes 40 days and several molts for the locust to move to the next stage.

In one flock there can be more than one billion individuals, and the area that the flock occupies reaches 1000 square kilometers. Such a number of insects is capable of making a sound similar to thunder.

Currently, there are a huge number of locust species, photos of which you can see below.

Locust photo

Such a voracious insect as a locust has an enviable appetite and is able to leave behind fields with the remains of plants, bushes and trees eaten at the root without branches and bark, pitiful tails of former watermelons and pumpkins, bare vines of a once flowering vineyard. To make such devastating raids and grind everything in its path, you need to have a very powerful structure of the mouth apparatus.

The oral apparatus of the locust: structure and purpose

The pest has a gnawing mouth, that is, intended for grinding solid food. Such a structure is basic, and variations in the oral structure of other insect species already come from it. The locust family has a complete “ammunition load” in its mouth:

Upper lip.

Underlip.

Upper jaw.

Lower jaw.

The purpose of the upper lip is to determine the suitability of potential food. The jaws at the top move in a horizontal position, biting off part of the food and grinding it. The lower ones, due to their extraordinary mobility, push processed food into the esophagus. In addition to feeding, locusts also use their jaws to repel an enemy attack or an attack on a victim.

Can locusts bite

Many people know that locusts and grasshoppers look very similar in appearance. There are differences, of course, but they are not familiar to an ignorant person.. For example:

Grasshoppers are active at night, a related pest - during the day.

Grasshopper - the owner of a long mustache (for searching for food), locust - with short antennae (smaller than the head).

Knowing what kind of devastation the locust swarm brings with it, the question naturally arises: since the pest easily rips off the bark from the trees and grinds rather thick branches, then it must be equipped with strong teeth? And this is where the most interesting lies. The grasshopper, which everyone thinks is a harmless and cute insect, is actually a predator. And he can inflict a very sensitive bite on a person, up to blood, while injecting a burning substance into the wound.

And the locust, which is known as a merciless robber and devourer of everything and everything, is by nature a vegetarian, and is not at all dangerous to humans. With one small correction: her jaws are really very powerful and she can sensitively pinch the skin. But only in self-defense. AT unlike a grasshopper, a locust will not attack a person on its own and harm him. How can she not sting. Nature did not endow the pest with a sting either.

Photo

Nutrition and preferences of locusts

When an insect huddles in huge swarms of millions, then this herd destroys several tons of vegetation per day. And the mass eaten by one individual is equal to its own weight. In the course is everything that comes across on the way. Moreover, the older the locust, the messier its menu:

Thickets of reeds and reeds on the banks of reservoirs.

Any agricultural crops.

Cotton, linen fields.

Vegetable plantings.

Potato fields and sugar cane.

Gourds and orchards.

sunflower fields.

Forests, groves, bushes.

If the locust invasion passes through settlements, then local residents are easily left without thatched roofs, wooden fences, furniture, etc.

Video "Invasion of locusts on the village of Achikulak"

Locusts, locusts are several species of insects of the true locust family, capable of forming large swarms (numbering up to hundreds of millions of individuals), migrating over considerable distances. A feature of locust biology is the presence of two phases - solitary and gregarious, differing in morphology and behavior.

Locusts in the distant past were the enemy of humanity No. 1, but modern people have heard little about it. Meanwhile, it is described in the ancient Egyptian papyri, the Bible, the Koran, the works of the Middle Ages, and the fiction of the 19th century. It's time to learn more about the insect, whose name in the past centuries served as the personification of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Habitat

Different types of locusts have adapted to life in certain regions. It appeared in Russia a long time ago, sometimes destroying entire fields. Most common in the southern regions.

It is found in Africa, has reached Europe, lives in the Sahara desert and the steppes of Kazakhstan. She is not afraid of the cold of Siberia, the humid climate of New Zealand. Warm steppes are more common habitats. Doesn't like the Arctic at all.

Description

Locust sizes vary from 3 to 7 cm. Females are larger than males. The body is oblong, rigid elytra and a pair of translucent wings are attached to it, which remain invisible when folded.

The color is very variable and depends on the age, conditions and lifestyle that the locust leads:

Even individuals hatched from the same oviposition may differ in coloration.
What a locust looks like is also predetermined by the phase of its development.
In the European strip, single individuals are predominantly yellow, brick, green, olive, brown in color, which helps to mask against the background of surrounding vegetation.
The older the individual, the darker its color becomes.
If the locust has joined the swarm, it acquires the same color scheme as that of the other members of the team.

The large head is not particularly mobile. Large crescent-shaped eyes and a rectangular, almost square muzzle of the locust give the insect a good-natured look. The gnawing mouth apparatus is represented by powerful jaws that help to gnaw through even the thickest and most durable stems. With the upper mandibles, the insect gnaws the leaves, and only then crushes them through the lower mandibles.

A distinctive feature of the locust from its closest relatives: crickets and grasshoppers - short whiskers, their length does not exceed half the calf.

The pinkish hind legs are well developed, which allows the locust to jump at a distance of 20 times its length. It is no coincidence that insects are endowed with jumping abilities. In the larval stage, they still do not know how to fly and their motor capabilities are limited to crawling and jumping. Some species do not have flight activity even in adulthood.

How long a locust lives depends on environmental conditions. Rainy seasons provoke the development of fungal diseases of plants, which leads to infection of the insect and its death. Natural enemies: wild wasps, beetles, birds can also shorten lifespan. Man also contributes by destroying pests. If the locust is in optimal conditions and did not become anyone's victim, then it can live from 8 months to 2 years, depending on the species.

All species of locusts emit a characteristic "chirring". This peculiar “singing” of insects in many people evokes the image of a flowering meadow on a hot summer day. The sound apparatus of acridoids is located on the femurs of the hind legs and elytra. Tubercles stretch along the inner surface of the thigh, and one of the veins of the elytron is thicker than the others. Locusts make sounds by rapidly moving the thigh, while the tubercles touch the vein. Because the tubercles are uneven, the result is a staccato chirping sound. In most locust species, both males and females chirp.

What do locusts eat?

Locusts usually live on the leaves and flowers of green plants. They gnaw leaves with strong upper mandibles, and grind them with smaller and weaker lower mandibles.

Since the mandibles of the locust move from side to side, the insects usually sit in the center of the leaf, on its longitudinal axis, and gnaw the leaf from edge to edge. Only a few true locust species feed exclusively on grass. Leaves are the food for most locust species. perennials, shrubs and trees. Some locust species can even feed on poisonous plants that other insects and animals do not eat.

Concentrating in their body, the poison provides insects with protection from enemies, since they themselves become poisonous. Such locusts have a bright color that warns of their inedibility.

Life cycle and reproduction

Many are interested in where the green locust comes from in large quantities? The female is able to lay hundreds of eggs, which will produce many larvae. Its reproduction and residence are unusual, as are the stages of development of the locust, which is worth noting in the description.

When living alone, the green filly is inactive. She's practically harmless. In autumn, it lays eggs in a special depression in the soil. In winter, they are in the ground, and in spring young white individuals appear.

The filly larva needs food, so they begin to feed heavily. With rapid development, changes occur: they turn into adults, change color.

Anticipating a dry year, poor in food, changes occur in the reproduction of the female. The laid locust eggs are initially programmed to search for food in field conditions. Adult adults form flocks, larvae unite in numerous swarms.

Mating precedes the breeding stage. The male attracts females to his society by secreting a special hormone. As soon as the female approaches, he jumps on her back and clings tightly. A spermatophore is released at the base of the clutch. This is how locusts start breeding.

The insect goes through the mandatory stages of development. The female lays eggs, pre-preparing egg capsules. There are up to 100 eggs in one capsule. In winter, they do not freeze out, because the insect envelops them for safety with a special foamy liquid. In the spring, a larva emerges from each egg laid. Its development continues intensively. A month later, an imago-like individual is formed that does not have wings. In a month and a half, the emerging larvae transform 5 times until they turn into adult locusts. During the summer months, three generations of young can be produced.

The benefits and harms of locusts

The greatest damage is delivered by hordes of locusts, destroying fields and plantings. However, the average layman, who does not care about the safety of the crop, is more interested in the answer to the question of whether the locust bites. The insect eats exclusively plant food and it does not bite a person, unlike its fellow grasshopper.

An equally burning question is whether locusts are eaten. Orthoptera insects are the most consumed after ants. In African countries, it is fried, mixed into cakes. Arab women a few centuries ago could cook 2 dozen locust dishes. Culinary recipes have lost their relevance due to the lack of ingredients.

In California, during the locust invasions, whole feasts were held. The captured insects were soaked in marinade, then crushed and soups were prepared. The Japanese marinate in soy sauce and fried. In a word, there are many recipes for cooking locusts, but not everyone can appreciate its taste, not so much because of inaccessibility, but because of disgust.

pest control

Agrotechnical measures

As a preventive measure against locusts (in those areas where there is a high probability of a massive invasion of harmful insects), it is necessary to carry out thorough and deep tillage (plowing) of the soil, which destroys egg capsules.

Chemical methods of struggle

It is possible to effectively protect plantings in the face of unprecedented voracity and mass character of locusts only with the use of chemical methods of plant protection.

With a mass concentration of locust larvae in one area, apply pesticides with a validity period of at least thirty days. For dressing and destruction of insects, drugs such as "Karate", "Confidor", "Image" are taken, but it is possible effective use poisons to control the Colorado potato beetle.

A good result is shown by the systemic drug "Clotiamet VDG", which provides reliable protection against locusts for three weeks. This poison is good in that it can be effectively used in a tank mix with other micronutrient fertilizers, plant protection products and plant growth stimulants, but it is necessary to first test for compatibility with other chemicals.

Effectively destroy locusts (both larvae and adult insects) such preparations as "Gladiator" and "Damilin". The insecticide "Damilin" has negative impact on larvae, slowing down their development and disrupting the timing of the formation of the chitinous shell of the body, as a result of which the insects die. A big plus of the drug is its low toxicity.

The first chronicle mention of the invasion of locusts in Russia refers to 1008, the result of which was a famine. The invasion was repeated in 1094, 1095, 1103 and 1195. Similar misfortunes were repeated in the XVI-XVII centuries. In 1824, the locust invasion was observed in the south of modern Ukraine, in the Kherson, Yekaterinoslav and Tauride provinces, and A. S. Pushkin was seconded to fight it. He wrote a short report:

The largest locust infestation in human history occurred in the United States in 1875. A swarm of locusts from the state of Texas spread westward, but after some time, having made tremendous devastation, disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
Currently, vast areas of crops across the Earth are suffering from locust infestations, especially in Africa.
Locusts are found almost everywhere except in the coldest regions.
The body length of the locust ranges from 1 cm in the meadow locust to 6 cm in the migratory locust. The largest individuals can reach 20 cm in length.
Locusts differ from grasshoppers and crickets in the length of their antennae: they are shorter.
Every day, one individual of the locust eats an amount of plant food equal to its own weight.
There are swarms of locusts, numbering several billion individuals. They form "flying clouds" or "clouds", the area of which can reach 1000 km2.
When the wings of the locust rub against each other, a characteristic squeaky sound is heard. The noise made in flight by a flock of several million insects can be mistaken for thunder.
Sound extraction in locusts is carried out by rubbing the hind leg with special tubercles against the elytra.
Locusts live from 8 months to 2 years.

Locust species

Moroccan locust

Insect small size, body length rarely exceeds 2 cm. The color of adults is reddish-brown, with small dark spots scattered along the body and an unusual cross-shaped pattern light tone on the back. The hindquarters are pink or yellow on the thighs and red on the lower legs. Despite their miniature size, the Moroccan locust causes great damage to farmland and cultivated crops, gathering in numerous hordes and destroying absolutely everything that grows on the ground in its path. This species of locust lives in Africa, in Central Asia and Algeria, in sultry Egypt, in arid Libya and in Morocco. It is found in European countries, for example, in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and even the Balkans.

Migratory (Asian) Locust

Quite a large insect: the body length of sexually mature males is from 3.5 to 5 cm, in females it ranges from 4-6 cm. The color of the Asian locust varies in several color solutions: there are individuals of bright green, brownish, yellow-green or gray color. The wings are almost colorless, except for a slightly pronounced smoky shade and the thinnest streaks of black. The hind thighs are dark brown or blue-black, the lower legs may be beige, reddish or yellow. The habitat of this species of locust covers the entire territory of Europe, Asia Minor and Central Asia, the countries of North Africa, the regions of North China and Korea. Also, the Asian locust lives in the south of Russia, is found in the Caucasus, in the highlands of Kazakhstan, in the south of Western Siberia.

desert locust

An insect with a fairly large size - females reach a size of 8 cm, males are slightly smaller - 6 cm in length. The coloration of the Desert Locust is dirty yellow, the wings are brown, with many veins. The hind limbs are bright yellow. This species of locust prefers to live in the tropics and subtropics: it is found in North Africa, on the Arabian Peninsula, on the territory of Hindustan and the border regions of the Sahara.

Italian Locust or Italian Prus

The body of an adult locust of this species is medium in size: in males, the body length varies from 1.4 to 2.8 cm, females can reach 4 cm in length. The wings are powerful, strongly developed, with rare veins. The colors of individuals are multifaceted: brick red, brown, brown, sometimes pale pink tones predominate in color. Often, light longitudinal stripes and whitish spots are expressed on the main background. The hind wings and femurs of the hind limbs are pinkish, the tibiae are red or whitish, with transverse stripes of black or dark brown. The habitat of the Italian locust covers almost the entire Mediterranean zone and a significant part of Western Asia. The Italian Prussian lives in central Europe and in Western Siberia, lives in Altai, Iran and Afghanistan.

rainbow locust

A species of locust that lives on the territory of the island of Madagascar. Incredibly bright in color and very poisonous, the rainbow locust reaches a size of 7 cm. The entire body of the insect shimmers with a variety of colors - from bright yellow to purple, blue and red, and is saturated with toxins. They are produced due to the fact that the locust feeds exclusively on poisonous plants. Usually, large populations of this species of locust are found in the foliage of trees or in thickets of milkweed, the juice of which is a favorite delicacy of the rainbow locust.

Siberian filly

Insect brown-brown, olive or gray-green. The size of an adult female does not exceed 2.5 cm, males are rarely larger than 2.3 cm. The habitat is very wide: the Siberian filly lives in the highlands of Central Asia and the Caucasus, is found in Mongolia and northeast China, northern regions of Russia, in particular, in Siberia and in the north of Kazakhstan. The insect causes large-scale damage to crops of grain crops, pastures and haylands.

Egyptian filly

One of the most large species locusts living in Europe. Females grow up to 6.5-7 cm in length, the sizes of males are somewhat more modest - 30-55 mm. The color of the insect can be gray, light brown or greenish-olive. The tibiae of the hindquarters are blue, while the femora are bright orange, with distinctive black markings. On the eyes of the Egyptian filly there are always pronounced black and white stripes. This species of locust lives in the Middle East, in European countries, in North Africa.

blue-winged filly

Medium-sized locusts: the length of an adult female is 2.2-2.8 cm, the male is slightly smaller - 1.5-2.1 cm in length. The filly's wings are very spectacular - bright blue at the base, becoming colorless towards the top. A beautiful pattern runs along the surface of the graceful wings, consisting of the finest radial black stripes. The lower legs of the hind limbs are bluish in color, covered with light spines. The blue-winged filly is widespread in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of Eurasia, lives in the Caucasus and Central Asia, is found in Western Siberia and China.

When forming a huge flock, the insect can eat all the vegetation that can be found in its path. The total weight of plants eaten per day is equal to the pest's own weight, but the average flock destroys 3-4 tons of greenery daily.

In addition, the diet expands over the years - the older the insect, the more omnivorous it becomes.

Maybe have:

Reed and reed thickets along the banks of rivers, ponds, lakes, swamps;
Any cereal crops - wheat, oats, corn, rye, barley, millet, sorghum and others. With less appetite, the insect destroys flax, buckwheat, hemp;
vegetable crops-, soy, table and sugar, and others;

orchards- the pest can eat both leaves and fruits, and gnaw at the bark on young trees;
Landings- berries, petioles, grape leaves are eaten;
, gourds-, watermelons, sunflower plantings;
Individually growing trees, shrubs, grass, including entire forests.

When locusts invaded a settlement or village, reed or thatched roofs and wooden home furnishings were often destroyed. In dry areas, the pest can feed on any dried grass and leaves.

How is the oral apparatus arranged?

The mouthparts of the locust are gnawing, it is designed to be fed with solid food. This type is primordial, and from it come other forms of mouth structure in other insects. The gnawing apparatus contains the most full set elements - the upper and lower lips, and two pairs of upper and lower jaws.

With the help of the upper lip, the insect determines the suitability of the eaten object for eating. The upper jaws move in a horizontal plane, bite off a small piece and grind it into smaller pieces. highly mobile mandibles push crushed food into the esophagus.

In addition to the function of nutrition, the upper and lower jaws can be used by insects for protection in a fight with the enemy.

Do locusts bite?

It is often confused with grasshoppers. While similar in appearance, they also have cardinal differences:

The grasshopper has long whiskers that help it find prey (locusts have short whiskers);
The grasshopper leads a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle (locust is a daytime resident).

Since the grasshopper is a predator, it is he who can bite a person quite painfully, very often to blood, with the introduction of a burning compound into the wound.

Do locusts have teeth? In this insect in the mouth apparatus no teeth It's herbivorous, not carnivorous. She will not specifically attack a person and try to harm him.

However jaws are strong enough necessary for quickly gnawing off pieces from solid plants. And when the instinct of self-preservation is triggered, the pest can sensitively “pinch” the skin. If this happens, it is recommended to treat the bite site with hydrogen peroxide, iodine.

The locust also cannot sting - its sting is not provided for by nature.

This is a huge disaster for all farmers and gardeners. She moves in large flocks, quickly and feeds on any vegetation that is available to her.

Not only crops can be destroyed, but also trees, shrubs, reed and thatched roofs, wooden furniture. Locusts have chewing mouthparts designed to bite and grind solid food. She cannot bite or sting.

A photo

The consequences of the invasion in pictures:

Of all plant pests, locusts are the most dangerous. If there are corners with unharvested field grasses in the country house, there you can always find a green filly - a lone locust, which over time will ensure the appearance of a winged form of locust. In 2000, an epiphytotic outbreak of locust breeding left the Volgograd region without a crop (1000-6000 individuals per square meter of area). In 2010, the pest reached the Urals and some regions of Siberia. The flight of the locust is terrible. Her flocks can number in the billions. When flying, they emit a characteristic sound that is frighteningly creaky near, and in the distance it resembles pre-storm thunder. After the locust, the bare ground remains.

Locust spread

Family true locusts (Acrididae) includes up to 10,000 species, of which about 400 are distributed in the European-Asian range, including in the Russian Federation (Central Asia, Kazakhstan, south of Western Siberia, the Caucasus, south of the European part). Of the locusts, the most common and harmful for the Russian Federation is Asian locust or migratory locust (Locusta migratoria). There are two life phases: solitary and gregarious. The gregarious form of the locust is harmful. Representatives of the solitary phase occupy mainly the northern regions of the marked range, while the gregarious ones occupy the southern and warm Asian ones.

Locust severity level

An omnivorous pest, with the greatest feeding activity in the early morning and evening hours, when there is no heat peak. One individual eats up to 500 g of plants with different densities of vegetative and generative organs (leaves, flowers, young branches, stems, fruits). Covers distances up to 50 km per day. With a gap of 10-15 years, the locust forms huge flocks (bands) of adults, from the combined accumulations of larvae. During the period of mass reproduction, they are able to simultaneously occupy up to 2000 hectares and fly, feeding on the way, up to 300, and with a fair wind up to 1000 km, leaving bare ground with separately sticking out the remains of woody shoots and stems of plants.

Under natural conditions, over time, the number of pests decreases (the onset of cold, hunger, the work of natural entomophages). In swarms, the number of diseases that affect the pest in different phases of development, starting from the egg phase, increases. Restoration lasts 10-15 years and then a massive flight is repeated.

Morphological description of the locust

By appearance locusts resemble grasshoppers and crickets. Visible hallmark is the length of the antennae (in locusts they are much shorter) and the presence of a curved sharp keel on the pronotum, powerful jaws. The front wings are dense with brownish-brown spots, the hind wings are delicate transparent with a yellowish sometimes greenish tint.

Locust development cycle

Lifespan adult from 8 months to 2 years. The locust lives and develops in two phases/stages - solitary and gregarious.

single phase

A single locust is distinguished by the overall size of its forms, has green color, for which it received the name "green filly". She leads an inactive lifestyle and practically does no harm. The solitary phase of life for locusts is necessary for the conservation of the population. During this period, females intensively lay eggs. Gradually, the density of larvae increases and reaches a limit, which serves as a signal for the transition to the second stage of development and life.

gregarious phase

In the gregarious phase, female locusts begin to lay eggs programmed for a marching foraging program. The researchers suggest that the "call" is the lack of protein in the diet of adults. Adult adults of locusts gather in flocks, and larvae form dense swarms.

Locust breeding

Locusts usually die at the end of October with the onset of a steady cold. Before the onset of cold weather, the female lays eggs, forming winter apartments in the upper 10 cm layer of soil, which are called capsules. During the laying period, the female locust secretes a foamy liquid from the gonads, which quickly hardens, separating the eggs from the surrounding soil. In the course of laying eggs, the female forms several capsules (pods) with a lid, inside which she places 50-100 eggs, with a total of up to 300 or more. During the winter diapause, the eggs acquire cold resistance and do not freeze even in severe winters. With the onset of heat, the winter pause ends and in spring, with sufficient warming of the soil in the upper layer, a white larva appears from the egg. On the soil surface, after a few hours, it darkens, acquires an imago-like appearance (without wings), and begins to feed. Within 1.0-1.5 months, the larva goes through 5 instars and turns into an adult locust. Another month of enhanced feeding, and after mating, the female locust starts laying eggs. During the warm period, each female forms 1-3 generations.

According to the lifestyle of the locust, it belongs to the gregarious species. In years with sufficient food, a moderately humid climate and average temperatures, single individuals do not cause great harm. But you need to take into account the cyclical nature of development and the transition from a solitary lifestyle to a herd. It appears after about 4 years. During this period, especially when coinciding with hot, dry summer period within 2-3 years, the locust multiplies intensively, forming huge accumulations of larvae in a small area (bands). Outbreaks of mass reproduction, coinciding with weather conditions, can last for several years, gradually fading and moving back to a solitary form of life. The interval between epiphytoties averages 10-12 years.

Individuals of the herd form, trying to maintain protein and water balance of their body, are forced to eat without interruption (otherwise they will die from their lack in the body). Moving in search of fresh food, they travel, as already noted, from 50 to 300 km per day. One individual is able to eat 200-500 g of green mass of plants and similar neighbors in a swarm. Protein deficiency turns the locust into a predator, and the swarm is conditionally divided into 2 groups. One runs away from relatives, the other catches up with them and eats them, and both "along the road of life" are reinforced by plants rich in carbohydrates. The natural gradual decrease in the number of the pest is caused by outbreaks of diseases in locust swarms at their high density, the defeat of eggs in egg pods by various diseases, natural enemies locusts (predatory insects, birds and other fauna).

Consequently, the most vulnerable place in the development of locusts is the increased density of egg deposition and the inception of larvae (per unit area). Locust swarms begin their flights at an increased density of pests. This means that it is necessary to initially destroy the clutches of eggs and the "islands" of larvae, plowing the land to reduce the density of pests. In summer cottages, the main role of population reduction is based on integrated pest control measures: agrotechnical measures + chemical treatment of soil and plants.

Locust control methods

Given the speed of movement, gluttony and the complete destruction of green plants along the path of the locust swarm, chemical control measures are used to destroy it, especially in large areas.

Locust control in a country house or a house adjoining area is mainly preventive and proactive and begins with agrotechnical measures, the thoroughness and timely implementation of which helps to significantly reduce the number of pests and prevent epiphytotic damage to the green world of plants.

Agrotechnical measures

In areas prone to locust attack, late digging of the dacha or adjoining plot, at which capsules with locust eggs are destroyed.

In alternative agriculture, unused areas must be grassed, which prevents the formation of egg-pods and the laying of eggs by female locusts.

Chemical control measures

All chemical treatments are best done in the morning. When working, observe personal safety measures, work in an appropriate suit, respirator, goggles, gloves. When working with chemicals, it is necessary to strictly follow guidelines cultivation and use of pesticides.

With a large accumulation of locust larvae in some areas, it is treated with Decis-extra, Karate, Confidor, Image, the validity of which lasts up to 30 days. Can be treated with all drugs that are used to combat the Colorado potato beetle.

The systemic insecticide Clotiamet-VDG provides plant protection against locusts for up to 3 weeks. After 2 hours, all pests die, the number of live hatched larvae decreases markedly. The product can be used in a tank mix with fertilizers and growth stimulants subject to mandatory compatibility testing.

Insecticide Gladiator-KE cleans larvae and adult locusts well. Use in the early hours when adults are in a daze. Doses of the drug vary depending on the age of the locust.

Damylin is an insecticide with a unique effect on the growth of the pest and the formation of chitin in the body of the larva during molts. As a result, the larvae die before reaching the age of an adult pest. Valid for up to 40 days. The drug is low toxic for humans and warm-blooded animals, quickly decomposes in water and soil.