Short Horned Grasshopper

Grasshoppers are a type of insect that belongs to the Caelifera suborder. They are the oldest living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic period roughly 250 million years ago.

Grasshoppers are ground-dwelling insects with muscular hind legs that enable them to flee from predators by leaping quickly. They do not go through complete metamorphosis since they are hemimetabolous insects; they hatch from an egg into a nymph or "hopper" that goes through five moults, growing more similar to the adult insect at each step. Some grasshopper species can change colour and behaviour and form swarms at high population densities and under certain environmental conditions. They are referred to as locusts in this situation.

Grasshoppers and Locusts 

Grasshoppers are plant feeders, and a few species can be major pests of cereals, vegetables, and pasture, especially when they swarm in the millions as locusts and devastate crops across large areas. Many species seek to scare predators with a brilliantly coloured wing-flash while jumping and (if adult) launching themselves into the air, usually only flying for a short distance.

The rainbow grasshopper, for example, has a warning hue that deters predators. Parasites and illnesses afflict grasshoppers, and many predatory species feed on both nymphs and adults. Parasitoid parasitoids and predators attack the eggs.

Grasshoppers and humans have a long history together. Since Biblical times, swarms of locusts have had devastating impacts and caused famine. The insects can be a major nuisance even in small quantities. Mexico and Indonesia, for example, consume them as food. They appear in literature, art, and symbolism. Acridology is the study of grasshopper species.

Short Horned Grasshopper 

Locusts are a group of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase (derived from the Vulgar Latin locusta, meaning grasshopper). These insects are generally solitary, but when they get more numerous, they change their behaviour and habits, becoming gregarious. Between locust and grasshopper species, no taxonomic distinction is made; the definition is based on whether a species generates swarms under intermittently favourable conditions.

Normally, these grasshoppers are harmless, have modest populations, and do not pose a significant economic threat to agriculture. When their populations become dense enough, serotonin in their brains initiates a dramatic sequence of changes: they begin to breed abundantly, becoming gregarious and itinerant (loosely defined as migratory) when drought and rapid vegetation growth are present. They generate swarms of winged adults after forming bands of wingless nymphs. Both the bands and the swarms move around, stripping fields and causing agricultural damage. The adults are strong fliers who can fly long distances and consume the majority of the green plants wherever the swarm settles.

Since the dawn of time, locusts have caused plagues. The insects were etched on the graves of the ancient Egyptians, and they are described in the Iliad, Mahabharata, and the Bible. Swarms have wreaked havoc on crops and contributed to famines and human migrations. Control methods can now be utilised at an early stage thanks to changes in agricultural practises and greater surveillance of places where swarms tend to develop. Traditional control approaches rely on the application of insecticides from the ground or the air, however other biological control strategies are proving to be beneficial.

Swarming behaviour declined in the twentieth century, but despite contemporary surveillance and control systems, the potential for swarms to form still exists; plagues can arise when ideal climatic circumstances exist and vigilance is lapsed. Locusts are huge insects that are ideal for classroom research and zoology studies. They are human-edible; they have been consumed throughout history and are regarded as a delicacy in many countries.

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Swarming Grasshoppers

Locusts are the swarming phase of some short-horned grasshopper species in the Acrididae family. These insects are normally solitary, but when populations increase, they modify their behaviour and habits, becoming gregarious.

Between locust and grasshopper species, no taxonomic distinction is made; the definition is based on whether a species generates swarms under intermittently favourable conditions. The name "locust" is used in English to describe grasshopper species that alter morphologically and behaviorally in response to crowding, generating swarms from bands of juvenile stages known as hoppers. The alteration is known as "density-dependent phenotypic plasticity" in the scientific literature.

Boris Uvarov, who was key in establishing the Anti-Locust Research Centre, was the first to analyse and explain these alterations, which are examples of phase polyphenism. He discovered the solitary and gregarious phases of the migratory locust in the Caucasus, which had previously been regarded to be distinct species (Locusta migratoria and L. danica L.). Solitaria and gregaria were his terms for the two phases.  These morphs are also known as statary and migratory, despite the fact that their swarms are nomadic rather than migratory. The knowledge and control of locusts was further aided by Charles Valentine Riley and Norman Criddle.

Ancient time of Short Horned Grasshopper

Aristotle studied locusts and how they reproduced, while Livy wrote about a severe plague in Capua in 203 BC. He noted human epidemics after locust plagues, which he linked to the putrefying carcasses' stink; the relationship between human illness outbreaks and locust plagues was prevalent. In 311 AD, locusts were blamed for a disease that killed 98 percent of the population in the northwestern regions of China. The pestilence may have been caused by an increase in the number of rats (and their fleas) that ate the locust corpses.

Recent time of Short Horned Grasshopper

Locust plagues have appeared at irregular intervals throughout the previous two millennia, with the biggest reported outbreaks of desert and migratory locusts occurring in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Other locust species wreaked havoc in North and South America, Asia, and Australasia; in China, 173 outbreaks were reported during a 1924-year period. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Bombay locust (Nomadacris succincta) was a major pest in India and Southeast Asia, but it hasn't swarmed since the last pandemic in 1908.

Locusts came outside Damascus in the spring of 1747, devouring the majority of the crops and plants in the surrounding region. The locusts "came like a black cloud," according to Ahmad al-Budayri, a local barber. They engulfed everything, including the trees and crops. May the Almighty God help us!

The disappearance of the Rocky Mountain locust has baffled scientists. In the nineteenth century, it swept across the western United States and parts of Canada. Albert's swarm of 1875 was projected to cover 198,000 square miles (510,000 km2), weigh 27.5 million tonnes, and contain 12.5 trillion insects, covering an area larger than California. In 1902, the final living specimen was discovered in Canada.

Monitoring of Short Horned Grasshopper

• When it comes to dealing with locusts, early intervention is more effective than waiting until swarms have formed. Although the technology to manage locust populations is now accessible, overcoming the organisational, financial, and political challenges may prove tough. The key to reducing damage is monitoring, with the goal of early detection and elimination of bands. Before the swarming phase, a sufficient proportion of migratory bands should be treated with insecticide. 

• While richer countries like Morocco and Saudi Arabia may be able to achieve this goal, poorer countries like Mauritania, Yemen, and others lack the means and may operate as a source of locust swarms that threaten the entire area.

• Several organisations around the world keep track of the locust problem. They give forecasts for areas where locust plagues are anticipated to occur in the near future. The Australian Plague Locust Commission provides this service in Australia. It has been extremely effective in dealing with emerging epidemics, and it has the added benefit of providing a defined area to monitor and protect against locust invasions from other areas.

• The International Locust Control Organization for Central and Southern Africa provides the service throughout Central and Southern Africa. The service is coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization's Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region in West and Northwest Africa, and carried out by locust control organisations from each country. The FAO also keeps an eye on the situation in the Caucasus and Central Asia, where over 25 million hectares of arable land are under risk. In February 2020, India agreed to utilise drones and special technology to monitor locusts and spray insecticides in an effort to end huge locust outbreaks.

Control of Short Horned Grasshopper

• People could do little in the past to prevent locusts from destroying their crops, though eating the insects may have provided some relief. By the early twentieth century, efforts were underway to stymie the insects' development by cultivating the soil where eggs were placed, collecting hoppers with catching machines, destroying them with flamethrowers, trapping them in ditches, and crushing them with rollers and other mechanical ways. The organochlorine dieldrin was discovered to be an exceptionally powerful pesticide by the 1950s, but it was eventually prohibited in most countries due to its persistence in the environment and bioaccumulation in the food chain.

• When locust management is required, water-based, contact pesticides are applied early to the hoppers using tractor-mounted sprayers. This is effective but time-consuming, and it is preferred to spray concentrated insecticide solutions from aircraft over the insects or the vegetation on which they feed. Using ultralow-volume contact pesticide spraying from helicopters in overlapping swaths to treat huge amounts of land quickly is effective against nomadic gangs. GPS, GIS tools, and satellite imaging are among the other modern technologies utilised in locust control plans, and computers allow for quick data administration and analysis.

• In 1997, a global team tried a biological pesticide to control locusts across Africa. On germination, dried Metarhizium acridum spores sprinkled in breeding sites pierce the locust exoskeleton and invade the body cavity, killing the locust.The fungus is transmitted from insect to insect and remains in the area, obviating the need for recurrent treatments. In 2009, this method of locust control was utilised in Tanzania to treat roughly 10,000 hectares of adult locust-infested land in the Iku-Katavi National Park. The outbreak was limited, and the area's elephants, hippopotamuses, and giraffes were uninjured.

• The ultimate goal of locust control is to adopt preventive and proactive measures that cause the least amount of environmental disruption as feasible. This would make agricultural production easier and more secure in many areas where cultivating crops is essential for local people's existence.

Short Horned Grasshopper

1. As Experimental Model 

The locust is a big, easy-to-breed and raised insect that is utilised in research investigations as an experimental model. It's been employed in evolutionary biology studies to see how well findings drawn about other organisms, such the fruit fly (Drosophila) and the housefly (Musca), apply to all insects. Because of its robustness and ease of growth and handling, it makes an excellent school laboratory animal.

2. As Food 

Locusts are a type of insect that can be eaten. Insects are consumed by numerous cultures around the world, and locusts are regarded as a delicacy in many African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries. Throughout history, they have been used as food.

They can be prepared in a variety of ways, although they are most commonly fried, smoked, or dried.

While living in the desert, John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey, according to the Bible. There have been attempts to explain the locusts as ascetic vegetarian fare like carob beans, but the basic meaning of akrides is insects.

Although the Torah forbids the consumption of most insects, it does allow the consumption of some locusts. These include the red, yellow, speckled grey, and white locusts. Eating locusts is deemed halal in Islamic doctrine. During a military raid with his companion, the Islamic prophet Muhammad is said to have eaten locusts.

Locusts are consumed throughout the Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi Arabia, where consumption of locusts soared around Ramadan in 2014, particularly in the Al-Qassim Region, since many Saudis believe they are healthful. The Saudi Ministry of Health warned that the insecticides used to control the locusts were dangerous. Yemenis eat locusts as well, and have expressed dissatisfaction with government measures to suppress them using pesticides.

Fun Facts on Short Horned Grasshopper

1. The common name for various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the Acrididae family is locust.

2. They are grasshopper species that undergo behavioural, morphological, and physiological changes as they transition from a solitary to a migratory phase. They do not belong to a specific genus or subfamily.

3. Locusts are typically solitary creatures who avoid making contact with one another. However, when the conditions are correct, especially after a lot of rain, contact is inescapable. The insects begin to morph as they collide with one another. They grow attracted to one other and cluster together after about an hour.

4. They really change shape and colour over the course of one or two generations, becoming bright yellow or green rather than the neutral brown of single locusts. These two phases are so dissimilar that scientists thought they were two different species until the 1920s.

5. They range in length from 1.25 to 7.5 cm (0.5 to 3 inches).

6. Except for Antarctica and North America, locusts can be found on every continent. Africa and Asia are the most common places to find them.

7. Locust diet - Large swarms of locusts can entirely rob forbs and grasses of their foliage and stems. Some species eat a wide variety of plants, while others eat only one type of plant. When plant food is scarce, they eat dry plant matter on the ground and will forage for weak or dead grasshoppers.

8. The most well-known species is the desert locust. It can fly up to 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) in large towers of individuals and can be found in dry grasslands and deserts from Africa to the Punjab (state in northern India). They congregate in swarms that are greater than any other single group of animals on the planet, with populations ranging from 100,000 to 10 billion insects. In 1794, one swarm covered 5,000 square kilometres (almost 2,000 square miles).

9. Between 1874 and 1877, the Rocky Mountain locust, a now-dead species, damaged millions of dollars' worth of crops on the Great Plains; they went extinct in 1902.

10. A swarm of locusts travelled from Africa to the United Kingdom in 1954, decimating farms along the way. In 1988, another swarm made its way from Africa to the Caribbean.

11. When locusts brush against each other, serotonin levels rise as a result of the touch. Normally shy and lonely insects become more gregarious and seek for more interaction. Scientists observed that artificially raising serotonin levels in locusts in a lab environment mimicked the appearance and behaviour changes seen during swarm development. Blocking serotonin, on the other hand, kept the insects calm even when they came into touch with other insects.

12. Locusts, unlike other insects like butterflies and houseflies, do not go through a full metamorphosis. Locusts go through three stages: egg, nymph, and adult, with no pupa stage. Between the nymph and adult stages, there is a stage known as fledgling.

13. Both the words "lobster" and "locust" come from the Vulgar Latin locusta, which originally referred to a variety of crustaceans and insects.

14. A review of the literature reveals how widespread locust plagues were throughout history. The insects appeared out of nowhere, frequently following a shift in wind direction or weather, and the results were disastrous.

15. Between 2470 and 2220 BC, the Ancient Egyptians engraved locusts on tombs.

Conclusion

Grasshoppers are a suborder of the Caelifera family of insects. They are the oldest living group of chewing herbivorous insects, going back 250 million years to the early Triassic epoch.

Grasshoppers are ground-dwelling insects with powerful hind legs that allow them to leap away from predators. Because they are hemimetabolous insects, they do not go through complete metamorphosis; they hatch from an egg into a nymph or "hopper" that goes through five moults, becoming more similar to the adult insect at each stage. At large population densities and under particular environmental conditions, several grasshopper species can change colour and behaviour, forming swarms.

Locusts are a swarming group of short-horned grasshoppers belonging to the Acrididae family (derived from the Vulgar Latin locusta, meaning grasshopper). These insects are usually solitary, but as their numbers increase, their behaviour and habits alter, and they become sociable. There is no taxonomic distinction established between locust and grasshopper species; the definition is based on whether a species creates swarms under occasionally favourable conditions.