Are locusts friend or foe?

One of the cute signs of a hot summer day is the deafening cracking of locusts and melodic grasshopper roulades ... But when the abundance of insects increases by orders of magnitude, these sounds indicate a catastrophe, ecological and economic. It is not for nothing that the locusts have already gained fame as one of the "executions of the Egyptians": "And the locusts attacked all the land of Egypt, and lay down all over the land of Egypt in great numbers; before there was no such locust, and after this there will not be such."

For many decades, scientists from different countries trying to unravel the secrets of these insects known from biblical times. Why, for example, do some locust species remain rare, while the number of others can increase significantly? Why do individuals of some species at the peak of their numbers dramatically change their appearance? Until now, not all questions have been answered, but it was possible to find out that the eating of crops by these pests turns out to be a blessing for natural grassy communities, since it contributes to the destruction and the fastest return of plant mass into the circulation of matter and energy

"And the locusts and caterpillars came without number."
Psalms, Psalm 104

Steppe. Hot summer day. The deafening crackle of locusts and grasshopper roulade ... It is at such a time that you realize how many of these “singing in the grass” so dear to the ear. But when the abundance of some of them increases by orders of magnitude, this is already a catastrophe, ecological and economic.

For many decades, scientists from different countries have been trying to unravel the secrets of these insects, known since Biblical times. Why, for example, some locust species remain rare, while the number of others may increase significantly? Why do some of them form huge flocks from time to time? Until now, not all such questions have answers ...

Locusts (Acridoidea) are rather large insects belonging to the order Orthoptera (Orthoptera). Their closest relatives are the well-known grasshoppers and crickets, as well as little-known small inhabitants of the plant litter, jumpers and quail.

Many of the Orthoptera are clearly visible in their natural habitats: they are brightly colored, "musical", jump high and are capable of flight.

These insects have long attracted human attention: in the East, it is customary to keep crickets and grasshoppers at home instead of the usual songbirds, and battles between male crickets have been a gambling sporting show for centuries. In a number of countries in Asia and Africa, local locust species are still considered a delicacy: they are fried, boiled, dried.

But still, much more often we remember them when we learn about the damage caused by the next invasion of gluttonous insects. It is not surprising that locusts are primarily associated with the "image of the enemy" in the human mind.

And locusts attacked all the land of Egypt ...

The establishment of agriculture over the past ten thousand years is inherently associated with the regular invasions of locusts on cultivated fields. Images of one of the most famous species of pests - the desert locust - are found in the tombs of the first Egyptian pharaohs. The damage done by the desert locust is attested to by the Assyrian-Babylonian cuneiform tablets.

Locusts are mentioned several dozen times in the Bible, and mainly as a creature hostile to man. No wonder she earned the fame of one of the apocalyptic "executions of the Egyptians": "And the locusts attacked all the land of Egypt, and lay down throughout the land of Egypt in great numbers; before there were no such locusts, and after this there will not be such "(Exodus, 10, 14).

Inhabitants also faced massive reproduction of this pest Ancient Rus... So, in the "Tale of Bygone Years" a terrible picture is described that was observed at the end of the 11th century: "The locust came on August 28 and covered the ground, and it was scary to look, she went to the northern countries, devouring grass and millet."

Since then, little has changed. So, during the invasion of locusts in 1986-1989. In North Africa and the Middle East, almost 17 million hectares of farmland were treated with chemical insecticides, and the total cost of responding to the outbreak and its consequences exceeded $ 270 million. In 2000, more than 10 million hectares were treated in the CIS countries (mainly in Kazakhstan and southern Russia).

Outbreaks of mass reproduction are primarily characteristic of the so-called gregarious locusts (in everyday life - just locusts). In favorable conditions, they form swaths- huge accumulations of larvae, the density of which can exceed 1000 ind./m 2. Bands, and then swarms of adults, can actively migrate, sometimes over very long distances (cases of flights of locust swarms across the Atlantic Ocean are known).

Fortunately, only a few species are capable of reaching catastrophic numbers. First, it is the desert and migratory locust. These most famous and widespread representatives of the gregarious locust have another feature - a pronounced phase variability... This means that individuals at different phases of abundance differ markedly from each other in appearance. Individuals of the gregarious phase are characterized by dark coloration, longer wings and better muscular development.

Changes in the appearance and number of other species of gregarious locusts (for example, the Italian and Moroccan locust inhabiting the CIS) are not so striking, which, however, does not prevent their flocks from flying over considerable distances (tens and even hundreds of kilometers) in search of food.

Fertility creators

It is the gregarious locust species that cause the main damage during the years of outbreaks of their numbers, destroying almost all green parts of plants on their way. But their non-greedy relatives (who are often called fillyand skates), as well as their distant relatives from the Orthoptera order, can also reproduce in large numbers and destroy the vegetation cover both in natural ecosystems and in the fields.

But should these insects be considered only a punishment for humanity? In fact, as herbivorous animals, they are an essential element of food webs in herbaceous ecosystems, primarily in steppes, prairies, semi-deserts and savannas. This not so obvious role of them was noted even in the biblical texts: “The locusts ate the rest of the caterpillar, the worms ate the remainder of the locusts, and the beetles eaten by the worms” (Book of the Prophet Joel, 1, 4).

The well-known Siberian entomologist I.V. Stebaev back in the early 1960s. showed that in the temperate latitudes of Eurasia, locusts during the warm season can consume over 10% of the green phytomass of grasses. In addition, they actively use litter for food, and with a lack of plant food, they are able to switch to the corpses of their fellows, the excrement of other animals, etc. (locusts can even eat textiles and leather goods!). One average individual of the Siberian steppe locust over a lifetime consumes about 3–3.5 g of green parts of plants, which is about 20 times its adult weight (Rubtsov, 1932). Somewhat larger figures have been obtained for the North American and South African locusts.

Such gluttony of these insects paradoxically turns out to be a boon for natural communities. So, Stebaev and his colleagues found that locusts contribute to the destruction and the fastest return of plant mass into the cycle of matter and energy: in the intestines of many steppe locust species, leaves and stems of cereals are subjected not so much to digestion as to crushing and fragmentation, and symbiotic intestinal microorganisms enrich these fragments B vitamins. As a result, locust excrement turns into an excellent organic fertilizer... In addition, Canadian researchers have shown that locusts, by eating leaves, activate plant growth and increase their productivity.

Thus, although the damage caused by locusts and other Orthoptera can be enormous, their role in ensuring the normal functioning and stability of natural ecosystems, especially herbaceous ones, is colossal.

Is man an enemy or a friend?

People have been trying to control locusts for centuries. Until the beginning of the XX century. used enough simple ways: mechanical destruction, burning and plowing of egg-laying sites.

Later, various chemicals, and over the past decades, the spectrum of insecticides has changed significantly: the notorious DDT and HCH were replaced by organophosphorus compounds, and then by more specific synthetic pyrethroids, inhibitors of chitin synthesis (the main component of the external skeleton of insects), etc.

However, despite the decrease in overall toxicity and effective doses of new insecticides, ecological problems their use has not disappeared (this primarily concerns the death of other invertebrates). Biological products, biologically active substances and other similar agents, in many cases giving a good effect, are devoid of these disadvantages. However, the effect of such drugs does not appear immediately, and it is impossible to quickly suppress the outbreak of the pest population with their help.

As a result, despite all the long and titanic efforts, including the massive use of DDT and the large-scale plowing of the virgin lands, the “locust” problem has not yet been resolved. At the same time, in some cases, human impact on locusts and other Orthoptera can have disastrous consequences, and this applies not only to rare species with small ranges. So, according to the American researcher D. Lockwood, a victim of changes in land use practices at the end of the 19th century. became the aforementioned famous locust of the Rocky Mountains. After the next outbreak of mass reproduction, its populations remained in the river valleys, which they began to actively plow up. As a result, today this species is considered completely extinct: its last representative was caught in 1903.

But there are also opposite examples: in some cases, human activity contributes not to a decrease, but to an increase in the number of orthopterans. Such a result is caused, for example, by overgrazing of livestock, the introduction of anti-erosion farming systems and an increase in the area of \u200b\u200bdeposits. So, in recent decades, in the southeast of Western Siberia, due to the use of anthropogenic landscapes, the areas of the Lesser Krestovik, the blue-winged filly, the common plate-wing, and others are expanding.

There are also known cases of anthropogenic dispersal of Orthoptera over long distances. It is in this way that several European species, for example, the large ambush predator steppe pod, have mastered some warm-temperate regions of eastern North America.

Singing in the grass

The locusts and their relatives from the Orthoptera order are in themselves an interesting object for research. So, few people know that among them there are species that spend their entire or almost all their lives on trees and shrubs (there are especially many such forms in tropical forests). Some inhabitants of warm latitudes are able to move along the surface of the water like water striders, others swim quite well, even under water. A number of Orthoptera (for example, bears) dig holes, and false hoppers can settle in caves.

It is believed that locusts are polyphagous, but in reality almost all of them prefer to feed on quite specific groups of plants, and for some, a pronounced trophic specialization is completely characteristic. Such gourmets can eat without harm to their health, for example, poisonous plants (wrestlers, hellebores, etc.). Among grasshoppers, especially large ones, predators or species with a mixed diet predominate, and a significant part of the remaining Orthoptera are able to process dead plant litter.

Adaptations of insects associated with reproduction are very interesting and diverse. This is especially true of the means of communication, by which it is possible to recognize the sex of an individual. Orthoptera males are unique in the variety of ways they make sounds: here is the interaction of the right and left elytra; hind limbs and upper side of the elytra; hind limbs and underside of elytra; hind thighs; special organ of Krauss; finally, just "grinding" of the jaws. Sometimes females can also sing.

Species that are incapable of making sounds often use signal coloration: males have very brightly colored hind wings, hind tibiae, and the inner side of the hind thighs, which insects show during courtship.

In most locusts, after fertilization, the females lay a group of eggs in the soil surrounded by a more or less durable shell. Such a masonry, in association with a traditional earthen vessel, is called a capsule. Other Orthoptera also lay their eggs directly in the soil, but there are grasshoppers that use green plants for this. They file leaves or shoots with the edge of their ovipositor and lay their eggs in the gap formed.

The ability of locomotion, which is well developed in locusts and their relatives, also deserves special mention. Many of them are able to actively walk, jump and fly, however, as a rule, their movements do not exceed tens of meters. Common ratchets in southern Siberia can stay in the air for tens of minutes: using streams of warm air, they rise to a height of over 10 m.But even these record holders most often return to the area from which they took off (Kazakova, Sergeev, 1987). Exceptions are gregarious locusts. As already mentioned, they can travel much longer distances: the larvae - up to tens and hundreds of meters, and the adults fly away tens and hundreds of kilometers.

Some flightless species use non-trivial methods for dispersal. Thus, the English researcher G. Hewitt and his colleagues (Hewitt et al., 1990) observed in the Alps how individuals of wingless filly jumped on sheep and literally moved on horseback.

Two centuries at gunpoint

The locust and its relatives have been actively studied over the past two centuries: the Orthoptera detachment was identified by P. A. Latrey as early as 1793. Researchers of the 19th century. mainly engaged in the description of new forms and the study individual development these insects, but even then the first ecological observations appeared, including for potentially harmful species.

In the XX century. these traditional directions have evolved: numerous new taxa have been identified, mainly from tropical regions; the main regularities of Orthoptera distribution have been established. But special attention was paid to ecology - intrapopulation interactions, dynamics of populations and communities, role in natural and anthropogenic landscapes.

An outstanding role in locust research was played by our compatriots who worked both in the former USSR and abroad. Thus, B. P. Uvarov, a member of the British Royal Society and founder of the famous Anti-Locust Center in London, in the 1920s. developed a theory of phases that became the basis of modern locust ecology.

Of course, at the end of XX-beginning of XXI centuries. researchers have the opportunity to obtain fundamentally new data on these insects using molecular genetic, biochemical and information methods. This is especially true for the mechanisms of transition from the solitary phase to the gregarious phase and back, migrations of bands and flocks, etc.

However, these opportunities are often not realized. This is largely due to the fact that interest in these insects (as well as funding for research) drops sharply after the suppression of the next outbreak, when the danger to agriculture has passed.

Orthoptera have perfectly adapted to their habitat, having perfectly mastered the techniques of camouflage. For example, the coloration of species living on the stalks of cereals, as it were, "dissolves" such creatures in the thick of the grass. Their neighbors, living on the surface of the soil, "hide" due to the dismembering combination of spots of their color, imitating plant litter.
In the grasses of warm regions, there are species whose body shape imitates the stems of grasses, and the inhabitants of desert landscapes often almost merge with the preferred type of surface due to the peculiar color and features of the body structure. Orthoptera (especially grasshoppers) inhabiting trees and shrubs are often leaf-like

Nevertheless, the data that we managed to obtain during recent years, allow us to look at the locust problem from a fundamentally different point of view. Thus, it is traditionally believed that within the same natural region the spatial and temporal dynamics of settlements of the same species is practically the same.

However, studies of populations of the Italian locust in the Kulunda steppe in 1999-2009. revealed a complex “wavy” pattern of long-term spatial redistribution of maximum and minimum insect densities. In other words, even neighboring groups of local settlements of this locust species at different times emerged from the depression in numbers and reached the peak of reproduction.

What determines such a different character of population trajectories? It turned out that one of the main factors determining the organization of populations of massive (and often potentially harmful) locusts is the heterogeneity of the natural environment. After all, each habitat is not similar to another, moreover, on each of them such important indicators for insects as moisture content, characteristics of soil and vegetation cover, and the degree of anthropogenic impact are constantly changing.

Another disturbing result is the overlap of many locust outbreak areas with centers of diversity of other insects. And pest control can ultimately lead to the death of rare species.

The information available to scientists today suggests that today people underestimate the problem of locusts and their relatives.

It is necessary to continue long-term studies of the ecology and biogeography of populations of common species, as well as multi-species communities. Such data can serve as a foundation for monitoring, as well as the development of population management measures aimed at minimizing environmental damage and maintaining biodiversity. The system of control of populations of these insects itself should be aimed not at suppressing mass reproduction, but at preventing them.

There is a need to develop appropriate applications of information technology, primarily geographic information systems and Earth remote sensing systems. It is in this direction that a technological breakthrough is possible, which will ensure that forecasts reach a fundamentally different level. And this is especially important now, in the conditions of an increase in the frequency of climatic disturbances and the intensification of human activities transforming the environment.

Literature

Lachininsky A. V., Sergeev M. G., Childebaev M. K. et al. Locusts of Kazakhstan, Central Asia and adjacent territories // International Association of Applied Acridology, University of Wyoming. Laramie, 2002.387 p.

Sergeev M.G. Orthoptera insects of North Asia: fifty years later // Eurasian Entomological Journal. 2007. Vol. 6, No. 2. P. 129–141 + inset II.

Lockwood J. A. Locust. New York: Basic Books, 2004.294 p.

Lockwood J. A., Latchininsky A. V., Sergeev M. G. (Eds.) Grasshoppers and grassland health: Managing grasshopper outbreaks without risking environmental disaster. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.221 p.

Samways M. J., Sergeev M. G. Orthoptera and landscape change // The bionomics of grasshoppers, katydids and their kin. CAB International, 1997. P. 147-162.

Sergeev M. G. Conservation of orthopteran biological diversity relative to landscape change in temperate Eurasia // Journ. Insect Conservation. 1998. Vol. 2, N 3/4. P. 247-252.

The locust is a winged insect that usually lives and moves in large groups (herds). It looks like a grasshopper, however, it differs in the size of the body and mustache.

This pest has always been dangerous for agricultural crops, since in a short period of time it can eat plants almost at the root, especially for such a species as the Asian migratory.

In contact with

• What do locusts eat?
• How does the oral apparatus work?
• Do locusts bite?
• Video

What do locusts eat?

When forming a huge flock, the insect can eat all the vegetation that it can meet on its way. The total weight of the plants eaten per day is equal to the own weight of the pest, 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 cereals - wheat, oats, corn, rye, barley, millet, sorghum and others. With less appetite, the insect destroys flax, buckwheat, hemp;
• Vegetable crops - beans, beans, soybeans, beetroot and sugar beets, potatoes and others;

• Orchards - the pest can eat both the leaves and fruits of plums, cherries, peaches, pears, and gnaw the bark of young trees;
• Planting grapes - berries, petioles, grape leaves are eaten;
• Cabbage, melons and gourds - pumpkins, melons, watermelons, sunflower planting;
• Separately growing trees, shrubs, grass, including whole forests.

During a locust invasion of a settlement or village, reed or thatched roofs and wooden household items were often destroyed. In arid areas, the pest can feed on any dried grass and leaves.

How does the oral apparatus work?

The locust mouthpiece is gnawing, it is designed to be eaten with solid food. This type is original, and from it other forms of the structure of the mouth in other insects originate. The gnawing apparatus contains the most complete set of 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 consumption. The upper jaws move in a horizontal plane, bite off a small piece and grind it into smaller pieces. Strongly mobile the lower jaws push the crushed food into the esophagus.

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

Do locusts bite?

Very often it is confused with grasshoppers. With a similar appearance, they also have cardinal differences:

• The grasshopper has a long mustache that helps it find its prey (the locust has a short mustache);
• The grasshopper is predominantly nocturnal (the locust is a day resident).

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

Do locusts have teeth? This insect has a mouth no teeth - it is herbivorous, not predatory. She will not specifically attack a person and try to harm him.

Nonetheless the jaws are strong enoughrequired for quick nibbling of pieces from hard plants. And when the self-preservation instinct is triggered, the pest can sensitively "pinch" the skin. If this happens, it is recommended to treat the bite site with hydrogen peroxide, iodine.

Locusts also cannot sting - stings are not provided for by nature.

This is a huge disaster for all farmers and gardeners. She moves in large flocks, multiplies 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, and wooden furniture. The locust has a gnawing mouth apparatus designed to bite off and grind solid food. She cannot bite or sting.

A photo

The consequences of the locust infestation in pictures:

The locust is a winged insect that usually lives and moves in large groups (herds). It looks like a grasshopper, however, it differs in the size of the body and mustache.

This pest has always been dangerous for agricultural crops, since in a short period of time it can eat plants almost at the root, especially for such a species as the Asian migratory.

In contact with

• What do locusts eat?
• How does the oral apparatus work?
• Do locusts bite?
• Video

What do locusts eat?

When forming a huge flock, the insect can eat all the vegetation that it can meet on its way. The total weight of the plants eaten per day is equal to the own weight of the pest, 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 cereals - wheat, oats, corn, rye, barley, millet, sorghum and others. With less appetite, the insect destroys flax, buckwheat, hemp;
• Vegetable crops - beans, beans, soybeans, beetroot and sugar beets, potatoes and others;

• Orchards - the pest can eat both the leaves and fruits of plums, cherries, peaches, pears, and gnaw the bark of young trees;
• Planting grapes - berries, petioles, grape leaves are eaten;
• Cabbage, melons and gourds - pumpkins, melons, watermelons, sunflower planting;
• Separately growing trees, shrubs, grass, including whole forests.

During a locust invasion of a settlement or village, reed or thatched roofs and wooden household items were often destroyed. In arid areas, the pest can feed on any dried grass and leaves.

How does the oral apparatus work?

The locust mouthpiece is gnawing, it is designed to be eaten with solid food. This type is original, and from it other forms of the structure of the mouth in other insects originate. The gnawing apparatus contains the most complete set of 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 consumption. The upper jaws move in a horizontal plane, bite off a small piece and grind it into smaller pieces. Strongly mobile the lower jaws push the crushed food into the esophagus.

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

Do locusts bite?

Very often it is confused with grasshoppers. With a similar appearance, they also have cardinal differences:

• The grasshopper has a long mustache that helps it find its prey (the locust has a short mustache);
• The grasshopper is predominantly nocturnal (the locust is a day resident).

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

Do locusts have teeth? This insect has a mouth no teeth - it is herbivorous, not predatory. She will not specifically attack a person and try to harm him.

Nonetheless the jaws are strong enoughrequired for quick nibbling of pieces from hard plants. And when the self-preservation instinct is triggered, the pest can sensitively "pinch" the skin. If this happens, it is recommended to treat the bite site with hydrogen peroxide, iodine.

Locusts also cannot sting - stings are not provided for by nature.

This is a huge disaster for all farmers and gardeners. She moves in large flocks, multiplies 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, and wooden furniture. The locust has a gnawing mouth apparatus designed to bite off and grind solid food. She cannot bite or sting.

A photo

The consequences of the locust infestation in pictures:

Video review: Giant locust from Central America:

Locust diet

• Reed and reed thickets on the banks of rivers, ponds, lakes, swamps;
• Any cereal crops - wheat, oats, corn, rye, barley, millet, sorghum and others;

REFERENCE:Less popular: flax, buckwheat, hemp.

• Vegetable crops - legumes, beans, soybeans, table and sugar beets, potatoes and others;
• Fruit gardens. The pest eats leaves and fruits of plums, cherries, peaches, pears. They also gnaw the bark of young trees;
• Grape plantings. They feed on berries, petioles, grape leaves;
• Cabbage, melons - pumpkins, melons, watermelons, sunflower plantings;
• Separately growing trees, shrubs, grass, as well as entire forests.

How does the oral apparatus work?

The locust has a gnawing mouth apparatus designed to consume solid food. This type is original, from which other forms of the structure of the oral apparatus in other insects originate. The gnawing apparatus consists of the most complete set of elements:

• Upper and lower lip;
• Two pairs of upper and lower jaw.

Insect oral apparatus:

The upper lip helps the insect determine whether the food item is fit for food. The upper jaws move horizontally, chewing off a small piece and grinding it into smaller pieces. With the help of strong movable lower jaws, crushed food is pushed into the esophagus.

The upper and lower jaws are not only intended for feeding, insects use them to protect themselves during a fight with an enemy.

Do locusts bite?

Locusts are often confused with grasshoppers.

However, despite the external similarity, they have significant differences:

• The grasshopper has longer antennae that help in finding prey (the antennae are shorter in the locust);
• The grasshopper has mainly nocturnal activity (the locust is diurnal);
• A grasshopper, a predator capable of biting a person rather painfully, even before the appearance of blood, introduces a burning composition into the wound.

The oral apparatus of this pest does not have teeth, since it is a herbivore, not a predator. Locusts never deliberately attack people or try to harm them. However, their jaws are quite strong, allowing them to quickly gnaw off pieces from hard plants. When the instinct of self-preservation is triggered, locusts are able to perceptibly "pinch" the human skin. After that, it is necessary to process the bitten site using hydrogen peroxide or iodine.

REFERENCE:The pest does not know how to sting, since it does not have a sting.

Locusts are a big disaster for all gardeners and gardeners. Pests fly in huge flocks, they have a fast reproduction process, they destroy any vegetation available to them. They devour not only agricultural crops, but also trees, shrubs, roofs made of reeds and straw, and wooden furniture. Locusts have a gnawing mouth apparatus, which is designed to bite off and grind solid food. The lack of teeth and sting prevents it from biting and stinging.

When forming a huge flock, the insect can eat all the vegetation that it can meet on its way. The total weight of the plants eaten per day is equal to the own weight of the pest, 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 cereals - wheat, oats, corn, rye, barley, millet, sorghum and others. With less appetite, the insect destroys flax, buckwheat, hemp;
• Vegetable crops -, soy, canteen and sugar, and others;

• Orchards - the pest can eat both leaves and fruits, and gnaw the bark of young trees;
• Landings - berries, petioles, grape leaves are eaten;
• , melons and gourds -, watermelons, sunflower planting;
• Separately growing trees, shrubs, grass, including whole forests.

During a locust invasion of a settlement or village, reed or thatched roofs and wooden household items were often destroyed. In arid areas, the pest can feed on any dried grass and leaves.

How does the oral apparatus work?

The locust mouthpiece is gnawing, it is designed to be eaten with solid food. This type is original, and from it other forms of the structure of the mouth in other insects originate. The gnawing apparatus contains the most complete set of 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 consumption. The upper jaws move in a horizontal plane, bite off a small piece and grind it into smaller pieces. Strongly mobile the lower jaws push the crushed food into the esophagus.

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

Do locusts bite?

Very often it is confused with grasshoppers. With a similar appearance, they also have cardinal differences:

• The grasshopper has a long mustache that helps it find its prey (the locust has a short mustache);
• The grasshopper is predominantly nocturnal (the locust is a day resident).

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

Do locusts have teeth? This insect has a mouth no teeth - it is herbivorous, not predatory. She will not specifically attack a person and try to harm him.

Nonetheless the jaws are strong enoughrequired for quick nibbling of pieces from hard plants. And when the self-preservation instinct is triggered, the pest can sensitively "pinch" the skin. If this happens, it is recommended to treat the bite site with hydrogen peroxide, iodine.

Locusts also cannot sting - stings are 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, and wooden furniture. The locust has a gnawing mouth apparatus designed to bite off and grind solid food. She cannot bite or sting.

A photo

The consequences of the invasion in pictures: