A swarming grasshopper (Schistocerca gregaria) that shifts from a solitary to a gregarious phase under crowding and forms swarms that can range across North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Sahel and southwest Asia. A single large swarm can strip crops across an area the size of a small country in a day, and major upsurges, including the 2019 to 2021 outbreak across East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, have threatened the food security of tens of millions of people.
Facts
Connections
Associated With
Millet, Crops Desert locust swarms are a historic and recurring threat to millet and other cereal crops across the Sahel.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: The Sahel, originated there.
Sources
1. Desert Locust (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOpening definition paragraph
The desert locust is a species of locust in the grasshopper family, Acrididae. A periodically swarming, short-horned bird grasshopper, it is found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and southwest Asia. During population surge years, its range may extend north into parts of Southern Europe, Eastern Africa, and Northern India.
lead description
A swarming grasshopper (Schistocerca gregaria) that shifts from a solitary to a gregarious phase under crowding and forms swarms that can range across North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Sahel and southwest Asia.
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