Saharan Locust Plague Causes Devastating Damage
1. What species of locusts are there in Africa? What are their characteristics?
This African locust plague mainly refers to the Schistocerca gregaria, which is native to the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen. It is a short-horned locust species that lives in the desert.
As one of the most dangerous types of locusts, the African locusts have a body length of about 7 to 8 cm at maturity, with colors mostly brown yellow, and a weight of about 2g.
They have a vigorous life: generally they can survive for 3 to 5 months;
They have a voracious appetite: each insect eats about 2g of food per day, and if there are 20 billion locusts, they can consume about 40,000 tons of food in a day.
They have a long transmission distance: about 150km per season and daily wind speed.
2. What is the spread range of African locusts?
Let's take a look at the power of the desert locust.
The spread range is very wide: more than 60 countries!
The spread range of the desert locust extends from Mauritania to the Sahara Desert in North Africa, across 16 million square kilometers of the Arabian Peninsula, and then enters Northwest India. The northernmost point is Spain and Russia, and the easternmost point is India and Southwest Asia. It covers an area of about 32 million square kilometers (about 20% of the Earth’s land area), affecting more than 60 countries.
A Kenyan farmer faced the invasion of locusts across the country.
The flight height is quite high: it can reach 2000 meters!
The locust swarm flies with the wind, and the wind speed is roughly the same. They can cover 100 to 200 kilometers in a day, and they can fly to an altitude of about 2,000 meters. However, they cannot fly above the Alps, the Himalayas or the Caucasus Mountains. They will not enter the African rainforests or central Europe. However, adult locusts and swarms of locusts often cross the Red Sea between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and there were reports of 10-day locust plagues in 1987-89, when they crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to the Caribbean.
3. What are the harms of the African locust plague?
The African locust plague has always been accompanied by the economic development of Africa and has never truly separated from it.
The locust plague has a lasting impact.
Kitui, Kenya, locust attack.
First, it will threaten local food security.
In the face of the invasion of the desert locust, the Horn of Africa is recovering from the “one after another” impact spoken of by Deputy Secretary-General Locke Koch. The locusts further weakened the resilience of the region, posing a food security risk to about 19 million people.
Somalia and Sudan faced famine threats in 2017, but in the past two years, these two countries have also experienced rainfall shortages, droughts and floods.
So far, a small locust swarm can destroy 40,000 tons of food per day. If it moves 150km in a day, it can destroy about 3.5 million people's food.
The World Food Programme issued a warning: the desert locusts in the Horn of Africa have increased by 64 million times in one and a half years, and without control, it will threaten the food security of 19 million people.
2. What are the conditions needed for the outbreak of the African locust plague?
1. Early stage:
Sufficient rainfall, warm soil and lush vegetation provide the best breeding conditions for locusts.
For example, the Arabian Peninsula was attacked by two tropical storms in 2018. This heavy rain helped vegetation growth and also helped the eggs hatch.
2. Larval stage:
Warm climate and lush vegetation are still necessary.
Newly hatched larvae immediately start feeding, and if they form a swarm, they will be attracted to other larvae and form a large swarm of locusts.
When food supply and climate conditions are suitable, the locusts’ life cycle can complete in 2 to 4 weeks, but if the environment is not ideal, it may take 6 months for the locusts to mature.
3. Mature stage:
The transition from a harmless individual locust to a swarm of locusts feeding is usually during the dry season.
Mature locusts like warm and dry weather, and the Chinese have said since ancient times, “dry and locusts come”, “long drought and locusts”, Dunyun’s “Chinese Famine History” statistics, Qin Han locust plague on average 8.8 times, Song dynasty 3.5 times, Yuan dynasty 1.6 times, Ming and Qing dynasties 2.8 times, the affected area and the degree of damage are the most in the world.
Only Chinese locusts are different, the locust plague occurs when the locusts swarm, they almost cannot fly across.
So, how can you fly across from the Southeast Asia to China? The possibility is very small. On the one hand, the Northeast wind prevails in Southeast Asia in winter, and the desert locust’s movement depends on the Indian Ocean monsoon. Now it’s winter, the ocean current has turned back and blown, and it’s blown to China. On the other hand, the Himalayas blocked most of the eastward locust swarms. Secondly, China’s regions have been controlled by cold highs from October to March and April, and the monsoon comes from the northwest and northeast, so the locust swarms cannot flow against the current. Therefore, it’s very difficult for the locusts to fly from the west to China.
4. Will the African locust plague threaten China?
The desert locusts spread so far because of the monsoon.
Large-scale locust swarms almost cannot fly across.
On the one hand, the Northeast wind prevails in Southeast Asia in winter, and the desert locust’s movement depends on the Indian Ocean monsoon. Now it’s winter, the ocean current has turned back and blown, and it’s blown to China. On the other hand, the Himalayas blocked most of the eastward locust swarms. Secondly, China’s regions have been controlled by cold highs from October to March and April, and the monsoon comes from the northwest and northeast, so the locust swarms cannot flow against the current. Therefore, it’s very difficult for the locusts to fly from the west to China.
5. What conditions are needed for the outbreak of the African locust plague?
1. Early stage:
Sufficient rainfall, warm soil and lush vegetation provide the best breeding conditions for locusts.
For example, the Arabian Peninsula was attacked by two tropical storms in 2018. This heavy rain helped vegetation growth and also helped the eggs hatch.
2. Larval stage:
Warm climate and lush vegetation are still necessary.
Newly hatched larvae immediately start feeding, and if they form a swarm, they will be attracted to other larvae and form a large swarm of locusts.
When food supply and climate conditions are suitable, the locusts’ life cycle can complete in 2 to 4 weeks, but if the environment is not ideal, it may take 6 months for the locusts to mature.
3. Mature stage:
The transition from a harmless individual locust to a swarm of locusts feeding is usually during the dry season.
Mature locusts like warm and dry weather, and the Chinese have said since ancient times, “dry and locusts come”, “long drought and locusts”, Dunyun’s “Chinese Famine History” statistics, Qin Han locust plague on average 8.8 times, Song dynasty 3.5 times, Yuan dynasty 1.6 times, Ming and Qing dynasties 2.8 times, the affected area and the degree of damage are the most in the world.
Only Chinese locusts are different, the locust plague occurs when the locusts swarm, they almost cannot fly across.
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