Short-horned grasshoppers that can switch into a swarming phase. After drought and then fast plant growth, crowding raises serotonin in their brains, and they change colour, eat more, breed faster and gather into huge migrating swarms that strip crops.
Quick answers
What is it?Insect
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?Yes
Eaten throughout history and considered a delicacy in many countries.
At a glance
Found inAfrica, Asia, Worldwide
HabitatDesert, Farmland
ColoursBrown, Yellow, Green
SizeTiny
Legs6
Covered inExoskeleton
Lives inblooms
Lives for3–5 months
Can fly
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Swarming species live on every continent except Antarctica; the desert locust ranges across Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
- What it eats
- Green plants: leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds, stems and bark of nearly all crops.
Did you know
A harmless grasshopper until crowding changes its body and behaviour into a swarming form.
A desert locust swarm can hold 50 to 100 billion locusts and travel 100 to 200 km in a day.
The solitary and swarming forms of the migratory locust were once thought to be separate species.
Often confused with
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