The locust is one of the insects that causes the most damage and with the most harsh to the world agriculture. With its trips, up to 100 kilometers per day, it has caused great famines throughout history, and its total extinction is far from being a reality.
The locust has affected agricultural activity in an important way for millennia and could only be effectively controlled from the application of certain political and scientific measures from the beginning of the 20th century.
The researcher and doctor in Human Geography by the University of Barcelona, Antonio Buj Buj, explained that "there are many species of lobster, but what is considered the most devastating is the 'Schistocerca gregaria', which affects more than fifty countries, "some of which are developing and others among the poorest on the planet, with fewer resources to cope with the damage caused by these insects."
"Locusts are insects that belong to the order of the Orthopterans, and within these are framed in the Acrididae family, which includes some 5,000 known species, of which several hundred generate damage and a score of twenty cause real devastation. migratory that can travel long distances and that are the cause of terrible plagues ", the researcher details.
A locust plague is a massive manifestation of certain insects that occurs when the ecology of the environment in which they habitually change and pass from a solitary phase to a gregarious phase.
The solitary phase corresponds to their breeding areas, in times of rain and when they can provide food. Pests are unleashed when the stage of drought arrives and food is scarce, so insects become stressed and physically transformed, change size, color and shape; Then they move to other places and are much more active.
In this stage gregaria becomes a fearsome insect because of its ease of movement, which makes it difficult to control invasions.
In Spain, the Alcudia valley, in Ciudad Real; La Serena, in Badajoz; The Monegros between Zaragoza and Huesca, in addition to some regions of Andalusia may suffer from the so-called Moroccan lobster, scientifically named Dosciostaurus, although its impact is low incidence.
The most damaging species worldwide is Schistocerca, which has several generations per year. Their swarms can invade an area that covers about thirty million square kilometers and especially affect a large part of Africa and all of Southeast Asia.
"Lobsters are found on every continent and in every area, plagues are unleashed every 3 or 4 years and, although there is documented information from biblical times, locust plagues continue to cover and devastate all the fields they pass through, because they have not until now no insecticide or means for its complete destruction, "says the researcher.
Although the locust plagues in our country have become a minor problem, however, the agronomic services in Spain that are found in Aragon and Extremadura are those that basically control these pests, and where they are attentive each year to how the disease evolves. insect from the passage from the solitary phase to the gregarious.
At present and with climate change, according to the researcher Antonio Buj, locust pests "can change their habits and move to areas where they did not cause serious incidents".
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