What are the main characteristics of locusts?

Locusts are the larger of the insects, their mouthparts are very hard, the muscles on their hind feet are strong and developed, and their front wings are tough and good at flying. Locusts are not only very diverse, but also quite widespread, especially in plains and places with relatively low altitudes. Locusts are the most harmful insects to agricultural production, especially in locust years, and their destructive effects are eye-popping.

Locusts are herbivorous insects, and their favorite food is fat leaves, and many crops such as millet, rice, corn, and greens, as well as weeds such as reeds and dogtail can also become their food. Adults are even more destructive, they like to bite on the leaves and stems of plants, and they eat an astonishing amount of food, sometimes even eating the stalks of crops. However, locusts prefer to live in groups due to the influence of their living environment, and when the locusts migrate in dense groups, the damage to crops is even greater.

Especially in dry years, the dry climate, shrinking water surface, and increasing wasteland provide enormous favorable conditions for locust reproduction, and also make locust plagues most likely to occur in dry years.

Locusts are generally facultative diapause insects, mostly overwintering in oocysts in the soil, and only a few species such as the Japanese yellow locust and the short-legged locust overwinter as adults. The number of generations that occur in one year depends on the biological characteristics of the species and the annual effective accumulated temperature, food, light exposure and growth and development of each insect stage in different regions. For example, the Asian locust occurs in one generation in one year in China's distribution area.

The East Asian locust has two generations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and its northern distribution areas in China, while the high temperature and drought years in the Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins have three generations or incomplete three generations. South China 4 5 generations. The Chinese rice locust has 1 generation in the Yangtze River and its northern areas, and the 2nd generation in the south of the Yangtze River. [2]

Eating habits and feeding hazards.

Adults and locusts have the same feeding habits, both are herbivorous, and the adult stage is highly nutritious, accounting for more than 75% of the total food in a lifetime. They bite the leaves and buds of plants with chewing mouthparts into gaps and holes, and in serious cases, they eat up the leaves and buds of large areas of plants, causing major economic losses in agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry. Some species are oligophagous pests, such as the East Asian locust, which feeds only on grasses and sedges; Some species are polyphagous, such as the Giant Cushion Locust.

When the season is dry, they are more gluttonous, and the large amount of food they eat is excreted from the body without being fully digested, so as to obtain a large amount of water from it to supply physiological and metabolic needs, thus increasing the degree of harm to crops. [2]

Activity habits. Adults and locusts are nocturnal and nocturnal, with no obvious phototaxis.

When the density of flying locusts is large, due to mutual sensation, the formation of conditioned reflexes, intensifying activities, locusts are easy to form swarms, dormant, crowded, and then jump in a certain direction and move in a group. [2]

Spawning habits. Adults have a long pre-oviposition period, generally 10 to 30 days, multiple mating, and laying eggs in batches. Adult females lay their eggs in the soil.

The character of locusts is to move forward and eat all over the world.

Locusts are a kind of pest, destroying crops and leaves, and are a great harm to human beings, right?

When you encounter natural predators, you will jump at a glance.