locust

—locustlike, adj.

/loh"keuhst/, n.

1. Also called acridid, short-horned grasshopper. any of several grasshoppers of the family Acrididae, having short antennae and commonly migrating in swarms that strip the vegetation from large areas.

2. any of various cicadas, as the seventeen-year locust.

3. any of several North American trees belonging to the genus Robinia, of the legume family, esp. R. pseudoacacia, having pinnate leaves and clusters of fragrant white flowers.

4. the durable wood of this tree.

5. any of various other trees, as the carob and the honey locust.

[1150-1200; ME < L locusta grasshopper]

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I

Any of several species of grasshoppers (family Acrididae) that undergo population explosions and migrate long distances in destructive swarms.

In North America the names locust and grasshopper are interchangable and used for any acridid; cicadas are sometimes called locusts. In Europe, locust refers to large species and grasshopper to small ones. Locusts are found worldwide. Sporadic locust swarms may be explained by the theory that swarming species have a solitary phase (the normal state) and a gregarious phase. Nymphs that mature in the presence of many other locusts develop into the gregarious type; thus migratory swarms form as a result of overcrowding. Swarms may be almost unimaginably large, towering 5,000 ft (1,500 m) high; in 1889 a Red Sea swarm was estimated to cover 2,000 sq mi (5,000 sq km). Locust plagues can be extremely destructive of crops.

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

John H. Gerard

EB Inc.

II

In botany, any of about 20 tree species in the genus Robinia of the pea family (see legume), all native to eastern North America and Mexico.

Best-known is the black locust (R. pseudoacacia), often called false acacia or yellow locust. Widely cultivated in Europe as an ornamental, it grows 80 ft (24 m) high and bears long, compound leaves. The fragrant white flowers hang in loose clusters. There are many varieties, some thornless. The black locust has long been used for erosion control and as a timber tree. The so-called honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), also of the pea family, is a North American tree commonly used as an ornamental and often found in hedges.

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▪ insect

 any of a group of insects (order Orthoptera) that are distributed worldwide, the common name of which generally refers to the group of short-horned grasshoppers that often increase greatly in numbers and migrate long distances in destructive swarms. In Europe the term locust connotes large acridids, whereas smaller species are called grasshoppers. In North America the names locust and grasshopper are used for any acridid. Cicadas (order Homoptera) also may be called a locust, with the 17-year “locust” being the the periodic, or 17-year, cicada (see cicada). The grouse (or pygmy) locust is a member of the family Tetrigidae (see pygmy grasshopper).

      A phase theory has been developed to account for the sporadic appearance and disappearance of locust swarms. According to the theory a plague species has two phases: one solitary and the other gregarious. The phases can be distinguished by differences in coloration, form, physiology, and behaviour. A solitary phase nymph, for example, adjusts its coloration to match that of its surroundings, does not collect in groups, has low metabolic and oxygen-intake rates, and is sluggish. A gregarious phase nymph, on the other hand, has black and yellow or orange coloration in a fixed pattern, gathers in large groups, has high metabolic and oxygen intake rates, and is active and nervous. Adult locusts differ more in form than in colour. The solitary phase has shorter wings, longer legs, and a narrower pronotum, or dorsal sclerite (with higher crest and larger head), than gregarious phase individuals. The adult of this phase has a more saddle-shaped pronotum, broader shoulders, and long wings.

      When a nymph of a solitary phase locust matures in the presence of many other locusts, it undergoes a physiological change and produces offspring of the gregarious type. If crowding is sufficiently dense and of long enough duration, the majority of a local population will shift to the gregarious migratory phase. The young of a gregarious phase locust, on the other hand, will produce offspring that revert to the solitary phase if it matures in isolation. The solitary phase is the normal state of the species, with the gregarious phase being a physiological response to violent fluctuations in the environment. Migratory swarms do not form in regions favourable for the growth of a species. Instead they form in marginal regions in which suitable habitats are scarce. A succession of favourable seasons enables a population to expand in numbers so that individuals are forced into marginal areas. When unfavourable environmental conditions occur in the marginal regions, individuals are forced to return to smaller, permanently habitable areas, resulting in crowding and triggering the physiological shift to the gregarious form.

      A gregarious phase locust is restless and irritable, and it flies spontaneously on warm, dry days when its body temperature is high. The muscular activity of flight further raises its temperature. A swarm ceases flying only when environmental conditions change; e.g., rain falls, temperature decreases, or darkness occurs. In 1869 desert locust swarms reached England, probably from West Africa, and a flight across the Red Sea in 1889 was estimated to be about 5,000 square km (2,000 square miles) in size. The long-distance dispersal of these swarms is usually associated with either frontal winds of storm systems or high-level jet-stream winds. The acridids typically fly almost straight up into these fast-moving winds and then are carried with the winds until they slow to the point where gravity overcomes wind speed, causing them to drop from the sky.

      The range of the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) is wider than that of any other acridid. It is found in grasslands throughout Africa, most of Eurasia south of the Taiga Forest, the East Indies, tropical Australia, and New Zealand. The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) inhabits dry grasslands and deserts from Africa to the Punjab and can fly upward to about 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) in huge towers of individuals. The smaller Italian and Moroccan locusts (Calliptamus italicus and Dociostaurus maroccanus) cause extensive plant damage in the Mediterranean area, with D. maroccanus found as far east as Turkestan. In South Africa the brown and red locusts (Locustana pardalina and Nomadacris septemfasciata) are extremely destructive. In Central and South America the chief migratory species is the South American locust (Schistocerca paranensis). The nonmigratory S. americana (found in the United States) may be a solitary phase of this genus. The Rocky Mountain locust and the migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus spretus and M. sanguinipes, respectively) destroyed many prairie farms in Canada and the United States in the 1870s. Many other species occasionally increase sufficiently in numbers to be called plagues.

      Once developed, a locust plague is almost impossible to stop or control. Control measures include destroying egg masses laid by invading swarms, digging trenches to trap nymphs, using hopperdozers (wheeled screens that cause locusts to fall into troughs containing water and kerosene), using insecticidal baits, and applying insecticides to both swarms and breeding grounds from aircraft.

▪ tree

      in botany, any tree of the genus Robinia within the pea family (Fabaceae). About 20 species are known, all occurring in eastern North America and Mexico. The best known is the black locust (R. pseudoacacia), often called false acacia, or yellow locust. It is widely cultivated in Europe as an ornamental. It grows to 24 m (80 feet) high and bears long, compound leaves with 6 to 20 oblong leaflets. The fragrant white flowers hang in loose clusters. There are many varieties, some thornless. It has long been used for erosion control and as a timber tree.

      The so-called honey locust (q.v.), also of the pea family, is a North American tree commonly used as an ornamental and often found in hedges.

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