Photographer Ben Curtis
Agency AP Photo
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THIS farmer can only watch in dismay as locusts in swarms of biblical proportions devour her crops outside Katitika village in Kenya. It is the worst invasion by desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) in decades to hit Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, destroying crops in an area already facing food insecurity. Somalia has declared a national emergency.
Hundreds of millions of locusts are forming swarms bigger than cities. Stopping them will require the aerial spraying of pesticides, which could cost $70 million, says the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
It fears locust numbers could grow some 500-fold when rains arrive in March, bringing new vegetation. An adult can eat its body weight in food daily, and , according to the FAO.
Desert locusts are usually solitary, but rain after drought can cause a surge in vegetation, and locust breeding. As the wingless nymphs, known as hoppers, get crowded together, the stimulus of frequent physical contact triggers changes to their colour and behaviour. Hoppers change colour as they become gregarious. Flying adults also change colour, turning pink if immature or yellow if mature. The locusts here look immature, so can鈥檛 yet produce a new generation.
