Locust Facts & Information
Protect your home or business from locusts by learning techniques for identification and control.
Family Coreidae
Treatment
How do I get rid of leaffooted bugs?
What Orkin Does
The true locusts in the U.S. go by the common name short-horned grasshoppers and are not the same insects as cicadas. North America is home to over six hundred different species of locusts. Most of which are diverse in appearance, and only a few species damage rangelands, crops, and gardens. Therefore, before attempting a treatment program for locusts, always contact your pest management professional.
Locust treatment can be very challenging since their behavior involves adults flying into an area, feeding on vegetation and then moving onto another feeding location.
Localized treatment of heavy locust infestations generally consists of using chemical sprays applied directly to plants or the locusts, themselves. Selecting the proper chemical insecticides depends on whether the product’s label allows application to fruits or vegetables. If chemical products are used, selecting a product is best left to your pest management professional.
There are some effective non-chemical methods that your pest management professional may recommend for the treatment program. These might include:
Protecting valuable shrubs and garden plants with insect mesh or cloth that is not green because green colors tend to attract locusts.
Removing locusts by handpicking them off plants.
Leaving areas of tall, uncut grass so locusts have alternative food sources and harborage sites that provide other plants to feed on and reduce the likelihood of damage to landscaping or garden plants.
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FAQs
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Locusts are not home invaders and in the adult stage should one venture inside it will not survive long indoors. These insects are not cicadas, but are certain species of grasshoppers usually associated with grasslands, so their feeding habits may lure them to agricultural crop fields, gardens, mature plants and seedlings in lawns. While a locust may accidentally get inside through a door or window, these pests do not infest homes and can be easily removed by using a paper towel or napkin to grab and dispose of the locust in the trash.
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Yes, locusts are a species of short-horned grasshoppers. What sets them apart from other grasshoppers are their long, strong wings and their tendency to swarm.
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Locusts rarely, if ever bite people. However, because of their diet, the pests do damage growing plants and vegetables. A large locust population can wipe out a garden in a short time. In addition, due to their behavior, agility and sometimes huge populations, these insects are difficult to exclude from ornamentals and other plants. These insects are also commonly called migratory grasshoppers and the damage they’ve created in the past is legendary as they migrate from one location to another, sometimes consuming all of the plant matter they come across.
Behavior, Diet & Habits
Understanding Locusts
Appearance
Locust is a common name used incorrectly when identifying cicadas and other families of grasshoppers. The true locusts in the U.S. go by the common name short-horned grasshoppers. Locusts are quite diverse in appearance with more than 600 species found in North America, of which only a few are considered damaging to rangelands, crops and garden plants.
Size: Typically, locusts are large insects with two antennae that are less than half the length of its body.
Legs: They have long back legs used for leaping
Wings: Two wings at both the front and back of the body
Color: Range in color from very drab to very colorful.
Head: Locusts have large eyes, heads and chewing mouthparts enabling them to consume large amounts of vegetation.
Habitat
Most locust species are found in grasslands; however some may be seen in forested or aquatic environments.
Reproduction & Life Cycle
The life cycle consists of egg, nymph (wingless state) and winged adults and is typically completed in one year. Mating between males and females may take up to an hour. Some locust species participate in a behavior known as mate guarding, whereby the male rides on back of the female for a period of a day or more. Females typically deposit their eggs in the ground in an egg cluster of 8-25 eggs. Eggs are normally laid in the late summer, and overwinter before hatching in the spring.