What are the natural enemies of locusts? What kinds of locusts are there?

Speaking of locusts, we must think of pests, but in recent years, locusts have become a delicacy on people's dinner table, and locust breeding programs have been carried out in many rural areas. So, what are the natural enemies of locusts? What kinds of locusts are there? Let's get to know it together.

What are the natural enemies of locusts?

1. Frogs

Almost all frogs are natural enemies of locusts, frogs and locusts live in the same type of ecological environment, where there are reeds, weeds, potholes, ditches and other places, are good places to live. A frog can eliminate more than 10,000 pests in a summer, and a frog eats an average of 50 pests a day, with a maximum of 266, so as long as there are a large number of frogs, the number of locusts will be greatly reduced.

2. Birds

Birds that eat locusts include bird plovers, white-winged floating gulls, and field wren, especially plover plovers. Birds that eat locusts need to prey on a large number of locusts during the brooding stage. Take ordinary swallows as an example, a pair of parent birds and a litter of nestlings can eat more than 16200 locusts a month.

3. Lizard

Lizards, commonly known as four-legged snakes and snake aunts, are distributed all over the world, mostly in the tropics and subtropics, with diverse living environments, mainly terrestrial, arboreal, semi-aquatic and cave-dwelling in the soil, most of which feed on insects and a few species that feed on plants. Mainly prey on locusts in spring and summer.

4. Spiders

Spiders are widely distributed and feed on insects, other spiders and polypods. Locusts bumping into its traps are a good meal for spiders, and most spiders have the ability to prey on locusts.

What are the species of locusts?

1. Rice locust

The rice locust is 21-31 mm long for female and 26-39 mm for male. Its back is grayish brown and its abdomen and feet are green. It is a very common locust between the grass at flat land and low altitude. Adults can be seen almost everywhere except in winter. It mainly feeds on leaves of Gramineae plants and was a major pest in rice cultivation in the early days.

2. East Asian migratory locust

East Asian migratory locusts belong to the family Orthoptera, which grow under the condition of natural temperature. there are two generations a year, the first generation is called summer locust, the second generation is autumn locust, and the artificial culture can be converted to four generations a year. Natural enemies are spiders, birds, frogs, mantis and so on. Nowadays, the locusts cultured are basically East Asian migratory locusts.

3. Red queen negative locust

The red queen negative locust is an insect of the family Orthoptera, with a body length of 20-25 mm for males and 34-42 mm for females, with a simple green or brown color, a long head and small white protuberances on its head, chest and feet. It is the most common negative locust in China. Adults can be seen all year round and live in forest edge bushes from flat to mid-altitude mountain areas.

4. Taiwan locust

Different from the East Asian migratory locust, the Taiwan locust is the largest among locusts in Taiwan. in particular, the female can reach 8 or 9 centimeters in length. The biggest feature is that it has well-developed hind legs and is suitable for long-distance jumping. Adults mainly appear in autumn, while adults can be seen in the south in winter or even the next spring.

5. Desert locusts

Desert locusts are so destructive in North, East and South Africa that they become desolate wherever they fly, causing several plagues of locusts in African history.

The above is the arrangement of the natural enemies of locusts and the species of locusts. I hope I can help you!