The lifespan and harm of locusts

There are many kinds of locusts, their vitality is tenacious, and they can inhabit various places. They are most widely distributed in mountain areas, forests, low-lying areas, semi-arid areas, and grasslands. Most of them are important crop pests, and they may break out in large numbers during severe droughts. Disasters to nature and human beings generally do not last long. Let's take a look at them.

How long is the life span of locusts

The life span of locusts is generally about 2-3 months. Therefore, in temperate regions, migratory locusts generally have two generations a year, four generations a year in tropical regions such as Australia and Hainan Island in China, and three generations in warm temperate regions.

The growth process of locusts

The reproductive ability of locusts is amazing. It takes about 30 days from the birth of eggs to the mating and reproduction of adult locusts. A mature female migratory locust can lay more than 200 eggs on average, up to 1000 eggs at most, and has three insect states in its lifetime, that is, eggs, nymphs and adults.

1. Eggs: every summer and autumn are the breeding seasons. After mating, the female locusts insert the oviposition tube into the soil 10 cm deep and lay about 50 eggs. The eggs live in the soil and cannot move freely.

2. Nymphs: nymphs, also known as locust pupae, are similar in size to adults. Nymphs gradually grow up. When they can no longer grow up due to the limitation of exoskeleton, they take off their original exoskeleton, which is called molting, which is divided into five ages, that is to say, they have to peel for five times. generally, they do not eat or eat very little before and after peeling.

3. Adults: adults have flying wings and mature genitals, can fly, can also jump, and can mate and spawn and breed.

Harm prevention and control of locusts

Locusts are an important part of the ecosystem of agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry. Many harmful locust species can cause varying degrees of harm to agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry. There are more than 10,000 species of locusts in the world, of which about 300 species can cause harm to agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry. Locusts can occur all over the world except Antarctica and areas north of latitude 550 in Eurasia.

1. Agricultural control: the main methods of agricultural control of locusts can be summarized into three kinds.

① reduces the food source of locusts: many kinds of locusts eat corn, wheat, sorghum, rice, millet and so on, rather than soybeans, alfalfa, fruit trees and so on. Therefore, planting as many soybeans, alfalfa, fruit trees and other trees as possible in locusts can control locusts.

② reduces locusts' habitats: some locusts occur in low-lying areas. We can transform such plots into ponds, raising fish and shrimp, which can greatly reduce locusts' living places and better control locusts.

③ reduces locust spawning sites: some species of locusts, such as the East Asian migratory locust, like to lay eggs in dry and bare land. We should increase the intensity of afforestation, increase the number of plants, and make plant coverage more than 70%. Such plots are not suitable for locusts to lay eggs and can reduce the harm of locusts.

2. Biological control: at present, there are three main methods for locust control.

① protects and uses the natural enemies of locusts to control locusts, such as frogs, lizards, birds, predatory beetles, parasitic bees, parasitic flies and so on.

② uses biological pesticides to control locusts. At present, the biological pesticides used to control locusts include locust microsporidia, Metarhizium anisopliae and azadirachtin.

③ herding chickens and ducks control locusts, chickens and ducks also prey on locusts, which not only controls locusts, but also increases the efficiency of agricultural production.