These Swarming Locusts Are Grasshoppers Gone Wrong | Deep Look

They might look like harmless grasshoppers, but locusts have an appetite for destruction. When the conditions are right, they transform from mild-mannered loners into gregarious partiers. They swarm, causing chaos and suffering at the level of a biblical plague. So what sets them off?

DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

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“Locusts are certainly immensely fascinating creatures,” says Rick Overson, a research scientist for Arizona State University’s Global Locust Initiative. “Growing up in the Phoenix Valley, my parents called noisy cicadas locusts. But to a biologist, the locust is a special type of grasshopper.

They have this really fantastic ability to respond in a way that we call phenotypic plasticity. If the conditions are one way, they can become what we consider a normal, solitary grasshopper that's camouflaged green, goes relatively unnoticed and avoids other members of its species.

But then when conditions are right, which a lot of times is rain falling in the desert and producing a lot of food, those locusts then can do this switch and move down a different developmental pathway and their coloration changes, their neurochemistry changes, their behavior changes and they become attracted to one another. They begin to march in these coordinated formations.”

--- Why do locusts swarm?
Locusts swarm as a reaction to being crowded together. That can happen in different ways, but one common way is when drought reduces the amount of surrounding vegetation and the locusts get concentrated on the remaining plants.

--- How long do locusts live?
There is variation between species and between individuals within a species, but many species like desert locusts live about three to five months.

--- Do locusts bite?
Locusts generally don’t bite people, though they may be able to give a little nibble in defense. Like other grasshoppers, locusts will typically try to leap away from danger. If that doesn’t work they can kick with their powerful hind legs. They also have the ability to regurgitate partially digested food and enzymes at their attacker. The dark unpleasant substance is referred to as “tobacco juice.”

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#locusts #plague #deeplook

[rishimasinha]

This solitary to gregarious transition of Grasshopper was something I did not know. Thank you deep look for the amazing work ❤️❤️❤️

[bismuth]

It's fascinating how after the parent green locusts turn into yellow/black locusts and mate, the babies are born as yellow/black locusts and not green locusts that later become yellow/black.

[_ieatgras]

Being at home makes me miss what it feels like outside, this is keeping me feels like nothing changes thanks deep look!

[knightshade]

the worst locust plague I've encountered was during the mid-90s I was a child back then, the locus has decimated crops after the El-niño, my uncle's cornfields were lost, the grasshopper even entered our bedrooms... during that time many farmers crops were scared, some sell fried locust in the city, with spicy, sweet&spicy, salted & plain flavored Locust treats...


at times locusts turn the sky dark & most farmers Burn some of their lands to drive them away, causing the sun to also turn gloomy red on some other days...

[jivejunior]

Fun fact: The biggest and baddest locust of all time, the Rocky Mountain locust, was so successful that its swarms could be larger in area than California (!!!) and so detrimental to human settlement that they were considered THE obstacle to settling the wild west! Yet somehow, these locusts went extinct at the turn of the 1900's, an incredible mystery. We've only come close to explaining it in recent years.

[bialex]

You know, I've always wondered how gross these things are taste wise. Surely someone has tried to eat them when an entire invasion is eating your crops, right? Or am I just weird?

[Hyraladen]

I didn't even know Locusts were just Grasshoppers gone mad, I thought they were some far distant cousins to one another, just like Bees are to Wasps

[killermakd]

Small length videos with the right amount and quality of information, the right voice, the right visuals and a "Deep Look" is what makes this channel perfect!! (For even non-insect lovers).
Hope to see some more BTSes!!

[gogogadget]

I remember learning about this transition on discovery channel as a child, but couldn’t find evidence of it and everybody told me I was a liar. Now finally I have some backup!

[roquelabs]

imagine having entomophobia then out of nowhere some big flies starts heading in your general direction. Bruh I'd be long gone to my next life.

[FriendlyKat]

Wow! I learned a lot in this video! I always wondered if Locusts and Grasshoppers were different somehow, and I guess, in a sense, they are. You said BILLIONS can swarm? Holy cow! How did you get those numbers and they can last for decades? How does that happen?!
This is all so fascinating! Thanks Deep Look for producing such good and informative content! I love learning!

[LordJuztice]

0:31 A grasshopper can't even socialize without being called names!
This is outrageous!

[noone]

*Grasshopper gets kicked in the leg* I guess it’s party time! *Rips off clothes*

[hyperactivehyena]

Locusts seem like a natural equalizing force of the desert. In arid regions grasshoppers start swarming in order to find food, after abundance runs out, and then they as a massive group aid in returning the desert to an arid state by devouring plant matter and preventing it from rotting into the soil, fertilizing it. they make sure their species can continue specifically because they over-eat

[danielzboy]

Absolutely terrifying creatures. Stellar work as always Deep Look! I love learning more about creepy crawlies through your videos, since I'd never dare to even get close to them, much less study them!

[kimbratton]

I always enjoy taking a deep look at nature!

[Xsuprio]

It's not about food. It's about keeping those ants in line.

[benslusher]

This is so cool how they change from green to yellow and black

[talong]

I am a simple man, I see deep look has uploaded and I must watch

[huntergamma]

In the past, my country (Thailand). There was the Pantaga-grasshopper outbreak, they feed on crops until the farmer cannot harvest any rice in the field. This occured for like a week. Then the problem was solved, the farmer start catching and cooking those grasshopper, deep fried. Since then the Pantanga-grasshopper outbreak has stopped, the wild Pantanga-grasshopper population are decreasing very fast, nearly extinct in the wild. Mostly grasshopper we find in the fried-insect selling cart are raise in captivity. I suggest you guys to try some, it's delicious though, like a crispy mackeral😂