Locusts in history and literature

According to the Bible, a swarm of locusts comprised the eighth plague in the story of the plagues of Egypt. In the Book of Revelation locusts with scorpion tails and human faces are to torment unbelievers for five months when the fifth trumpet sounds. One Old Testament book, Joel, is written in the context of a recent locust plague. Interestingly, the locusts are described in four different ways - "swarming locusts, cutting locusts, hopping locusts and destroying locusts." Although these were identified by the old Authorised Version as four different creatures, modern translations correctly identify them as four kinds of locusts. This fits with the many molts (called instars) through which locusts go. For example, the "hopper" probably denotes the larval stage (the first instar), the wings are not developed and the larva hops about. For more information about the locusts in Joel, see Raymond Dillard in Minor Prophets Vol 1, ed Thomas McComiskey.

Locusts as food

Locusts, encompassing four distinct species native to the Arabian peninsula, are the only invertebrates considered to be Kosher food. The tradition for identifying which species of locust were and were not kosher has been lost among all Jews except the Jews of Yemen. (One hypothesis links these kosher insects to the Biblical manna which was provided as food for the Israelites in the desert).

Locusts as experimental model

Locust is used as a model in many fields of biology especially in the field of olfactory,visual and locomotor neurophysiology. It is one of the organsims for which we have obtained detailed data on information processing in the olfactory pathway of organisms. It is suitable for the above purposes because of the robustness of the preparation for electrophysiological experiments and easiness of growing them.

Swarming behaviour and extinctions

Research at Cambridge University has identified the swarming behaviour is a response to overcrowding. The trigger is increased tactile stimulation of the hind legs. Several contacts per minute over a four hour period are sufficient to induce transformation to the swarming variety. It is estimated that the largest swarms have covered hundreds of square miles and consisted of many millions of locusts.