The locust is an insect that is closely related to the grasshopper. The principal difference between a locust and a grasshopper is that the locust has the ability to enter into a swarming phase.Food And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About Locusts The largest swarm recorded was the 2004 Desert Locust swarm that started in Africa, and extended north into Egypt, Jordan and Israel.Pest Products: Locust General Information The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization considers the Desert Locust to be the most significant locust species, due to its ability to reproduce quickly and travel over large distances.Food And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About Locusts

• Desert Locust - Schistocerca gregariaFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• African Migratory Locust - Locusta migratoria migratorioidesFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• Oriental Migratory Locust - Locusta migratoria manilensisFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• Red Locust - Nomadacris septemfasciataFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• Brown Locust - Locustana pardalinaFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• Moroccan Locust - Dociostaurus maroccanusFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• Bombay Locust - Nomadacris succinctaFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• Australian Plague Locust - Chortoicetes terminiferaFood And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust
• Tree Locusts - Anacridium sp.Food And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust

The locust is a solitary animal except during its gregarious phase. At this time the locust can swarm in groups that can cover up p to several hundred square kilometers.Food And Agricultural Organization: Frequently Asked Questions About LocustsNational Geographic: [National Geographic: Locust

The locust is green during its solitary phase and dark colored in the swarming phase. They can fly 60 miles in about eight hours.The Why Files: Life Of The Locust The large swarms can devastate crops by consuming up to 192 million kilograms of vegetation each day.Earth Observatory: Locust!

Research shows that touching the hind legs of a desert locust increases the amount of serotonin in the nervous system, which can trigger the swarming phase.The Why Files: Life Of The Locust

Ancestors of the desert locust swarmed across the Atlantic Ocean to North America.Animal Pictures Archive: Ancient trans-Atlantic Swarm Brought Locusts To The New World (December 21, 2005)