>>41757079Fun fact: Locusts aren’t really so much an actual species as they are a phenomenon among certain species of grasshoppers.
Basically when these grasshoppers, which are normally solitary, reach a certain level of population density, or certain environmental conditions, a pheromonal trigger is switched and they undergo physiological and behavioral changes into Locusts. As Locust they breed rapidly and associate together in massive swarms, feeding and stripping down crops of vegetation en mass.
One explanation I remember hearing for it is that it’s an evolutionary strategy designed to outcompete other animals which share their food sources and cause those competitor’s populations to crash more severely than the grasshopper’s own will in the aftermath of the swarming event.
