>>25701001>Locusts have two ‘phases’ of existence. When food is plentiful, they exist in the solitary form. In this form they act just like other grasshoppers – they have no tendency to form swarms and they do little damage. Locusts can exist in the solitary form for many generations. However, if food becomes scarce, they change into a totally different form, this form of locust is called the ‘gregarious locusts’ – following the transformation you would not think they were the same species.>However, it is not just the appearance change which is the problem, it is the change in behaviour. When locusts change into this new form they really like each others company, they join together in an enormous swarm (we are talking billions of locusts, covering hundreds of square miles in the worst cases) and eat just about every green thing they encounter. Swarms can travel vast distances covering 130 kilometres per day.I never knew species of grasshopper just turned into Locusts. I thought they were always Locusts.