Page 117 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals

HARUN YAHYA

sified the locust’s solitarious and gregarious phases as two separate
species. Only 60 years ago was it understood that the locust has two
separate phases.
In its transition to the gregarious phase, appearance is not the lo-
cust’s only change. It also starts eating much more. A desert locust, in
the gregarious phase and on the move, can consume its own weight
in food everyday. When you consider the number of locusts in a large
swarm, you can imagine the amount of damage they can inflict. For
example, a large swarm can cover an area of approximately 1,000
square kilometers (400 square miles) at a density of 50 to 100 million
insects per square meter, devouring some 80,000 tons of food a day.
This quantity is sufficient to feed 40,000 people for a year! Even if a
swarm of this size does not consume all the crops, the insects can
cause considerable damage to the surrounding area.
In 1874, a doctor from Nebraska observed the speed and depth
of a swarm covering the sky and
estimated that it consisted of some
12.5 trillion locusts. Just one of 50-
odd swarms seen in Kenya in 1954
was established to contain about

10 billion locusts. 34

An Australian locust. Although locusts
are more prevalent in the Middle East
and North Africa, they inhabit in every
continent except Antarctica. Locusts’
muscles are capable of 10 to 20 times as
much work as those of humans, and
they fly at a speed of 16-19 kilometers
(10-12 miles) an hour. They can fly con-
tinuously for up to 20 hours and, on
even longer journeys, use gliding as
well as flapping flight.

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