Editing Locust (section)

=== Recent times ===

[[File:Diagrams of Locusts which swarmed over England in 1748.jpg|thumb|Locusts which swarmed over England in 1748: Drawing by [[William Delacour|De la Cour]]; engraved by R. White, in [[Thomas Pennant]]'s ''A Tour in Wales'', 1781]]

During the last two millennia, desert locust plagues have appeared sporadically in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Other species of locusts caused havoc in North and South America, Asia, and Australasia; in China, 173 outbreaks over 1924 years.<ref name=Spinage2012/> The [[Nomadacris succincta|Bombay locust]] (''Nomadacris succincta'') was a major pest in India and southeastern Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries, but has seldom swarmed since the last plague in 1908.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0hdl--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-10&cl=CL1.10&d=HASHd1edbf77fbe3fa2e5e3da5.7.3&gc=0 |title=Bombay locust – ''Nomadacris succincta'' |work=Locust Handbook |publisher=Humanity Development Library |access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref>

In the spring of 1747 locusts arrived outside [[Damascus]] eating the majority of the crops and vegetation of the surrounding countryside. One local barber, Ahmad al-Budayri, recalled the locusts "came like a black cloud. They covered everything: the trees and the crops. May God Almighty save us!"<ref>{{cite book |last=Grehan |first=James |title=Twilight of the Saints:Everyday Religion in Ottoman Syria and Palestine |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=1}}</ref>

The extinction of the [[Rocky Mountain locust]] has been a source of puzzlement. It had swarmed throughout the west of the United States and parts of Canada in the 19th century. [[Albert's swarm]] of 1875 was estimated to contain 12.5 trillion insects covering an area of {{convert|198000|sqmi|km2}} (larger than the state of [[California]]) and to weigh 27.5 million tons.<ref name=diversity>{{cite web |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Melanoplus_spretus.html |title=''Melanoplus spretus'', Rocky Mountain grasshopper |work=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology |access-date=16 April 2009}}</ref> The last specimen was seen alive in Canada in 1902. Recent research suggests the breeding grounds of this insect in the valleys of the [[Rocky Mountains]] came under sustained agricultural development during the large influx of [[gold mining|gold miners]],<ref name="Encarta">Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005 DVD. ''Rocky Mountain Locust''.</ref> destroying the underground eggs of the locust.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.denver-rmn.com/millennium/0622mile.shtml |author=Ryckman, Lisa Levitt |title=The great locust mystery |newspaper=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |date=22 June 1999 |access-date=20 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070228084636/http://www.denver-rmn.com/millennium/0622mile.shtml |archive-date=28 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lockwood |first=Jeffrey A. |year=2005 |title=Locust: the Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swJWsR5CFu0C&pg=PR5 |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |isbn=978-0-465-04167-1}}</ref>

The [[1915 Ottoman Syria locust infestation|1915 infestation]] across Palestine and Syria was one of the main contributors to [[Great Famine of Mount Lebanon|famine in Lebanon]] which lasted from 1915 to 1918 during which around 200,000 people died.<ref name="Ghazal 2016">{{cite news |last=Ghazal |first=Rym |title=Lebanon's dark days of hunger: The Great Famine of 1915–18 |url=http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/lebanons-dark-days-of-hunger-the-great-famine-of-1915-18 |access-date=24 January 2016 |publisher=The National |date=14 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="BBC 2014">{{cite news |title=Six unexpected WW1 battlegrounds |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30098000 |access-date=24 January 2016 |work=BBC News |date=26 November 2014}}</ref> Plagues became less common in the 20th century, but they continue to occur when the conditions are met.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/locust-plague-climate-science-east-africa/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216120605/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/locust-plague-climate-science-east-africa |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 February 2020 |title=A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame |last=Stone |first=Madeleine |date=14 February 2020 |website=National Geographic |access-date=9 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ahmed |first=Kaamil |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/20/locust-crisis-poses-a-danger-to-millions-forecasters-warn|title=Locust crisis poses a danger to millions, forecasters warn |date=20 March 2020 |work=The Guardian |access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref>