Editing Locust (section)

=== Control ===

Historically, people could do little to protect their crops from locusts, although eating the insects may have been some compensation. By the early 20th century, efforts were made to disrupt the development of the insects by cultivating the soil where eggs were laid, collecting hoppers with catching machines, killing them with flamethrowers, trapping them in ditches, and crushing them with rollers and other mechanical methods.<ref name=Krall453/> By the 1950s, the [[organochloride]] [[dieldrin]] was found to be an extremely effective insecticide, but it was later banned in most countries because of its [[Persistent organic pollutant|persistence in the environment]] and its [[bioaccumulation|accumulation]] in the [[food chain]].<ref name=Krall453/>

In years when locust control is needed, the hoppers are targeted early by applying water-based contact [[pesticide]]s from tractor-based sprayers. This is effective but slow and labour-intensive; a preferable method is spraying concentrated insecticide from aircraft over the insects or vegetation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts-CCA/en/1013/ |title=Control |work=Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> The use of ultralow-volume spraying of contact pesticides from aircraft in overlapping swathes is effective against nomadic bands and can be used to treat large areas of land swiftly.<ref name=Krall/> Other modern technologies for planning locust control include [[Global Positioning System|GPS]], [[Geographic information system|GIS tools]], and [[satellite imagery]] with rapid computer data management and analysis.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ceccato|first1=Pietro |title=Operational Early Warning System Using Spot-Vegetation And Terra-Modis To Predict Desert Locust Outbreaks |url=http://iri.columbia.edu/~pceccato/Public-Desert-Locust/Ceccato_full.pdf |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]]|access-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510014559/http://iri.columbia.edu/~pceccato/Public-Desert-Locust/Ceccato_full.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Latchininsky |first1=Alexandre V. |last2=Sivanpillai |first2=Ramesh |title=Locust Habitat Monitoring And Risk Assessment Using Remote Sensing And GIS Technologies |url=http://www.uwyo.edu/esm/faculty-and-staff/latchininsky/documents/2010-latchininsky-sivanpillai-springer.pdf |publisher=University of Wyoming |date=2010 |access-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230005049/http://www.uwyo.edu/esm/faculty-and-staff/latchininsky/documents/2010-latchininsky-sivanpillai-springer.pdf |archive-date=30 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A [[biological pesticide]] to control locusts was tested across Africa by a multinational team in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Lomer, C.J. |author2=Bateman, R.P. |author3=Johnson, D.L. |author4=Langewald, J. |author5=Thomas, M. |year=2001 |title=Biological Control of Locusts and Grasshoppers |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |volume=46 |pages=667–702 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.46.1.667 |pmid=11112183 |s2cid=7267727 |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cd09/2d6bcac45d4337866ce41318fcf79505ac79.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108063235/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cd09/2d6bcac45d4337866ce41318fcf79505ac79.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-11-08 }}</ref> Dried fungal spores of a ''[[Metarhizium acridum]]'' sprayed in breeding areas pierce the locust exoskeleton on germination and invade the body cavity, causing death.<ref name="Bateman ''et al.'' (1993)">{{cite journal |last1=Bateman |first1=R. P. |last2=Carey |first2=M. |last3=Moore |first3=D. |last4=Prior |first4=C. |title=The enhanced infectivity of Metarhizium flavoviride in oil formulations to desert locusts at low humidities |journal=Annals of Applied Biology |volume=122 |issue=1 |date=1993 |issn=0003-4746 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-7348.1993.tb04022.x |pages=145–152}}</ref> The fungus is passed from insect to insect and persists in the area, making repeated treatments unnecessary.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Thomas M.B., Gbongboui C., Lomer C.J. |date=1996 |title=Between-season survival of the grasshopper pathogen ''Metarhizium flavoviride'' in the Sahel |journal=Biocontrol Science and Technology |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=569–573 |doi=10.1080/09583159631208 |bibcode=1996BioST...6..569T }}</ref> This approach to locust control was used in Tanzania in 2009 to treat around 10,000 hectares in the Iku-Katavi National Park infested with adult locusts. The outbreak was contained without harm to the local [[elephant]]s, [[hippopotamus]]es, and [[giraffe]]s.<ref name=FAOTanzania/>

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File:Flaming Locusts in 1915.jpg|Preparing to flame [[1915 Palestine locust infestation|locusts in Palestine]], 1915
File:Cessna spraying red locusts in Iku Katavi NP.jpg|[[Cessna]] of the International Red Locust Control Organization spraying [[red locust]]s in Iku Katavi National Park, Tanzania, 2009
File:CSIRO ScienceImage 1367 Locusts attacked by the fungus Metarhizium.jpg|Locusts killed by the naturally occurring fungus ''[[Metarhizium]]'', an environmentally friendly means of biological control<ref>{{cite web |title=CSIRO ScienceImage 1367 Locusts attacked by the fungus Metarhizium |url=http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/1367 |publisher=CSIRO |access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref>
</gallery>