01 June 2018

The Desert Locust – Abha area

The Desert Locust Schistocerca gregariasituation was calm during early 2018 due to poor rainfall and ecological conditions throughout most of the spring breeding areas in northwest Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The desert locust can form plagues and threaten agricultural production in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, something it has done for centuries. The desert locust is potentially the most dangerous of the locust pests because of the ability of it to form swarms and to fly rapidly across great distances. I found a single adult near Abha, in a wide sandy bottomed wadi with large boulders along the sides where the locust was very well camouflaged.
Desert Locust