A natural phenomenon worthy of one of the ten plagues of Egypt. For several days, locations in the state of Nevada, in the United States, have been taken over by millions of Mormon locusts, also called Mormon grasshoppers. These swarms of insects temporarily cover the fields, the houses, but also the highways of the American West.
According to the American newspaper USA Today, is a seasonal migration of these locusts that, at the time of spring, every four or six years, migrate west. However, global warming has apparently increased travel this year.
The last migration was in 2019, and Nevada had already been the scene of an intense locust invasion. Several of them had been seen on the streets of Las Vegas.
Wingless
The arrival of these millions of individuals poses several problems. This breed of lobster does not have wings and is therefore forced to move by walking. On the roads, tens of thousands of locusts are crushed and very quickly make the road slippery and impassable. There have already been several car accidents.
With local KSL media, Steve Burrows, chief of the Northeast Nevada Regional Hospital, points out that there are various means of transporting patients safely.
“We have people with leaf blowers, with brooms, at one point we even had a tractor with a snowplow just to push the piles of crickets,” he says.
“They are disgusting”
Although the phenomenon is temporary, it should end over the weekend in Nevada, the daily life of the inhabitants is profoundly modified.
“We stay inside, we don’t go out. They are falling from the ceiling, they are disgusting,” said Precious Drake, a resident of the town of Elko who was “attacked” by a cricket during the interview.
The presence of these millions of insects is also a great danger to local crops as locusts feed on plants. Between 2001 and 2002, in the neighboring state of Utah, their presence caused damage estimated at 25 million dollars.
If they can’t find more edible vegetation, the locusts turn cannibalistic and devour each other. However, they are harmless to humans.
Source: BFM TV
