INVADING LOCUST

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 January 1938, Page 8

INVADING LOCUST

" SCOURGE OF FARMERS

Serious outbreaks of grasshoppers have occurred on the Darling Downs and other localities in Queensland and New South Wales, writes Thomas Thompson in the “Adelaide Chionincle.” South Australian farmers, after the destruction of several years ago, are well aware of the damage they cause. They have had to contend with various pests, and one of the very first that they experienced was the’ grasshopper or locust. Earliest history records attacks by these insects on crops. Their numbers and destructiveness brought awe to the minds of early turistsThe first civilisations appeared in the valleys of the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates. More than 6000 years ago the fertile strip of land on both sides of the Nile came under cultivation. The overflowing waters of the great river enriched the land and the early Egyptians discovered that it was easier to make a living growing crops | than depending on hunting. From this early beginning an elaborate civilisation grew up. At the time of Moses it was already thousands of years old. Then one of the seven plagues of Egypt was a visitation of locusts.

The locust prefers to lay its eggs in hard, dry country, and it was inevitable that in the borderland of the fertile strip between the Nile and the desert on both sides of it there were innumerable places where this pest could deposit its eggs. Hatching out, the grasshoppers crawled until they reached the flying stage, and it would appear that when they had developed to that extent they flew over the fertile land and wrought such widespread destruction.

NO MEANS OF PREVENTION. The civilisation of Sumeria, at the Delta of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, is almost as old as Egypt itself. There the early settlers drained the swamps in order to grow crops, and there, also, the crops were liable to destruction from locusts. It would appear that in both of these early civilisations there were no means of dealing with the locusts, except that of appealing to the innumerable gods that the scourge be removed. After the Israelites had settled in their new home in Canaan they also suffered from the depredations of these insects, and, indeed, in much of the literature of the early civilisations of this portion of Asia the locust is frequently mentioned’. The descriptions in the Bible of the havoc wrought by the locust are most illuminating. Taking one from Ecclesiastes (chapter 12, verse 5) we read, “And the grasshopper shall be a burden.” Elsewhere we read that the sky will be darkened by the locusts and that' all green leaves and grass are destroyed.

In Chinese literature the havoc wrought by the locusts is frequently mentioned. In the seventh century there was a terrible plague. The Emperor, Li Shih-Min, the . second of the T’ang Dynasty, is said to have prayed for the plague to be removed, and in order to show how sincere he w r as, swallowed a live locust. What effect this had is not recorded, though had the prayer been answered it must surely have been recorded by the Chinese historians.

The locust family, indeed, is to be found almost everywhere on the world’s surface, and, considering their great flying powers, this is not Surprising. In North America are to

be found some of the most destructive of the insects. There the Government has taken stringent measures to deal with them. In the Summer which has just gone the State Governments in some of the western States had to spend £1,000,000 to combat the pest, and this was to keep the damage down to £16,000,000POSSESSES NO VOICE. A well-known representative of the locust familv in the United States is the katydid.’ The locust, or grasshopper, has no voice, but by rubbing its long legs on certain parts of his body it is able to produce the wellknown sounds associated with them. It was because of the sounds produced by the katydid while stridulating, which sounded like “Katy did, she did,” that the insect got its name-. In South Africa the locust is very destructive, and the march of the insects is often followed by a desolation truly appalling. The»e are two outstanding varieties in South Africa. One is the red locust, which breeds in the River Zambesi district, and the brown locust, which comes out of the Kalahari desert.

Australia has no lack of representatives of the family Othoptera, as there are no fewer than 550 known varieties in this country. Some of these are highly destructive, but the worst is the common plague locust. In 1891 it created great hayoc in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. On that occasion, orchards and vineyards were destroyed, while crops and grasslands were swept bare. Wells, dams, and other depressions were filled in by the advancing hordes. In 1917 and again in 1921 there were further serious outbreaks in these States, and, on a number of occasions, trains were prevented from travelling because the wheels of the locomotives were uiiable to grip the rails because of the bodies of the insects. Within recent years there have been further serious outbreaks, especialy in New South Wales, and it was deemed necessary by the Government of that State to pass legislation to deal with the pest. This has also been the experience in Queensland, where a Bill called the Grasshopper Extermination Bill, was regarded as an emergency measure and passed all stages in one day.

Various methods have been adopted of destroying locusts in different countries, ranging from digging pits, into which the insects fall* and are then destroyed, to the use of flamethrowers. The most successful method yet devised would seem to be the poison bait, and in Queensland this is made by mixing bran, molassefe and arsenic pentoxide in given quantities. Another method being used in Queensland is to spray the vegetation in front of the grasshopper with a poisonous mixture. They eat the poisoned plants and die. On the Darling Downs particularly, a great fight was recently being waged by the State Government, shire councils, local committees, and farmers against the grasshoppers. For -weeks on many properties farm work has been practically at a standstill while the work of extermination has been carried on. The Government is subsidising the funds of shire councils and committees, while appeals 'for public subscriptions are meeting with a. ready response, not only from country people, but also from town dwellers. It is realised that unless this plague is brought within control the next batching will bring an even worse outbreak. 6